Senior Backend Engineer (New Business)
About Toptal
Toptal is a global network of top talent in business, design, and technology that enables companies to scale their teams, on-demand. With $200+ million in annual revenue and team members based around the globe, Toptal is the world’s largest fully remote workforce.
We take the best elements of virtual teams and combine them with a support structure that encourages innovation, social interaction, and fun. We see no borders, move at a fast pace, and are never afraid to break the mold.
Job Summary:
Ruby on Rails powers a lot of our infrastructure, and we’re always looking for smart Ruby developers to help us reach the next level!
As a member of our Engineering team at Toptal, you will help with the introduction and adoption of new technologies, as defined by our architects. We research, implement, test, and help other teams integrate new tools. Most of our work is in Ruby, but we are not limited to it; we also work with Kafka, and we are into Docker, Kubernetes, and others.
We are a product team delivering value to the end-users, working closely with the business. You will have the opportunity to develop new features and improve the quality of the existing codebase. We develop and maintain features used by our staff members as well as by our clients. We own several services using technology like GraphQL, Kafka, ML models, and OpenAI.
This is a remote position. We do not offer visa sponsorship or assistance. Resumes and communication must be submitted in English.
Responsibilities:
The following information is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or required skills.
- Write elegant, efficient, and testable Ruby code that is easy to maintain and debug.
- Cover code with tests and perform manual testing of features, while reviewing the work of colleagues.
- Work on the infrastructure part of the project, collaborating with Infrastructure Engineers.
- As a true teammate, continuously improve the team’s processes, brainstorm ideas, communicate statuses, and progress.
- Mentor team members, provide feedback, and continuously improve as a professional.
- Learn new concepts and technologies.
- Design, develop, document, analyze, create, test or modify computer or cloud based systems or programs.
In the first week, expect to:
- Join our team, where you will be introduced to Toptal’s practices and processes.
- Start participating in company-wide training sessions.
- Set up your local environment and get familiar with our tech stack.
- Create your first pull request.
In the first month, expect to:
- Familiarize yourself with the team’s business domain.
- Contribute to our product development.
- Develop a deeper understanding of our technologies, processes, and product pipeline.
In the first three months, expect to:
- Actively supply software planning, development, and maintenance.
- Suggest and implement improvements to Toptal’s processes and codebase, while exercising discretion and independent judgment.
In the first six months, expect to:
- Lead technical initiatives in our team.
- Drive improvements to the codebase and processes.
In the first year, expect to:
- Have a detailed understanding of Toptal’s technical stack, collaboration rituals, processes, and performance.
- Mentor Toptal’s new team members.
Qualifications and Job Requirements:
- 5+ years of web development experience with Ruby/Rails.
- 5 years of experience with SQL databases.
- Strong knowledge of object-oriented programming, automated software testing, development, and testing essential methodologies.
- Knowledge of GraphQL and Kafka is preferred but not required.
- Ability to consider multiple quality dimensions like user impact, failure tolerance, code maintenance, implementation time, security breaches, and performance.
- Be genuinely interested in technology and love to try new things.
- Tackle complex problems by considering multiple solutions, weighing them, and deciding on the best course of action.
- Must have outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
- Thrive on providing and receiving transparent but always constructive feedback.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, rapidly growing company and handle a wide variety of challenges, deadlines, and a diverse array of contacts.
- You must be a world-class individual contributor to thrive at Toptal. You will not be here just to tell other people what to do.
