Senior Software Engineer (Back-end)

Who We are?

In a world where political polarization and media distrust are at an all-time high, Ground News offers people a better way to stay informed and open-minded. Our mobile app, web app, and browser extension are home to a community of mindful newsreaders who use our news comparison platform to easily see every side of a story and engage with news beyond their filter bubble.

Unlike most news companies, our audience and our values do not align with any specific political ideology. Unlike most tech platforms, we don’t use manipulative algorithms to keep users on our platform to sell more ads. 

We are supported by our readers who pay for a subscription to build a more nuanced understanding of the news, the world, and themselves.

The Opportunity: Senior Software Engineer (Back-End) - Remote, Canada 

Ground News is looking for a Senior Software Engineer (Back-End) who will play a hands-on role in driving our mission to build an outstanding technology company. Your position will be that of a back end developer. Our development team is fairly small, so you will represent a significant portion of the developing power behind the product. Your ideas and work will quickly and frequently become part of the product being used by thousands around the world. 

We're looking for someone who can get excited about building tools to help people navigate and understand the vast news/information ecosystem we live in. The position is for a backend developer who will be able to work on the back-end server code.

Our servers run on Node JS (Typescript) with Express, for routing and make use of async/await for flow management. The MySQL database is our primary data source and ElasticSearch is used to index and retrieve more complex documents, combining data from multiple MySQL tables. We use Redis throughout the system for caching at the application level and Cloudfront for caching responses to API requests from clients. We also run custom data pipelines for handling ingestion of new news which goes through many processing steps before becoming visible in our platform.

What you’ll Do:

• Rapid Ownership and Delivery: Quickly take ownership of customer-facing features and products, with an expectation to roll out new developments within weeks of joining.

• End-to-End Project Involvement: Engage in projects from conception and design to implementation and delivery, collaborating with stakeholders to refine solutions.

• Flexible Development Approach: Operate in an environment that values lean and agile methodologies, though not strictly adhering to any one framework.

• Cross-Department Collaboration: Work closely with team members from various departments, effectively communicating technical aspects to non-technical stakeholders and translating their needs into implementable solutions.

What you’ll Have:

• At least 5 years of experience with TypeScript, including Async/Await syntax

• At least 3 years of experience with NodeJs

• At least 3 years of experience with Relational Databases (MySQL ideally, but other RDs also good)

• Strong desire to learn and progress as a developer

• Ability to think critically and make informed decisions

• Knack for writing efficient and scalable code

• At least some of experience with ElasticSearch, Redis or similar caching system

What you might Have:

• Experience with Vue JS (used for our internal administration web portal)

• Experience with AWS dev ops (EC2, ECS, Cloudwatch, Cloudfront, S3, etc)

• Experience with Google APIs (entity analysis, places, etc)

• Experience with UI/UX design

• Experience with Cross-Browser Extension Development

• Experience with Email Development (Amazon SES, MJML)

Why work at Ground?

Co-founded by a former NASA engineer and Bain consultant, a position with Ground News provides an unparalleled learning experience both personally and professionally. At Ground, we prioritize growth: both for our business and team members. You’ll have the freedom to work remotely and play a key role in the development of Ground News products. 

This is an opportunity to work with a growing and mighty team that is fighting every day to build a world where cooperative, civil debate is the norm, media is accountable, and critical thought is the baseline of our information consumption. Ground is based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, but this role is remote.

Ground news takes pride in being a harassment- and discrimination-free space for everyone, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, nationality, neurotype, personal appearance, political affiliation, professional background, race, religion, or sexual identity or orientation. Our culture is one of collaboration, creativity, and diverse perspectives. We are committed to building and fostering an inclusive, accessible environment for everyone. If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding accessibility needs, please contact talent@ground.news, and a member of our team will be happy to help.

Apply Now 

Have we got your attention? Submit your application today and a member of our Talent team will be in touch with you shortly!