Monday 25 March 2024, 19:00PM

For recruiters and hiring managers

I've spent the past few years in numerous startups, working across multiple different areas, ranging from React Native development, event-based backend microservices, full-stack product engineering, and platform engineering and kubernetes administration.

I've really enjoyed my current role, and am proud to have been able to say I did all the things I did for the business, but there are limitations to what an ambitious software engineer can do in a company that doesn't prioritize or invest in technology. As much as I've enjoyed various aspects of this work, I'm also looking to move on to other types of challenges.

What I'm looking for:

Visa sponsorship required.
Six figure salary. Anything less would probably be either a salary cut, or not worth moving for.
Flexible working. Not "Mon, Tues, Wed every week, and we check your attendance", but actually flexible. I like being in office, but not when I'm being monitored and forced.
Good work life balance.

What I'm not looking for

Full-time frontend or mobile development. Full-stack is okay, as long as it isn't basic web development.
Anything >60% JavaScript/TypeScript heavy.
5-day-a-week-in-office roles.
Heavy C#/.NET, Python (for web) or legacy JVM (i.e. v8) environments.
Founding engineer roles for super-early stage startups.
Roles in companies where technology is not considered a key product.
Any company with significant crunch and grinding mentality.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and perhaps given the right role and company (and compensation), I'd be willing to overlook some of the above. But in general, these are pretty good guidelines on what to avoid.

What I am interested in

Friendly, welcoming culture and highly skilled colleagues.
Flexible/hybrid working - I highly enjoy working in the office in person with colleagues, especially when pair programming or having collaborative technical discussions, but I also appreciate the flexibility of WFH and being able to own my own schedule. A hybrid 2 or 3 day in office per week flexible work policy would be the bare minimum, but greater choice would be preferred.
Platform/DevOps/Kubernetes - already have significant experience with this, and quite enjoy it.
Being able to work in a team that has more junior members and mentor them. Not interested in teams that only hire seniors and above.
Being given autonomy (both as a team, and individual) to prioritize work that benefits the company.
Opportunities to have junior direct reports.
Bonus: Exposure to the following:
- I think Rust is great, and would love to work with it more.
- Machine learning and data.

Similarly to the list of things I'd like to avoid, I'd be willing to overlook the lack of some of these for the right role, company and compensation.

Other nice-to-haves

Good holiday allowance. Unlimited holidays would be great.
The usual tech company benefits, e.g. snacks, socials, (occasional) free meals, you get the idea.
Budget for equipment, and/or personal development.

Final notes

Yes, I understand I'm picky.

This blog is public - but not necessarily an accurate representation of my skills, interests and career direction. It is merely what I have been bothered to write about in the small amount of spare time I have.

If you are reading this and think you may have appropriate roles for me, I may send you my CV on request.

Please do not call my phone number unsolicited during work hours - I'm not going to take calls with a recruiter if I'm at the office.