Web dev sys-admin/”devops”/platform engineering leader - remote

We’re hiring a senior development operations administrator at Merit for the first time. It’s a really good job for the right person.

Before explaining what we’re looking for, let us tell you about Merit and what it’s like to work here. We’re a small company that created and sells a cool, unusual software product to the marketing departments of colleges. We’re planning a complementary new product, too, that has applications to a much broader market and represents an exciting new opportunity. We’re proud of what we’ve made, and how we sell it, and how we support it. Clients know our team by name and like us (or they’re indifferent, but renew their annual subscriptions at a 90%+ rate). We don’t think we’re taking over the world, or disrupting anything, or moving fast and breaking things. We’re doing good work with colleagues we respect and like, too.

Merit is a very “flat” organization, management-wise, so we hire people who are independent and self-directed. None of us is a super-specialist in anything (though each of us is better at some things, which we’re responsible for), so we tend to hire generalists in their fields. Ideally, you’re broadly good at dev-ops but perhaps have other stuff you like to do and can add special expertise at.

One of our team once said we were “an island of misfit toys” (a la Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer). That means we look past résumés and credentials, which can lead to hiring unconventional people. We really encourage people from diverse backgrounds and identities to apply for this job because you’ll find a place that welcomes and values the perspective you bring to our work.

There’s more about our policies and benefits below, but here are some of the characteristics of who we’re hoping will work with us:

You have a strong curiosity about technology in general. By now you may have curated a specific set of tools for your industry (including workstation and OS preferences) which we are happy to accommodate. We’re a small development team so we’re regularly having to learn about and become experts in new things. We care about your curiosity, eagerness to learn, and history of working independently more than your “passion” for systems administration. Managing systems in your free time, side projects, and GitHub portfolios are not necessary.

We pay as well as we can given our size and location;as far as we can tell, it’s competitive. We offer a platinum health care plan (Blue Shield PPO) and pick up 100% of the premiums for you and your family. We also match 3% of your salary in your retirement plan contribution, provide paid parental leave, and insist you take a lot of vacation (it’s an unlimited policy, which often means people don’t take enough out of social pressure, but our president, Colin, will actively pressure you to take time off).

Balance is important to us. Taking the time you need for community, connection, and commitments outside of work is encouraged. We’re against mandatory face time, are light on meetings, and focus on what you contribute and how well you do that as a colleague more than anything else. We're very remote-friendly but we hope you’ll let us bring you to World HQ once or twice a year if you're up for it. 

If you’re interested, the most important thing to send us is a good letter or e-mail. Good, strong writing is an excellent signal for good, strong thinking and we can learn a lot more about you from what you write us than we will from your résumé (but please send that, too, for specifics and context). We will respond to every application we get that has a custom letter.

We’re all genuinely excited to hear from you and learn more about you!