Software Engineer IC3/IC4 (Full Stack)

Picture this

The startup lifestyle awaits you in Dorset, with its historic charm, modern living, and vibrant community.

You’ll be working on a codebase that is currently 100% free of technical debt – because it doesn't exist! Your future self may have to justify decisions like opting for a microservice implementation, why you named an SQL table the way you did, or why the workaround you employed on day 6 still exists years later. You'll even get to share war stories about the “duct tape” that held together the early demos before key infrastructure components were completed, the resourcefulness with limited resources, and the early scaling challenges!

The beauty of it is if you stick with it, you will have brought an ambitious product to life, made lifelong friends with one of the most innovative teams in media and entertainment, and been part of a tiny accessibility company that grows into something your fingerprints will be on forever.

Who we are

Since 2017, Signly has had a singular mission: to deliver sign language everywhere.

We’re a world first and the only organisation doing what we do at scale.

Signly is not a typical tech. company – we're assembling a dynamic team with a diverse skill set. Our focus is on improving accessibility for deaf people who use sign language. We achieve this by connecting our clients with their deaf customers. This effort is achieved through a shared belief in the transformative power of artificial intelligence and workflow automation for translators.

Leveraging advanced technology such as augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI), Signly's app and services aim to enhance the way sign language users interact with various forms of content, making information more accessible and inclusive. Through the use of Signly technology in websites, mobile apps, and public spaces, Signly is the delivery agent that connects organizations with the deaf community, breaking down barriers and ensuring that information is accessible to everyone, regardless of their hearing ability. Through our pioneering work, Signly is not just a technology provider but a champion of digital inclusivity, empowering the deaf community with the tools they need to navigate the world more easily.

Who you are

You are going to be one of the first engineers joining this company and a new codebase is going to grow because of your contributions. You aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty and this is your chance to be at the ground floor of a new product. You love defining engineering teams, designing architecture diagrams, and researching key technologies before introducing them into the stack.

Requirements: Key Traits

• You think like a plumber. Or a city planner
• You are an exceptional full-stack Engineer with 6+ years of relevant engineering experience at small tech and product-driven companies
• You know how to go from 0 to 1
• You apply a strategic approach to building solid, clean, and consistent code on very short timelines. Given we are a startup, our expectations are high — and you’ll be expected to be an A+ contributor from day two. (We’ll give you a day to get going 😉)
• You are curious - not afraid to dive into a technology you haven’t ever touched before, leaving any pre-dispositioned opinions behind and bringing a fresh mind to a new problem space
• You understand how to balance the speed of development, the performance requirements of the feature, and the future scalability of the product
• You understand how to move fast in an environment where things are sometimes loosely defined and may have competing priorities or deadlines
• You thrive on creative problem-solving and excel at facilitating collaboration within Agile teams
• You own the development of new customer-facing features and product experiences end-to-end: building and deploying in both the frontend and backend codebases
• You collaborate independently with product and design without being micro-managed
• You are adept at grasping the complexities of managing distributed systems and consensus protocols, and leveraging them effectively for writing scalable, performant and fault-tolerant applications
• Your ability to accurately document your work is a vital asset in this role.
• Your ability to communicate ideas and insights effectively with peers and your manager is essential for success in this position.
• Your commitment to inclusivity and your passion for serving diverse user communities, including signers, is essential.
• Applications from sign language users are particularly welcome.

Requirements: Indicative competency levels

Candidates must possess:

• Proficiency with Python
• Proficiency with a (Python+wasm or JavaScript) front-end web framework
• Proficiency with a backend API implementation (we use FastAPI, Node.js, Nuxt, REST, CRUD, GraphQL, WebSockets);
• Competency working with Microservices Architectures
• Interest in AI/ML (direct experience not required)

Ideal candidate

You will ideally have acquired and maintained a good spread of skills and knowledge across the following skillsets at the indicated competency levels.

Where examples or details of our stack are given, you don’t need to have those technologies under your belt, but demonstrating an equivalent competency and an ability to quickly cross-train will be important. Similarly, you’ll need to be able to convince us (and demonstrate) that you can quickly plug any knowledge/competency holes you do have.

• Ideally, competent working with most of:

• a cloud platform (we use Azure);

• a relational database such as Postgres/MySQL including basic design, tuning, and safety skills;

• a cloud data platform and No-SQL data (we use Azure Fabric, Redis, MongoDB and Azure Data Factory); and

• platform engineering (DevSecOps, CI/CD, IaC/DaC – we use Azure DevOps & GitHub Actions).

• Ideally, experience working with some of:

• message brokers (we use Azure Event Hubs, Azure Logging and Kusto QL);

• using 3rd party tools like Datadog, Github, and CircleCI for DevOps practices;

• computer networking (protocols, load balancing, etc);

• monitoring and alerting toolkits, monitors and dashboards (e.g. Prometheus, Grafana, Azure Monitor); and

• infrastructure as code (such as Terraform, Pulumi, AWS SAM, CloudFormation, ARM Templates or Bicep)

Inclusion & Belonging

We are committed to recruiting people from all different walks of life because we believe in the power of diversity and inclusion. Our commitment stems from a genuine belief that we get better outcomes if we have teams that are multi-disciplinary.

Reward

We believe in recognizing the invaluable contributions of our team members. We offer a salary with equity options allowing you to play a significant role in the company's success and growth. We also provide a benefits package that includes a pension and vacation allowances. Even though we are a small company, we want you to thrive both personally and professionally – your career at Signly can unlock a future where your talent and commitment are recognized and rewarded.

This is your chance to get in at the ground floor. Join us and embark on a thrilling adventure where you’ll be innovating and pushing the boundaries of what technology can do to positively impact ubiquitous access to information and communications. Together, we'll unlock a world of endless possibilities and leave an indelible mark on the world of accessibility. Are you ready to create magic with us? Apply now and let’s create something special together.

Applying

So, whoever you are, if you feel like you’ve got the potential - not necessarily the experience - or know someone who could take on one of these roles, I want you to get in touch with me…

You can show your interest in any way that’s comfortable for you (but forget the cover letters)

• Email resumes as documents to bookings@Signly.co
• Send us a video on VideoAsk (https://www.videoask.com/fpll4kcmu). Video applications in BSL, ISL or ASL are also welcome.