Pearachute is a venture-backed, fast-growth startup that is changing the way parents and kids spend time together.  We are a monthly membership platform that makes it easy to discover, book, and drop into the best kids’ classes in Chicago.  We’re growing quickly and we’re looking for our own Professor X or Lucius Fox* (aka Lead Engineer) to help us go even faster.

Why we exist:

There is something magical that happens when you witness a child discover a new joy.  They light up, your heart swells, and somehow the world slows down just enough for you to feel like all the late nights, tears (both yours and theirs), and fear of the unknown were worth it for moments like this. Moments where you feel pride for having found something they love. Moments where you feel more youthful as you suddenly see the world again through the eyes of a child.  

These moments are why we created Pearachute.  

Our mission at Pearachute is to inspire children’s curiosity and passion by empowering parents and caregivers through convenience and choice.  To us, this means making the best kids’ classes and activities available to you at the touch of a button, allowing you to drop-in and explore during times that fit your schedule with the flexibility to accommodate late naps, stuffy noses, and unplanned visits from grandparents.

But Pearachute is not just about the bond between children and the people who care for them.  We are also here to strengthen local businesses, founded by entrepreneurs who took their passions and created opportunities to teach and share with a new generation of young people.  By working closely with our partners, we help identify new ways to engage with their neighbors and expand their already successful businesses.

And we want to do all of this by building some pretty amazing tech.  From mobile apps to responsive web to payments APIs, we’ve got big plans for empowering both sides of this network.

That’s where you come in!

We’re looking for a Lead Engineer who can turn our bigger vision into a reality.

In this role, you will serve as the tech leader and architect of this high-potential company.  In the beginning, you’ll work alongside a dev team that sits 5 feet from our desks.  Eventually, you’ll own everything and rely on the outsourced team to fill in gaps or speed up delivery.

About you: You have a genuine passion for creating products people love to play with.  You understand that every problem has multiple solutions, but sometimes there’s just a better, faster path than others...and you know how to find it.  You love building for scale but can get by with building for speed when it’s required.  You find the opportunity of Pearachute exciting.  You have a genuine desire to have an impact on the next generation of parents and children.  And, you’re comfortable working with a team of mostly women.

Technically speaking, you are full-stack but lean toward back-end infrastructure.  You can code in several languages but you’re awesome in Rails.  You have experience with Angular and/or React.  And you love building in a way that can easily be tested and optimized.  You believe nothing is impossible, but some things just aren’t worth doing right now.  You love the challenge of building something from scratch even though you may have to tear it apart some day soon.

Day-to-day Responsibilities

• Working with all areas of the business to help achieve technical and business performance goals;
  
• Managing and collaborating with an outsourced but in-house dev team;
  
• Improving and refining cards and serving as scrum master to a broader team that contributes to product roadmaps;
  
• Working on every piece of the site when needed.  

Requirements and Skills

• Impeccable attention and care for details
  
• Great communication skills with non-technical team members
  
• At least 3 years of experience in mid-senior development role
  
• Highly experienced in: Ruby on Rails, Angular, React or other JS framewoks, AWS, Heroku, and all the usual suspects.

Perks:

• Free Pearachute classes for you and your little one(s) if you have them
  
• Comprehensive benefits
  
• Flexible schedule
  
• Unlimited vacation days
• Bragging rights for building something amazing

We’re a hard-working, fun-loving group that realizes you have to make time for the important people in your life.  Half of us are parents--all of us love our families.  

If you think you’d be perfect for this role, please send a resume, github link, and cover letter that communicates why you’d love to work at Pearachute and why you think you’d be great for the role.

Happy Playing!

The Pearachute Team

*I realize that Fox and X are not on the same level...but as a mom to two boys I now understand that Marvel and DC super heroes live in very different worlds.  We’re an equal opportunity employer :)