Senior Software Engineer at Forerunner

Hi! We're Forerunner.

We believe that climate adaptation is a necessity, not a luxury, and communities deserve access to powerful software that helps them plan for the future. The challenge of climate change is complex – it implicates how municipalities plan, manage capital, and communicate to both residents and higher levels of government. Forerunner helps local communities do these things better by empowering them to access, understand, and mobilize local-level flood risk data at scale.

The Role

The engineering team at Forerunner strives to be small but dedicated, working relentlessly to help local governmental bodies and their floodplain managers reason about the flooding risks that all communities face in the USA. The domain is complicated, nuanced, and rapidly changing, and we at Forerunner break down this complexity for our users so they can do what truly matters - fight against climate change and the possible loss of homes in the case of flooding.

Engineers at Forerunner can work remote from anywhere within the United States. We offer schedule flexibility and ask for accountability in return. We are unable to sponsor H1-B visas at this time, so permanent residency or citizenship is required.

Our tech stack and other engineering tools include, but are not limited to:

• Web front end: TypeScript / React.js with Jest / Cypress for testing
• Mobile app: TypeScript / React Native with Jest / Detox for testing
• GraphQL API powered by a Node.js / TypeScript backend with Jest for testing.
• PostgreSQL as our database, alongside heavy use of PostGIS for geospatial capabilities
• Git, Github and Github Actions for code review and CI
• Deployment to AWS using ECS and similar products

While expertise with all of the technologies above is by no means necessary, a working understanding of at least a few of them is required. That being said, experience with React Native and the mobile target platform is of particular interest for this role.

We strongly encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply - the problem of climate change impacts all of us, and we want to reflect that within our team's composition.

What You'll Do

A Senior Full-Stack Engineer at Forerunner has the following responsibilities:

• Build, test, and review software on a day-to-day basis, working within our frontends, backends, and with the underlying data modeling that underpins them. This means working on a PostgreSQL query one day and on a React component the next, all the while making sure this work is adequately tested.
• Do the occasional DevOps and support work. We use AWS as our cloud provider, but we have no dedicated SRE or DevOps team, and so sometimes engineers may have to help with the plumbing.
• Occasionally pair-program with and help mentor peers. This means hopping on a Slack or Zoom call with another engineer to collaborate on a particularly thorny piece of code or to talk through different approaches that can be used to solve the problem at hand.
• Help plan medium to large sized projects across the stack. The engineering team gives all engineers the opportunity to plan out and execute on large features. As a senior engineer, you'd be responsible for the more time-sensitive, complicated projects.
• Seek out clarity in the face of ambiguity. Domain expertise is always hard to come by and benefits from dedicated time and curiosity - we are learning a lot from our partners and this reflects in the work we do, so ask questions.
• Communicate clearly, whether in a stand-up meeting, planning meeting, or otherwise. We're a small team working entirely remotely, which requires us to be prompt and clear with both written and spoken communication.

What We Offer

Forerunner is an early stage company with an interdisciplinary team. We are motivated by seemingly intractable problems and work hard to support one another.

We're mission-driven. Our mission orients our business strategy and pushes us to work with a sense of urgency. We’re in the weeds - our entire team spends time engaging with our partners in the field to better understand the real-world problems they face.

We're a small team. As a member of our growing team, you will quickly become an invaluable part of our organization and have a meaningful impact on our business and technical direction. We welcome unique perspectives and backgrounds. Your opinion matters and we hope you'll share it.

We build each other up. A team works best when its members are adequately equipped with the tools to tackle the problems they are facing. Forerunner strives to provide adequate feedback and appropriate learning opportunities to help all its team members expand their skills.

We want you to be happy and healthy. Forerunner offers competitive compensation, health/vision/dental coverage, a 401k plan, and one expensed lunch per week. We also have a quarterly wellness reimbursement so that you can have flexibility in defining what “health” means to you.

The salary range for this position is $170,000 - $215,000. This posting may span more than one career level. Compensation is determined based on a variety of factors, including an individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, and working location.