Tech Lead for Web Automation team (Node.js)

Apify's mission is to make the web more programmable.

Why?

We believe that humans have better things to do than filling forms, compiling huge Excel sheets of copy-pasted data, or watching thousands of videos to determine whether they include a specific brand logo.

Those are jobs for a machine.

And just as in the real world we have tools that make our lives easier, we should have tools to make our lives easier on the web.

Web automation has profound impact. Our users automate service unsubscriptions to save people money, and they collect billions of rows of data from all over the world for AI training, protection of consumers, or finding lost children.

To support our mission, we're looking for talented and experienced engineers to help us build the next generation of the web, where machines talk to machines and humans do creative work that drives progress.

Join our talented Web Automation Engineering team and help us to move to the next level. You will work alongside Engineering Manager Vladimír Zahajský, Senior Web Automation Engineer Lukáš Křivka , and 20 talented engineers. The Web Automation Engineering team is part of Apify Engineering led by CTO Marek Trunkát.

What you’ll be working on?

• You will lead the Professional Services developer segment, guiding a team of 8 developers across multiple subteams to achieve a high technical standard while staying hands-on with coding

  • You will proactively identify areas for improvement and introduce new best practices, tools, and methodologies to elevate the team’s capabilities.

  • You will actively contribute to the development of projects, ensuring your technical skills stay sharp and relevant.

  • Through code reviews, mentoring, and technical guidance, you will help the team improve code quality and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

  • You will oversee team-wide initiatives such as enhancing the GitHub CI/CD pipeline, improving the testing framework, and introducing new developer tools to boost productivity and quality.

  • You will unblock technical challenges faced by developers, offering support and expertise while helping them grow in their roles.

  • You will work on documentation, tutorials, and onboarding to ensure smooth internal processes and contribute to the broader Apify and Crawlee communities.

  • You will manage direct reports as an integral part of your role, including conducting 1:1s, providing career guidance, supporting their professional development, and assisting with hiring through interviews and evaluations.

• You will collaborate with other teams to ensure alignment and drive technical excellence.

  • You will establish a feedback loop with the open-source Tooling and Product teams to ensure that our platform meets the highest standards and supports customer needs.

  • You will work with other engineering teams to elevate technical standards across the organization and foster cross-team knowledge sharing.

Our tech stack - Web Automation

• Development: Node.js (with Typescript), Chrome Dev Tools, Crawlee, Apify SDK, Puppeteer, Playwright, JQuery/Cheerio + many other specialized libraries. We also released Python SDK lately and are acquiring expertise in Python scraping tools.

• Environment: Local IDE for development & testing. Then deploy to the Apify Platform via GitHub for production

• Tools: GitHub, ZenHub, Notion, GSuite, GitHub Copilot license

• Process: in-depth onboarding, code reviews, tests, automating whatever we can, using common sense over strict processes

They say there are no perfect candidates, but you might be the one if:

• You are a proactive technical leader with strong JavaScript/Node.js development skills and at least 4 years of experience working on complex projects in a collaborative environment.

• You have a passion for improving code quality, introducing best practices, and ensuring maintainable and efficient solutions through frequent refactoring.

• You have strong communication and organizational skills to lead, inspire, and support a team toward achieving shared goals. You have natural ability to foster collaboration, guide team members, and drive results.

• You thrive in a team environment, enjoy mentoring, and have experience in guiding colleagues through code reviews, documentation writing, and technical challenges.

• You enjoy hands-on coding and solving complex technical problems, while also contributing to the strategic direction of the team.

• Experience in managing or mentoring a team is a strong plus, but we are open to candidates who are growing into leadership roles.

• A degree in software engineering or computer science is preferred but not required.

Why should you work at Apify?

• Space, support, and autonomy for personal growth, with a direct impact on our success

• Full-time position in Prague (Lucerna Palace) or Brno (Titanium) 🏰

• Option to work remotely 🛋️

• Flexible working hours (perfect for both night owls 🦉 and early birds 🐥)

• Nobody counts holidays as long as the work gets done 💪

• Stock options and profit sharing 💰

• We welcome pets, kids, and bikes at the office 🐕👨‍👧🚲

• Epic team buildings and offsites 🚢 with biking, canoeing, and other adventures 🪂

• Solid education and training budget, conference tickets, internal “Eat & Learn” sessions, and the possibility to work across teams 👩🏼‍💻👨🏽‍💻

• Generous hardware budget 💻

• Free lunches every day when you’re in the office 🌮🍱🍜🍕🥡

• Unlimited supply of ☕ & 🍺 and snacks

• Free entry to the wonderful Prague Zoo 🐘

• Free Multisport card 🏋

• Ping-pong, chess, PS5, lightsabers, foosball league after lunch.