Job Posting: Senior Back End Developer

February 24, 2022

Join the DataStream team!

About The Gordon Foundation

The Gordon Foundation is a philanthropic foundation. The Foundation undertakes research, leadership development and public dialogue so that public policies in Canada reflect a commitment to collaborative stewardship of our freshwater resources and to a people-driven, equitable and evolving North. Over the past quarter century, The Gordon Foundation has invested over $27 million in a wide variety of northern community projects and freshwater protection initiatives.

This includes work over the past 9+ years to build DataStream.

About DataStream

DataStream is an open access platform for sharing water data. Its mission is to promote knowledge sharing and advance collaborative, evidence-based decision-making. This rapidly growing initiative is carried out in partnership with regional monitoring networks.

There are currently four DataStream hubs:

A fifth hub, Pacific DataStream, is currently under development.

DataStream is deployed to AWS using terraform, following a cloud native serverless architecture. We run Node.js in lambda and docker containers connecting to PostgreSQL (PostGIS), DynamoDB, QLDB, and Ethereum mainnet. Our front-end is currently written in AngularJS, with plans to re-build with SvelteKit.

About the Role

The Gordon Foundation is seeking a Back End Developer to support the growth and development of DataStream, an online, open access platform for sharing water data. In collaboration with the DataStream team, the successful candidate will be responsible for designing, building and maintaining DataStream’s software infrastructure to meet our growing community’s needs.

This role offers the opportunity to help shape infrastructure decisions while working on leading edge technologies. The candidate will join a highly collaborative, driven and multi-disciplinary team who are committed to democratizing access to data and addressing major challenges to freshwater management in Canada.

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Software Developer will work with a multi-disciplinary team including external advisors and partners.

The salary range is $100,000 to $150,000 per year with a competitive benefits package.

This is a one-year contract with the possibility to become a full-time position. The role may involve some travelling.

The Gordon Foundation has Toronto-based staff and remote staff based across Canada. Toronto staff are currently working from home due to public health guidelines. We hope to transition back to a hybrid model working in our downtown Toronto office in 2022.

About You

You love writing meaningful, secure, high-quality code and want to be involved in developing new and innovative ways to protect freshwater. 

You stay up to date with advances in JavaScript development and consistently learn and improve your skills. You work well with technical and non-technical collaborators and can translate between the two worlds. You are excited by solving problems you’ve never solved before. You have created Node.js back-ends services to support modern front-end applications. You are comfortable working in the cloud and deploying applications to AWS. You take pride in your work! 

Required Skills and Qualifications

  • Experience with serverless architecture and Infrastructure as Code (IaC), we use Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Terraform 
  • Experience in Node.js based development 
  • Experience with SQL (PostgreSQL) and NoSQL (DynamoDB) dealing with large tables and performance bottlenecks 
  • Ability to develop requirements with non-technical stakeholders 
  • Self-motivated, curious and adaptable and able to work independently and as an effective team member 

Additional Skills and Qualifications

  • Experience with PostGIS / OSM / Vector Tiles  
  • Experience with scientific and/or IoT data management   
  • DevSecOps 
  • Working with blockchains 

How to Apply

To apply, please forward your resume and cover letter to info@gordonfn.org with Senior Software Developer in the subject line. Only candidates invited for an interview will be contacted.

Your resume and cover letter must be received by 30 April, 2022.

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