Introductory paragraph
At Smarkup, we’re working on an app that is meant to solve the problem with writing notes, specifications, documentations and knowledge bases.
Today, for nearly each of those, you would need to use a different tool. Even though there are many tools for writing text (Google Docs, Confluence, Apple Notes, Notion, Craft, etc.), none of those can be used easily for all of the mentioned. And it just sucks if everybody in a team is using a different tool for writing things down…
We are trying to solve this with one simple tool, which would be a joy to use.
We want people to be happy to use their productivity tools, and we think tools should help productive people speed up rather than slow them down. A-tool for A-players, including you!
About us
- My name: Adam Sabla
- My position: Founder/CEO/Designer
- Company name: Smarkup
- Website: smarkup.com
- Country: Slovakia
Company info and history (and how we’re using Elixir): Started in 2015. Building custom text editor, custom collaboration engine, custom file-sharing system, all from scratch. We have Phoenix Elixir back-end system with Postgres database.
Job Summary
- Job title: Senior Elixir Engineer
- Job description (TLDR; version): Elixir, Functional programming, database, development, long-term contract. Full-time, remote (or you are also welcome on-site). Flexibility, strong team, strong tech, challenging product.
- Salary range: €42,000 - €60,000 per year (+ profit sharing after we reach break even point)
- Remote work requirements: We are located in the Bratislava timezone: GMT+2. So if you are within GMT+0 and GMT+4, that would be ideal.
What’s the job
We are developing smarkup.com. It’s a WYSIWYG text editor on top of a collaboration engine.
As a back-end developer, you will be dealing with the editor’s back-end and the rest of what’s “under the hood.”
- Working on Phoenix Elixir back-end system with Postgres database
- Reviewing pull requests
- Writing tests
Some of the features you would be working on:
- Sharing for our custom file system
- Comments & notifications & mentions
- Version history
- Adding and storing images
- Occasional improvements or fixes of GitHub Actions and our CI/CD
- Integrations (like Google Auth)
Future challenges:
- API design in a non-breaking fashion
- Delivering new features in the event sourcing system (adding new stuff or making a change in a way that it doesn’t break existing data)
- Dealing with scalability
- Versioning
- Naming things and cache invalidation
Your impact: we aim to make software that people around you use on a daily basis, just like Slack or GitHub.
What we expect from you
Here’s what we consider to be a must-have for this position:
- 4+ years of active development in server-side technologies
- You have used Elixir in production before.
- You are a strong supporter of FP and keep up diligently with the advances in the Elixir universe. Being an active member of the community would be a strong plus.
- Experience with using relational databases in production
- Experience with CI/CD pipeline maintenance
- Automated tests are an essential part of your workflow. We have pretty high coverage.
Soft skills:
- You’re a team player, self-starter, fluent in technical English, and have good communication skills.
- Ability to take and give feedback.
- Taking ownership of your work.
- Being pragmatic. You’re able to function in an environment with ever-changing priorities.
- You are consistent with our values.
Interview process
- You send us links that best showcase the relevant things you’ve built and tell us briefly why you’re interested in joining us.
- Short introduction call with founder/CEO (me) and CTO
- You’d get a test assignment (around 1MD, and we will pay you for it!)
- Final interview with the team
Further info
Product:
We’re working on an app that is meant to solve the problem with writing notes, specifications, documentations and knowledge bases. Today, for nearly each of those, you would need to use a different tool. Even though there are many tools for writing text (Google Docs, Confluence, Apple Notes, Notion, Craft, etc.), none of those can be used for all of it in the way we think it could. And it just sucks if everybody in a team is using a different tool for writing things down… We are trying to solve this with one simple tool, which would be a joy to use.
Who we are
Team: Small team, currently five (CTO, 1x back-end, 2x front-end, design/lead)
We’re fans of the newest technologies and a good beer. We do not consider ourselves to be a “startup,” as that word is often connected in the public mind to words like “starvation” or “misery” or “bullshitting”. Smarkup is self-funded by the founder, who takes an active role in product design and development.
How we work:
We are a stress-free calm company. We discuss and brainstorm a lot, study, prototype, and document. We also write many tests to have peace of mind when running in production and when refactoring. We automate what can be automated and use our time wisely. We think twice before adding a new dependency to our project or switching to another silver-bullet methodology.
We use Jira for issues tracking and project management, Figma for design and prototyping, GitHub as an SCM, CI, and for pull requests. Yes, we do code reviews! We like to give feedback and receive feedback. Not only about the code, however. We consider feedback to be a great tool to have in your toolbox. Agile, Scrum, Jira, Slack…
If you’d like to know more about us, check our blog.
I asked my colleagues to name their top 3 reasons they like working at Smarkup, here’s what they wrote.
How to apply
Drop us an email at careers@smarkup.com and include the following:
- Tell us about yourself and why you would like to join us
- Link to your Linkedin profile
- Links to stuff you made (projects you’ve been working on, your GitHub, your Website, etc.)
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.
My Linkedin: Adam Sabla
