Senior Software Engineer (Django/Python) - remote

ActionKit (NGP VAN / Bonterra)

Posted 2 years ago

Python Ruby Django Mysql Database Testing Communication Web Cloud Aws Design Product Reliability Rails Vision Software Project Frameworks Apis Operations For Scalable Response

About the ActionKit Team

The ActionKit team at NGP VAN needs you to help our clients win fights to make the world a better place.

ActionKit (actionkit.com) is used by over 150 progressive groups and not-for-profits to help tens of millions of online supporters contact decision makers, donate money, and take action online and offline. Our clients--the ACLU, MoveOn.org and others--use our tools to protect immigrant rights, fight climate change and more. Our scalable, flexible tools and APIs make us the choice of some of the most tech-savvy progressive organizations using the Internet to fight for good.

ActionKit is built and maintained by a small, tight-knit team at NGP VAN, the top provider of technology for Democrats and progressives. ActionKit has been around over a decade, and the team has always worked together remotely.

Is this the job for you?

We keep our eyes on the big picture. We prefer giving team members higher-level goals and flexibility rather than micro-managing. You’re responsible for the detailed design of your features, not just coding them, and developers often propose feature ideas. Vision is as important a part of the job as execution.
We all pitch in on a lot of things. All engineers’ work touches various parts of the product, support, and operations. Other roles span sales and project management, or database administration and hiring (hi!).
The work isn’t over when the code ships. We’re proud of the quality and reliability of our product, and our response when there are bugs, pain points, or production issues. Every engineer, including you, takes a shift of at least a few hours each week answering clients' support tickets.
We appreciate our clients and the work they do: we’re in this to make them more effective and make their day-to-day a bit easier, maybe even a little fun.

If this sounds like where you want to be, please apply!

Must haves:

Skills and judgment to produce high-quality work, from attention to detail in coding and testing to big-picture wisdom about risk and simplifying tricky plans.
Communication and collaboration skills. It's critical to be able to talk through tradeoffs, ask for the information you need to get up to speed, and make your work understandable to others.
Empathy with others' needs, from coworkers to clients.
Experience building database-backed web apps, especially using dynamic-language frameworks like Ruby on Rails or Django. Adjacent experience will be considered, too.

Additional pluses:

Experience with (or at) nonprofits or political groups.
Experience touching multiple aspects of a software business, such as development, design, cloud and database administration, and customer-facing roles.
Experience with one or more of the specific technologies we use. ActionKit is written in
Python using the Django framework, backed by a MySQL database, and hosted in AWS.

That said, we aren't judging candidates by a checklist and want anyone up to the job to apply. We come from a variety of backgrounds and would like future hires to as well.

Why choose us?

Work with an awesome team for awesome causes.
Competitive pay ($150,000-170,000), great benefits, and generous PTO.
The ActionKit team is permanently remote (not just for the pandemic!). Hours and location are flexible as long as you get the work done.
We encourage you to use your vacation time;we are not the sort of workplace that pressures anyone into 60-hour weeks.

Apply