Senior Developer and Mentor role at Code The Dream in Durham

Code The Dream in Durham is hiring a Senior Developer and Mentor


This job might already be filled.

## Code the Dream

Senior Developer & Mentor

Are you an experienced developer looking to make a difference?
The position: Code the Dream is looking for an experienced software developer to join our team as a senior developer and mentor.
Application Deadline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply early.
Start Date: As soon as possible!
Location: We enjoy working with folks who live near our headquarters in Durham, NC, but we have a dispersed team and are open to fully remote hires from across the country.
Position Description
Code the Dream is a growing nonprofit organization where people from diverse backgrounds — including low-income individuals, immigrants and communities of color — learn to code. After eight months of intensive training with Code the Dream’s online curriculum and mentors, new coders have a chance to join CTD Labs, where they gain valuable experience building a wide range of apps for partner nonprofits, state and local government, and diverse startups. The result is a unique win-win, where students go on to life-changing careers in tech and our communities benefit from the tools they develop.
CTD Labs is a software development shop with a truly unique model. Professional developers work alongside student apprentices to produce high quality work for our clients that also offers real experience that will help the apprentices launch life-changing careers. We are very proud of the broad range of impactful projects that come through CTD Labs every year, whether for new startups, nonprofits or innovative government initiatives. Examples of recent or current projects include:

  • A ride-sharing app for nonprofits serving recently homeless families who need a ride to their child’s doctor’s appointment or that next job interview that could help them get back on their feet – like free Uber for those who need it most.
  • An app for migrant farmworkers — who are often particularly vulnerable because they are forced to move frequently and live in substandard housing — to easily locate nearby health, education and legal resources.
  • Upstate: a legislative tracker that provides real-time updates on any issue they care about in state government. The goal of Upstate is to democratize access to this information, increase transparency and facilitate greater community involvement in government.
    In this position, you would serve as one of four senior mentors on staff, helping our CTD Labs junior apprentice developers keep learning, thinking through obstacles and becoming better developers, as well as assisting in our code school. Each day you’ll be checking in with student developers working on different projects, and your main focuses will likely include:
  • Mentoring and supervising: Overseeing all aspects of the development process (with help from the team!), including regular check-ins with junior devs, code reviews, etc. (~ 50%)
  • Coding, white-boarding, and generally making big picture decisions about app structure, technologies, etc. (many of the things you probably do now) (~ 20%)
  • Supporting classes in Code the Dream School, including curriculum design, recruitment of and support for volunteer mentors, and other class responsibilities, depending on your level of interest. (~ 15%)
  • Communicating with current or potential clients / partners (~ 10%)
  • Everything else that goes into this unique intersection of growing nonprofit and dev shop (~ 5%)
    These bullets are just to give you a rough idea, and there’s room for flexibility depending on individual strengths and interests.
    Most Code the Dream students follow one of two main paths: (1) frontend development, primarily using React (as well as some mobile development, mainly with React Native), and (2) full stack and backend development with Ruby on Rails. Many of our CTD Labs apps have an API written in Rails and a separate React frontend. While we intend to maintain our focus on our current tech stack, we are also open to expanding the technologies we work with.
    Skills and Experience
  • 5+ years experience in web development, preference for at least some exposure to mobile development, test driven development.
  • Including at least 2 years experience in either:
    • Ruby on Rails or full-stack JavaScript web development (NodeJS); PostgreSQL / relational databases, non-relational databases.
    • Front-end development, preferably including React (and all the usual JS, CSS, HTML). Experience with React Native helpful, but not required.
  • Other potentially helpful (but not required) experience: GraphQL, ElasticSearch, AWS, CMS (WordPress, Drupal).
  • Teaching experience or an affinity for mentoring others, whether as a development team lead or otherwise.
  • NOTE: Although the frameworks our teams currently use most are Rails and React, we’d still love to hear from you if you have comparable experience and don’t mind trying new things.
    The Right Fit
  • You are passionate about social justice and equal opportunity, and that technology can and should help us accomplish both.
  • You feel comfortable (and enjoy!) working with people of many, diverse backgrounds .
  • You are self-motivated and like setting and accomplishing big goals.
    Salary & Benefits
    Code the Dream offers a wonderful community, as well as significant paid vacation and health and retirement benefits. Although as a nonprofit we can’t afford market salaries, we are committed to maintaining a supportive culture where people love their work and the people they work with. This position has a minimum starting annual salary of $75,000 (dependent on experience).
    Code the Dream is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates of color, women, immigrants, and those from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.