We updated the copy for this on 15th June to make the requirements and potential clearer - it's still the same role though

Bytemark (York, UK) are looking for a software engineer to join our team of four. We hope that's you! You'll enjoy working with high-performance, server-side code on Linux, with a keen eye to performance and detail. We will want to see some record of achievement in programming, though this might be from projects that were personal or not developed as part of your day job.

There is potential for this role to become a more senior within 12 months for the person who is up for taking on challenges they see around them while balancing their workload.

We build our own cloud hosting infrastructure targeting UK developers, and we have a history of building hosting products on innovative technology. That's how we made our own cloud hosting stack, storage system, and network routing systems; we're not afraid of challenges, and have learned how to turn inventive engineering decisions into high-value production systems. We love putting these new ideas into production for our customers. Our uptime and long-term reputation is the success that we cherish from all of this work.

The main languages we use are Ruby and Go, but if you've completed work in C++, Java, Python or similar languages you'll get on just fine. We use Rails for many of our web-facing APIs and internal applications, so you will need understand the back-end of a typical web stack, even if you've not picked up Rails yet. SQL database experience will also be useful — we use MySQL and PostgreSQL extensively in our applications.

We'd be particularly excited to meet you if you know very deep, technical parts of the system, such as the Linux kernel or the networking stack, because that's where we've done a lot of innovative work (e.g. our network storage server flexnbd). We'd very keen for you to apply your knowledge in new and bold ways to continue improving on this.

We use the processes that work for small teams. We have fair test coverage for our really old code, and aim for 100% coverage for new code. We use Git for version control, Gitlab to keep track of issues, and Jenkins for continuous integration. Software engineers will have several projects going on at once, and we try not to over-manage.

You'll need to be able to hold to a vision of a finished product, join in ongoing research and share your insights and expertise with a team. You need to know when to ask for help, and be open to discussing your work in an ego-less way.

If this sounds like you, press the apply button now!

What kind of company is Bytemark?

Bytemark is a 30-person strong, 14-year-old hosting company, with nearly 3000 customers. Our mission is to build tools that developers will love, with a strong focus on the UK market. We have a deep appreciation for the free software movement, and we hope you might know our name from various free software and culture sponsorships we've made over the years.

Our two largest teams are currently Software Engineering & Customer Support — building things and helping our customers use them is where we spend most of our time.

As we grow, our engineering processes are increasingly organised around research-driven "sprints" to deliver new features, with multi-disciplinary teams coming together for a few weeks at a time. We're not fully Agile, but are enjoying the benefits as we move in that direction.

We're currently replacing our oldest hosting services with newer, automated, better-featured ones and bringing them all together on a single control panel. There are many aspects of this that need pulling apart and rebuilding.

Hosting has been a solid business, allowing us risks that narrow software startups couldn't. Owning our own data centre has given us amazing security. We're using our 14 years of experience to continue this history of innovation, and to build a company structure with a long-term view.

Your duties

• Writing straightforward, reliable code with reasonable test coverage
• Wide collaboration on testing, specification & software engineering practice
• Responding to customer questions and bug reports
• Juggling bugs & feature requests according to business & customer demand
• Reviewing merge requests and working closely with other developers
• Working with other teams in the company, and reporting to the Engineering Director

Career progression

Employees who have succesfully progressed at Bytemark typically have balanced their workload while proactively taking on new responsibilities. This role has potential for a more senior position within 12 months. We review your progress every 3 months, and offer salary reviews every 6 or 12 months. Salaries are set on overall responsibility and company size, so you will be able to earn a higher salary and responsibility through proven achievement.

We also have an open company plan. Our HR Manager and the Engineering Director will help you navigate this and spot new opportunities in the company as they arise.

We offer 5 days of paid conference attendance & expenses each year in order for you to further your professional development. We also offer extra support if you want to present at conferences.

Skills we're seeking

For this position

• Strong experience in Ruby or a similar dynamic language (Python, Perl, etc.)
• Some experience of Go or traditional systems languages - Java, C, C++ would be relevant
• Use of modern full-stack web framework: Rails or similar
• Bonus: In-depth database knowledge
• Bonus: Any experience of Puppet, Ansible or other configuration management

Everyone at Bytemark needs to have these skills:

• Empathy for our customers' problems
• Tact and directness with their team
• Enthusiasm for achieving something
• Curiosity & self-direction

Location

This position will be centered on our York office, but working remotely may be possible if you have the right experience. Our company has been split between York, Manchester and several fully remote workers for years, so we have various ways of making that work.

Our team comes to York once a quarter for a meal, catch-up and talks.

Employment benefits

• Salary: £32500 to £48000, dependent upon experience
• Working hours: 37.5 hours work per week, flexibly allocated
• Standard holiday allowance: 25 days holiday and all UK bank holidays in addition
• Extra holiday allowance: 1 day per full year of employment (up to 8 extra days)
• Five days paid attendance at conferences
• Maternity leave: 8 weeks full pay + statutory
• Paternity leave: 4 weeks full pay + statutory
• Health care cash plan
• "Sellout insurance" - 5% of company value split between all employees in event of founders selling their stake.
• Reimbursement for home broadband service
• Company laptop
• Free hosting (up to £150/month)
• Centralised pension & childcare voucher scheme
• Company-provided bicycle for employees within cycling distance
• Home office allowance for remote employees

Before you apply

Please understand these points before applying

• You must already be eligible to work in the UK — unfortunately we cannot sponsor visas for this position.
• We will reference successful candidate via a Basic Disclosure Scotland check (which we'll pay for).