Software engineer, developer experience

As a Software Engineer focusing on Developer Experience at Watershed, your primary responsibilities will include pioneering a new team dedicated to testing, observability, and reliability tooling. You will work on building effective tools that enhance local development and production monitoring, collaborate with various engineering teams on testing and release workflows, and ensure that best practices are implemented across the board. Your role is pivotal in empowering our engineering team to deliver high-quality software products efficiently.

To qualify for the Software Engineer position specializing in Developer Experience at Watershed, candidates should have at least 6 years in engineering roles, along with experience in developing internal productivity tools that help teams scale effectively. Familiarity with technologies like JavaScript, React, GCP or similar cloud environments, and GitHub Actions is beneficial. Additionally, a passion for helping engineers work quickly while maintaining quality and security standards is key.

A Software Engineer in Developer Experience at Watershed should be familiar with a range of technologies, including JavaScript, TypeScript, React, and cloud services like GCP. Knowledge of tools such as GitHub Actions, Temporal, OpenTelemetry, and Terraform is also valuable. Experience with shell scripting and skills in debugging, profiling, and benchmarking are important to help enhance our development infrastructure and processes.

Watershed's work environment promotes collaboration and innovation. As a Software Engineer, you’ll work alongside talented individuals in a supportive team culture that values transparency and open communication. The team operates across different time zones in the US and EU, making flexible collaboration essential. We encourage creative solutions to engineering challenges and provide the tools and infrastructure necessary to optimize developer productivity.

Watershed offers a comprehensive benefits package for its Software Engineers, including competitive salaries ranging from $189,000 to $241,500 USD, equity options, and health benefits covering dental and vision. Additionally, employees enjoy a 401(k) plan, unlimited paid time off, and paid parental leave. We prioritize employee well-being with programs focused on mental health and fertility support, ensuring a healthy work-life balance.

Highlight your previous roles where you developed or worked with internal productivity tools. Mention specific projects and tools that improved team efficiency, emphasizing your role in those achievements and how they relate to the responsibilities at Watershed.

Discuss your testing strategies and experiences. Outline methods for ensuring software reliability and share examples of successful testing frameworks or systems you've implemented in previous positions.

Share a specific challenge you faced, detailing the steps you took to analyze the problem, the solution you implemented, and the positive outcome. Make sure to connect this experience to Watershed's focus on enabling other engineers.

Discuss your hands-on experience with GCP or similar cloud services. Give examples of projects where you utilized cloud capabilities, focusing on scalability, performance, and how you integrated cloud tools into development workflows.

Talk about your understanding of security best practices in software development. Describe protocols you follow to secure applications and any experiences where you successfully identified vulnerabilities and addressed them.

Describe how you’ve worked collaboratively in a distributed environment, including communication tools used and techniques for maintaining productivity and cohesion among remote team members.

Provide a relevant instance where you spotted a systemic issue and detail how you approached resolving it. Highlight your ability to navigate ambiguity and collaborate across teams effectively.

Share your project management strategies and techniques for prioritization. Talk about specific tools you use (like project management software) and how you ensure quality delivery under pressure.

Detail any relevant experiences with observability tools you have worked with. Discuss how you leveraged these tools to enhance monitoring and improve application performance in past projects.

Express your passion for the mission-driven focus of Watershed and how it aligns with your personal values. Talk about your specific interests in the developer experience and how you envision contributing to the team.