Summary

Hypothesis is hiring a Senior Backend Developer to join our team and to help us bring an open annotated layer to the world’s knowledge. 

Our developers create simple solutions that solve problems effectively without unnecessary complications: a small amount of elegant, self-documenting code that produces the correct results, has excellent unit tests, and is robust against the wide variety of conditions that a popular web app encounters in real usage. We understand both what the requirements are and what they aren’t, honing our scope sharply and avoiding muddling things with too much solution or by solving the wrong problem. Since we deploy and operate our own code in production, we value maintainability and observability.

We hire full stack developers, but this role will have a focus on backend technologies and systems– including the implementation of generative AI technologies.

About the team

Hypothesis is a small but rapidly growing mission driven startup with a sustainable revenue model and financial backing from leading investors who share our vision. In recent years Hypothesis has experienced significant growth in our core education marketplace and is expanding now to adjacent areas.  Our vision is to bring open community, collaboration and conversation to the world’s knowledge through open standards and open source software, and in so doing to foster a culture of critical thinking and collaboration.  We believe this is another “browser moment” similar to the transformation that happened in the early 90s.

We are a diverse, supportive, highly collaborative, 100% remote team of technologists, educators and business people working together to bring these new capabilities to the web. We code in the open (our repos are public and liberally licensed) and helped create the W3C standards for web annotation. Though we operate remotely, we are a close-knit team that communicates via Slack, video chat, GitHub and Notion across 8 time zones.

About the role

The Senior Backend DeveloperSenior Full Stack Developer role at Hypothesis combines the best of front end and back end development.    As a Senior Backend Developer with a full stack perspective yYou will play a crucial role in building and enhancing our collaborative annotation platform, contributing to both the user-facing interface and the robust backend infrastructure. From crafting intuitive user interfaces to designing efficient and scalable database structures, you will have the freedom to innovate and make a significant impact. This role offers the excitement of working on a dynamic and collaborative team, tackling complex challenges, and being at the forefront of technological advancements in the annotation and research collaboration space. Join us as a Full Stack Developer and be part of a company that is transforming the way the world learns, collaborates and reaches consensus.

This role will report to the head of Product and Engineering.

What you’ll achieve

• Collaborate with a cross-functional team of developers, designers, and product managers to develop and enhance our annotation platform.
• Write high-quality, well-tested code.
• Take ownership of assigned features or modules, from design to deployment, ensuring timely delivery and successful implementation.
• Participate in code reviews and provide constructive feedback to teammates, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and knowledge sharing.
• Proactively identify opportunities to optimize code performance, improve user experience, and enhance system scalability..
• Stay up to date with the latest technologies, frameworks, and industry trends, evaluating their potential for integration into the platform.
• Actively contribute to team discussions, providing insights, suggesting improvements, and participating in problem-solving sessions to drive innovation and efficiency.

About you

• You are a senior developer– self-reliant and able to work independently, take ownership of tasks, and deliver high-quality results with frequent communication but not close supervision.  
• You love to code.  It’s what you probably do in your spare time.
• You love to communicate.  We believe excellent communicators make the best coders.
• You are a cultural match for us– skilled, humble, easy to work with, and yet still opinionated when it matters.  
• You have a strong commitment to quality, ensuring clean and maintainable code, following coding standards, and adhering to best practices to deliver a high-quality product.
• You have a willingness to learn. You already seek out new technologies, frameworks, and industry trends to expand your knowledge and improve your skills.
• You possess a problem-solving mindset, approaching challenges with a proactive and analytical approach, finding innovative solutions and effectively troubleshooting issues.
• You value collaboration, working well with cross-functional teams, communicating ideas and challenges effectively, and contributing to a positive team environment.
• You are adaptable, capable of handling changing priorities, shifting project requirements, and emerging technologies, quickly learning and adapting as needed. In turn, our commitment to you is not to shift priorities and requirements– but sometimes this is unavoidable.
• You pay close attention to detail, ensuring accuracy and identifying potential issues or bugs in code or design.
• You have a curiosity for innovation, constantly seeking new ways to improve processes, explore new technologies, and drive innovation.
• You embrace a growth mindset, being open to feedback, learning from mistakes, and striving for personal and professional growth to continually improve as a full stack engineer.

Experience

• Solid experience in full stack web development, with proficiency in both front-end and back-end technologies with an emphasis on the latter.
• Experience in Python web frameworks such as Pyramid for back-end development.
• Proficiency in JavaScript, including modern frameworks such as React for front-end development.
• Proficiency in working with databases, including SQL and experience with relational databases like PostgreSQL.
• Understanding of RESTful APIs and experience in building and consuming them.
• Familiar with major hosting environments like AWS.
• Familiarity with the Git version control systems and collaborative development workflows.
• Knowledge of software development best practices, including code reviews, testing, and documentation.

What’s next

Does this sound interesting? Drop us a line to tell us what about this role intrigues you and why you think you would be great for Hypothesis. 

These are the things that we like to see:

• A cover letter or statement.  In your own words, why do you want to work with us, what are you passionate about?
• Your resume.  Your background in a clean, concise document that you designed and curated.  It helps if links in your resume are clickable.
• Your github (or website).  Point us to your recent work, code, thinking, designs, whatever you are proud of and reflects who you are. 
• A LinkedIn URL. Sometimes it can be useful.

We can’t wait to see what you’re working on now!

How to apply

If you want to apply, or ask questions before applying, please contact us at joineng@hypothes.is.

Hypothesis is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital or family status, veteran status, or disability. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.