Backend Engineer, Doist
Productivity software for remote work
Job no longer available
Productivity software for remote work
21-100 employees
Job no longer available
21-100 employees
Company mission
Doist's mission is to inspire the workplace of the future by creating tools that promote more fulfilling ways to work and live.
Role
Who you are
- We’re a great fit if you thrive in understanding and evolving legacy systems, maintaining a high delivery cadence and quality, systematically repaying technical debt, mentoring colleagues, and working with a highly resilient team
- We are looking for an engineer who will raise the bar for the team and help us continue evolving our momentum, solution architecture, and overall quality
- Being a reliable partner is critical for our long-term success, so we value strong communication skills, consistent delivery, and a high level of professionalism
- You have substantive professional experience with developing web services and understand the moving parts (DNS, HTTP, DBs, etc.). You have designed, built, and maintained projects and features that have been deployed to production
- You are familiar with Python, know both its strengths (and how to capitalize on them) and weak points (and how to work around them), and you’re able to argue about them. You follow the evolution of the Python ecosystem. You’ve also used at least one other programming language professionally
- You are familiar with OWASP Top 10 web app security risks and know how to avoid and mitigate them. You can assess the security implications of a pull request or an architectural decision
- You are familiar with MySQL or PostgreSQL and have experience with their quirks, weak spots and workarounds. You care about and understand the performance impact of SQL queries your code makes, and have experience assessing and optimizing their performance
- You feel at home in the Unix shell. You are familiar with grep, and sed or awk. You often write bash or Python scripts to automate your work
- You’ve written unit tests long enough to have a taste for what a good test looks like, are aware of current testing practices, and can argue about an approach’s merits and degenerate cases
- You understand the value and cost of abstraction, are versed in current architectural practices, and judiciously apply programming principles like SOLID, DRY, YAGNI, etc
- You yearn to be more than a mere executor, look for ways to inform the overall direction of the products you work on, and actively participate in sketching an implementation plan that focuses on value delivery with a well-derisked approach
What the job involves
- As a Backend Engineer, you will propose, specify, implement, maintain, and decommission code that powers Todoist for millions of active users through our diverse portfolio of client apps and integrations
- Contributing to an architectural revamp, ensuring flawless cross-device sync and seamless sharing are some current opportunities where you can have a large impact
- Our codebase is far from perfect. A quirky in-house Python framework that resembles Flask built by our founder and frequent circular dependencies are challenges representative of our codebase
- We are working hard to modernize our stack and architecture and build a backend that is fun to work on and rock-solid when running on AWS, our cloud vendor of choice
- Being a Backend Engineer is not just about churning out code. You get to lead projects right from their inception, work with our talented leadership (filled with engineers-at-heart who understand the value of refactoring), and collaborate with adjacent teams to solve pain points our users face
Application process
- Submit your complete application by May 17 at 2PM UTC. This includes a resume (or manually entered experience) and thoughtful responses to all the application questions. No cover letter needed!
- Application screening. We read every application to understand your motivation, skills, and experience. Once your application has been reviewed, you'll receive a response regarding the status of your application
- Value alignment interview with Gonçalo Silva, our CTO
- Take-home test project. This will be your opportunity to showcase your role-specific skills
- Role-specific interview with Luke Merrett, a member of our Backend team
- Culture contribution interview with Alex Rodrigues, our Head of Infrastructure
Otta's take
Theo Margolius
COO of Otta
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to almost every company having to find temporary remote solutions for their workforces, with many choosing to continue this due to the benefits of real-time digital collaboration. However, working from home comes with a variety of disbenefits too, including being continuously distracted by notifications and overwhelmed by relentless real-time collaboration.
Doist builds digital tools for remote workers, aiming to develop software that is less distracting, more integrated, and better for mental wellbeing than existing solutions. The company currently provides two key products - Todoist, an all-in-one task organizer, and Twist, a communication app that aims to help workforces balance focused work through asynchronous collaboration and notification-free communication.
The remote work sector has been saturated with productivity tools ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but Doist has taken a unique approach by tackling the frustrations many people face with standardized features such as constant notifications and real-time communication. Furthermore, the company provides its software directly to individuals for free, a unique angle over the usual enterprise SaaS subscription model.
Insights
Company
Funding (1 round)
Jan 2011
$0.1m
GRANT
Total funding: $0.1m
Company benefits
- Work from anywhere in the world. We never place restrictions on locations
- Design your own schedule. Work no more than 40 hours/week
- Pursue personal projects. All Doisters get one month per year to spend on a work-related project they’re passionate about
- Attend conferences. You’ll have a recurring budget to spend on attending conferences that grow your professional knowledge, skills, and network
- Company retreats. Our annual company-wide retreats are unforgettable
- Cozy up at a coworking space. Find a coworking space that’s right for you and Doist will cover the expense
- Apps and services budget. You’ll have a monthly budget to spend on services that help you do your job
- Hardware budget. You’ll have access to a recurring budget to spend on work-related equipment
- Generous time off. Doisters get 8 weeks (40 days) of PTO/year to use as they wish on vacations and national holidays
- Parental leave. New parents receive 5 weeks of paid parental leave in addition to 13 weeks of paid pregnancy-related medical leave
- Invest in your health and wellness. You’ll have a monthly budget to spend on things like gym membership, healthy snacks, massages, health insurance, etc
Company values
- Independence - Others can trust that you’ll deliver on time and your teammates don’t need to worry about you keeping your word. You can easily manage your work and remain accountable with little or no direction
- Mastery - You love what you do and care deeply about the quality of your work, down to the smallest details. You’re continuously learning and always pushing yourself to the limits of your ability. You’re never satisfied with the status-quo
- Communication - Your communication is clear, concise, and engaging whether you’re explaining a complex idea or providing feedback to a teammate. You keep others in the loop and never go radio silent. You’re culturally and socially aware and can appropriately navigate different types of social interactions
- Ambition & Balance - You aspire to put a dent in the universe. To do this, you set high standards for yourself and those around you. The time you spend on work isn’t measured by quantity, but by quality
- Impact - You’re able to take a bird’s eye view to pinpoint and then solve issues that have a high impact on our customers, our team, and our company. You’re committed to the health and success of both your teammates and Doist as a company
Company HQ
Palo Alto, CA
Founders
Amir Salihefendic
(CEO)Experience as Co-founder and CTO of Plurk Inc. Founded Todoist in 2007.
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