Basecamp is hiring a Programmer

We’re hiring a programmer to join our Research & Fidelity team to help shape the front end of our Rails applications and expand our suite of open-source JavaScript frameworks. We’re accepting applications for the next two weeks with a start date in early April.

We strongly encourage candidates of all different backgrounds and identities to apply. Each new hire is an opportunity for us to bring in a different perspective, and we are always eager to further diversify our company. Basecamp is committed to building an inclusive, supportive place for you to do the best and most rewarding work of your career.

ABOUT THE JOB
The Research & Fidelity team consists of two people, Sam Stephenson and Javan Makhmali, whose work has given rise to Stimulus, Turbolinks, and Trix—projects that exemplify our approach to building web applications. You’ll join the team and work with them closely.

In broad terms, Research & Fidelity is responsible for the following:

• Designing, implementing, documenting, and maintaining front-end systems for multiple high-traffic applications
• Building high-fidelity user interface components with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS
• Assisting product teams with front-end decisions and participating in code reviews
• Tracking evergreen browser changes and keeping our applications up-to-date
• Extracting internal systems and processes into open-source software and evolving them over time

As a member of the R&F team at Basecamp, you’ll fend off complexity and find a simpler path. You’ll fix bugs. You’ll go deep. You’ll learn from us and we’ll learn from you. You’ll have the freedom and autonomy to do your best work, and plenty of support along the way.

Our team approaches front-end work from an unorthodox perspective:

• Our architecture is best described as “HTML over the wire.” In contrast to most of the industry, we embrace server-side rendered HTML augmented with minimal JavaScript behavior.
• We implement features on a continuum of progressive enhancement. That means we have a baseline of semantic, accessible HTML, layered with JavaScript and CSS enhancements for desktop, mobile web, and our hybrid Android and iOS applications.
• We believe designers and programmers should build UI together, and that HTML is a common language and shared responsibility. Our tools and processes are manifestations of this belief.
• We are framework builders. We approach intractable problems from first principles to make tools that help make Basecamp’s product development process possible.

Here are some things we’ve worked on recently that might give you a better sense of what you’ll be doing day to day:

• Working with a designer during Office Hours (our weekly open invitation) to review and revise their code
• Researching Service Workers and building a proof-of-concept offline mode for an existing application
• Creating a Stimulus controller to manage “infinite” pagination using IntersectionObserver
• Investigating a Safari crash when interacting with <datalist> elements and filing a detailed report on WebKit’s issue tracker
• Extracting Rails’ Action Text framework from the rich text system in Basecamp 3
• Working with programmers from the iOS and Android teams to co-develop a feature across platforms
• Porting Turbolinks from CoffeeScript to TypeScript and refactoring its test suite
• Responding to a security report for our Electron-based desktop app and implementing a fix

ABOUT YOU
We’re looking for someone with strong front-end JavaScript experience. You should be well-versed in modern browser APIs, HTML, and CSS. Back-end programming experience, especially with Ruby, is a plus but not a requirement. You won’t know how all the systems work on day one, and we don’t expect you to. Nobody hits the ground running. Solid fundamentals with software development, systems, troubleshooting, and teamwork pave the way.

You might have a CS degree. You might not. That’s not what we’re looking for. We care about what you can do and how you do it, not about how you got here. A strong track record of conscientious, thoughtful work speaks volumes.

This is a remote job. You’re free to work where you work best, anywhere in the world: home office, coworking space, coffeeshops. While we currently have an office in Chicago, you should be comfortable working remotely—most of the company does!

Managers of One thrive at Basecamp. We’re committed generalists, eager learners, conscientious workers, and curators of what’s essential. We’re quick to trust. We see things through. We’re kind to each other, look up to each other, and support each other. We achieve together. We are colleagues, here to do our best work.

We value people who can take a stand yet commit even when they disagree. And understand the value in others being heard. We subject ideas to rigorous consideration and challenge each other, but all remember that we’re here for the same purpose: to do good work together. That comes with direct feedback, openness to each others’ experience, and willingness to show up for each other as well as for the technical work at hand. We’re in this for the long term.

PAY AND BENEFITS
Basecamp pays in the top 10% of the industry based on San Francisco rates. Same position, same pay, no matter where you live. The salary for this position is either $149,442 (Programmer) or $186,850 (Senior Programmer). We assess seniority relative to the team at Basecamp during the interviewing process.

Benefits at Basecamp are all about helping you lead a healthy life outside of work. We won’t treat your life as dead code to be optimized away with free dinners and dry cleaning. You won’t find lures to keep you coding ever longer. Quality time to focus on work starts with quality time to think, exercise, cook a meal, be with family and friends—time to yourself.

Work can wait. We offer fully-paid parental leave. We work 4-day weeks through the summer (northern hemisphere), enjoy a yearly paid vacation, and take a one-month sabbatical every three years. We subsidize coworking, home offices, and continuing education, whether professional or hobbyist. We match your charitable contributions. All on a foundation of top-shelf health insurance and a retirement plan with a generous match. See the full list.

HOW TO APPLY
Please send an application that speaks directly to this position. Show us your role in Basecamp’s future and Basecamp’s role in yours. Address some of the work we do. Tell us about a newer (less than five years old) web technology you like and why.

We’re accepting applications until Sunday, February 2, 2020, at 9:00PM US-Central time. There’s no benefit to filing early or writing a novel. Keep it sharp, short, and get across what matters to you. We value great writers, so take your time with the application. We’re giving you our full attention.

We expect to take two weeks to review all applications. You’ll hear from us by February 14 about whether you’ve advanced to the written code review part of the application process. If so, you’ll submit some code you’re proud of, review it, and tell its story. Then on to an interview. Our interviews are one hour, all remote, with your future colleagues, on your schedule. We’ll talk through some of your code and some of ours. No gotchas, brainteasers, or whiteboard coding. We aim to make an offer by March 20 with a start date in early April.

We look forward to hearing from you! ✌️