Vokal is seeking a passionate Systems/Full-Stack Engineer to join our development team. Come take part in a supportive community where designers and developers across iOS, Android, Web, and Systems collaborate to face exciting new challenges and redefine the way applications impact people’s lives. We’re prepared to give you the tools you need to be great at what you do. At Vokal you will have the opportunity to work on exciting projects for clients ranging from early startups to the Fortune 500. You will be on a team dedicated to employing best-practices across a range of technologies. Your experience as a member of our team matters just as much as the experiences we create for our clients and the users of their products.

If you’re a back-end engineer with experience developing APIs, configuring servers, and dabbling in the front-end, we can’t wait to connect—we love technology and are excited to apply it to the needs of our clients.  Engineering at Vokal goes beyond just writing code, and we want our team members to consider real-world application just as much as the nitty-gritty. We’re looking for a systems engineer who is passionate about their craft, and excited about mentoring and pursuing additional skills.

Vokal offers a competitive compensation and benefits package.  This position is based in our home office located in Chicago’s River North neighborhood.

Position Responsibilities

• Contribute best-in-class programming skills to develop innovative, consumer-facing, and enterprise website and mobile solutions
• Demonstrate thought leadership in the application of technology to client needs, and communicate benefits at a high level 
• Own Vokal’s back-end implementation for projects, ranging from server infrastructure to database design and robust API and business-logic execution
• Mentor other full-stack-leaning members of the team on back-end best practices and techniques, perform code reviews and help set standards and direction
• Be open to dabbling in the front-end, occasionally flexing into web projects
• Support and collaborate with clients, other developers, and designers to determine business and technical solutions
• Continually deliver creative solutions with awesome execution

Preferred Experience
 

• 5+ years of professional software development experience
• 3+ years of professional experience with Node.js or Python (bonus for both), and building web applications
• Familiar with AWS or Azure Hosting Platform and Cloud Services (bonus for both)

Preferred Technical Skills
 

• Fluency in Node.js or Python (bonus for both)
• Proficiency with Python or Node.js web frameworks, especially Django, Starlette, or KeystoneJS
• Proficiency with Express or NGINX (bonus for both)
• Understanding of SQL and NoSQL database design
• RESTful API design including collaboration with prospective API consumers
• Basic DevOps skills, including configuring and scripting UNIX-like OSes
   

Bonus Skills
 

• Developing and deploying apps using Docker containers
• Experience with Postgres
• Experience with building scalable server infrastructure
• Experience with unit testing and test-driven development
• Experience with front-end web frameworks and tools, such as Angular and React
• Continuous Integration using tools, such as Azure DevOps Pipelines, Travis, or Drone
• Familiar with using GitHub and vanilla Git
• Active open source contributor

Bonus for Interest in these Technology Trends
 

• Voice assistant scripting
• Machine learning and AI
• Blockchain
• Data Science and analysis

Traits
 

• Passionate about the application of technology, not just the writing of code
• Clear and effective communicator
• Advocate for early testing with complete code coverage
• Enjoys learning new technologies and helping fellow teammates
• Can translate industry developments into actionable client opportunities