Senior Full-Stack Dev

Senior Full-Stack Developer

Patent Bots provides SaaS tools to automate the work of patent attorneys.  The founder is a patent attorney and a software developer.  We are profitable and bootstrapped.  We are looking for a well-rounded, product-focused software developer to help us to continue to build our products.  

Product usability is really important for us and our customers love us for it.  A key trait that we are looking for is a person who gets really excited about building products that end users love.

By well-rounded, we mean:

• Technically skilled.  You write great code, documentation, and tests.  Things like mocking are easy for you.
• Product focused in that you are always thinking about how to best meet our users needs.  You don't need to be a UX/UI person, but you think about it.
• Security aware.  We process confidential info of customers so we need to follow best practices.
• Cloud aware.  You don't need to be a dev ops person but you should have a solid understanding of the capabilities and limitations of cloud tools.

Our app is PaaS (App Engine and ElasticBeanstalk) and our code base is mostly backend using Python/Flask.  Javascript/jQuery is used where needed such as to improve the user experience and for our Word add-in (we could migrate to a more modern js framework in the future).

We use AI, machine learning, and natural language processing in our products.  You do not need to have experience with this, but if that is something you would like to learn, there are plenty of opportunities for that.

Our goal is to have you grow into a leadership role to lead our software development efforts under the direction of the CEO.  The CEO is a patent attorney and our products relate to automating the work of patent attorneys.  

Who You Are

• A well-rounded, product-focused software developer who thrives on building products that end users love.
• A strong believer in writing quality code with documentation and tests.
• Expert in Python, with at least 5 years of experience, and have a strong grasp of Flask, JavaScript, jQuery, HTML/CSS, and mocking.
• Security-aware, understanding the importance of following best practices when processing confidential customer information.
• Cloud-aware, with a solid understanding of the capabilities and limitations of cloud tools, even if you are not a dev ops expert.
• Experience deploying apps to Google Cloud or AWS.
• Proficient in written and spoken English and can work independently with minimal supervision.
• Have a desire to grow into a leadership role, leading software development efforts under the direction of the CEO.

Benefits

• Competitive salary, 401k matching, and health insurance.
• Opportunity to make a significant impact on a rapidly growing company.
• A fully remote, collaborative and talented team with a supportive culture.

Company Vision

Our vision is to streamline patent practice so patent attorneys can excel and thrive.  25% of patent attorneys are already using Patent Bots and we want to expand so that all of them are using our tools! 

Company Culture

These company principles are to aid in decision making as a company.  When making hard decisions, these principles should help point us in the right direction.

• Keep it simple – From product design to customer contracts and how we operate as a company, eliminate complexity to focus on what is important.
• Value our customers – Our customers are our employers and investors.  We need to provide great value to them so that they are happy to pay for our products (though it is ok to fire bad customers).
• Employee growth and satisfaction – We want employees who believe in our principles, are a great match for their role, love what they do, and have an impact on the success of the company.
• Profit-led growth – Consistency is more important than speed.  Doing the right thing is superior to doing a lot of things.  Stay aligned with our customers.
• Product-led growth – Be so good they can’t ignore us.  Our customers are our best sales people.
• Be different – Be deliberate and don’t do things just because other people do them.  Be authentic.
• Don’t be boring – We need to stand out among all the noise.  Everything we do in public should provide value to the audience.

Hiring Process

• Our first step is to ask applicants to fill out a Google form with some relatively easy questions.  Our goal here is to be able to easily weed out applicants who apply without reading the job post or who are not qualified.
• A short screening interview for qualified candidates.
• An interview with the founder who is also the primary developer.
• A take-home programming challenge that should take about an hour.
• A joint-coding session with the founder.
• Short interviews with our other two employees for a culture fit.
• Reference checks.