Software Architect/Staff Engineer

Short Summary

Space Inch is a mid-sized design and development agency based in the US and Europe. We care about writing great code and supporting the professional and personal growth of our team.

If you are a software architect who wants to learn on multiple projects, stay close to the code, and stay up to date on the latest and greatest, this job might be for you.

In this role, you provide technical expertise on 3-4 ongoing projects. Here’s what you do on those projects:

• Provide estimates and architecture for new projects or features
• Review plans and estimates made by engineers during sprint grooming
• Code Review
• Get engineers unstuck if they get stuck
• Actual coding if we get in a bind

Ultimately, you are responsible for the quality of our code.

You will need to work in React/Node/Python.

About Working at Space Inch

• We started as a game company and still do a bit of that. We focus mostly on startups, healthcare, and fintech.
• Our team is primarily based in Croatia, with a fully remote work environment.
• Occasional travel may be required, including annual company retreats in Croatia.
• Projects sometimes involve a hybrid of staff augmentation and end-to-end development.
• We prioritize the delivery of exceptionally high-quality work in everything we do.
• We place a strong emphasis on the personal and professional growth and development of our team members.

Key Aspects that Make this Position Unique Include

• Vision from Experience: Our rich history of successes and challenges has shaped a clear, strong vision for the role.
• Startup Energy and Freedom: You can embrace the vibrant, energetic environment of a startup, free from the typical pressures of rapid growth and fundraising.
• Wide Learning: Though we work with clients big and small, our projects usually involve creating new products. You will often use the latest and greatest technologies.
• Diversity of Projects: You get to do hands-on technical work with a variety of projects. This job never gets old.

Key Responsibilities

Project Work 75%

• Technical Excellence: Ensure the projects maintain a high standard of technical excellence while being completed on time, within scope and budget and with few bugs.
• Hands-On Approach: Dive into the details by reviewing code, engaging in discussions with team members during sprint meetings, and validating plans.
• First In: Be the first person on a new project. Establish the right architecture and approach on the project. Demonstrate to the team they can rely on you and on your experience and knowledge. Sometimes you will choose different technology than the team is used to. Build trust with the team by discussing pros and cons of your choices, explaining the steps necessary for success, and demonstrating that you can reliably help when the team is unsure of next steps.
• Estimate Accuracy: Assist with producing the first draft of estimates with nuance based on the discovery session. Verify that project estimates are accurate and align with the scope of work.
• Proactive Problem Solving: Identify and address challenges promptly, especially when teams or individuals encounter difficulties.
• Collaborative Engagement: Foster open communication with team members, encouraging a collaborative environment.
• Support for Struggling Teams: Be proactive in assisting and resolving issues when teams or individuals face challenges, ensuring project success without alienating team members..
• Client Needs. Understand business needs of the clients and be able to articulate those needs to engineers.
• Project Plan and Sprint work. Review project plans and align the team on sprints while monitoring milestones and timelines. When issues arise, have the ability to dive into the sprint, diagnose the problem, recommend a solution and dig into the work as needed.
• Code Work. Remain familiar with the codebase for each project. Resolve major issues or critical bugs when a team member is stuck. Maintain an ability to work in any stack our team is using so that you can actually code to help the team if we are in danger of failing to deliver on time, on budget, within scope, and with high quality for any reason (requirements change, an engineer gets sick etc etc).
• Staff Aug v End to End Projects. Maintain the ability to help an engineer even if they are working in a staff augmentation capacity.

Process Work 10%

• Understand company processes and recommend improvements for processes in the technical domain.

Mentoring and Coaching 15%

• Accurately assess performance of engineers
• Provide good clear reports
• Communicate succinctly
• Help team members to become better at their craft