We’re Hiring – Full Stack Developer

About ALPACA

We are looking for an entrepreneurial developer who wants to join an early stage startup and help create the next Irish EdTech success story. EdTech has seen 38 Unicorns so far, with 17 joining in 2021 alone, 5 IPOs in the last 12 months and one acquisition in 2015. The remaining 32 have raised $27.4B at a collective $97B valuation.

ALPACA is fully funded by Enterprise Ireland to commercialise an opportunity to allow educators to spend more instructional time working on solutions rather than identifying the problems when it comes to early educational interventions.

ALPACA is a dynamic, game-based, digital screening and monitoring tool designed to identify reading difficulties at a young age faster and more accurately than current paper-based assessments. ALPACA allows young children to self-administer a quick and accurate assessment of early literacy skills, thereby detecting children who are at risk of future reading difficulties as early as possible.  Early detection of such difficulties is crucial in allowing for the provision of early reading interventions.  Based on children’s results, recommendations are provided to teachers/parents on how best to support young beginning readers who are experiencing difficulties.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for a talented, driven developer and aspiring software architect to join our growing team. You’ll have the opportunity to work with our dedicated and close-knit team to execute on our vision.

What will you do

• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team of edtech innovators, technologists and user experience experts to help realise the ALPACA vision
• Work closely with the Technology Lead to develop and implement the ALPACA technology
• Actively develop end user applications and backend technologies that have a real impact on children’s education
• Help to manage and maintain cloud-based infrastructure to support the development, testing and deployment of ALPACA

You may be a fit if you

• Bring strong technical skills and an ability to work across backend, frontend, and infrastructure management (dev/ops)
• Demonstrate a desire to work in a startup type environment with a broad scope of ownership and high degree of autonomy.
• Are excited about the ability to work independently
• Have a learning and growth-focused mindset and a strong desire to share your skills and learn from those around you
• The ability to work in an agile environment and adapt to change
• You’re excited by technology
• Have experience building:
  • web based tools using Javascript (REACT, Angular)
  • backend development and APIs using Javascript (Express.js, Loopback) or similar backend technologies
  • relational and NoSQL databases using MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc.
• Have familiarity with:
  • version control tools such as git and Gitlab
  • built automation / continuous integration tools such as Jenkins
  • containerization concepts and technologies such as Docker
  • cloud computing environments such as AWS
  • tools such as Postman, Swagger…
• Have an understanding of:
  • Service oriented architecture
  • RESTful APIs
  • Unit and functional testing

We need you to have

• Degree in computer science, technology or related field
• 1-3 years experience
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• The passion to provide essential data, tools and resources to support educators and parents to change the learning trajectory of children globally
• Must be based in Ireland

What we offer

At ALPACA we want to build a bold, open, and empathetic environment, where everyone can thrive and get real joy out of doing their best work. We offer a salary and ownership options in the company, and we work hard for everyone in our team to grow alongside the company!

• Team – Passionate hard-working and dedicated colleagues
• Technology – Some cool tech to allow you to do your best work
• Self development – A fast-paced working environment in constant change and new challenges gives you excellent opportunities for personal and professional development. Talented and highly experienced colleagues who love to solve problems together. Strong networking opportunities within the Learnovate and Trinity College ecosystem.
• Mentoring & Support – from the technology leads within Learnovate. The opportunity to grow as a key member of this ambitious startup with the support of Enterprise Ireland
• Hybrid Working Model – You will need to be able to sit on-site at Learnovate now and then (or as much as you want), while also having the opportunity to work remotely
• Competitive compensation – salary and potential stock options over time (details to be agreed)

Application Process – please email the information listed below before noon on 16 February to tom.pollock@learnovatecentre.org

• Cover Letter
• Resume: Detailed curriculum vitae, including education, previous experience and previous project work. Please address all skills that you have that match the required experience list above.

CLOSING DATE: noon , Wednesday February 16th.