Ruby on Rails Software Engineer

<p><strong>About the company </strong><br> A well-established US education-technology company with a global presence, providing digital learning content and platforms to a large user base for over two decades. Distributed, international team working on products used by millions of active users worldwide.</p><p><strong>About the role </strong><br> Lead Ruby on Rails Software Engineer needed to join the Engineering team. This is a technical leadership role for someone with deep Ruby on Rails expertise and a strong understanding of technology architecture, programming languages, systems, and security models, who can drive the architecture and delivery of complex software solutions, mentor engineers, and lead cross-team technical initiatives.</p><p>The role combines hands-on technical ownership with people leadership: you'll be responsible both for the systems you design and for the growth of the engineers around you.</p><p></p><p><strong>Responsibilities</strong></p><ul><li>Leading the architecture, design, and development of Ruby on Rails applications</li><li>Planning and overseeing large technical projects involving multiple engineering teams</li><li>Coordinating tasks and assignments within complex cross-team projects</li><li>Driving technical direction, coding standards, and engineering best practices</li><li>Mentoring and developing junior, intermediate, and senior engineers</li><li>Collaborating with Product, Engineering, and Architecture teams to deliver scalable solutions</li><li>Identifying technical risks and driving resolution strategies</li><li>Identifying team-specific technical issues and proposing or implementing solutions</li><li>Evaluating new technologies and recommending solutions aligned with business goals</li><li>Leading prototyping and research initiatives for future platform improvements</li></ul><p></p><ul><li>7+ years of experience in software development</li><li>5+ years of professional experience with Ruby on Rails</li><li>Experience designing and scaling APIs, distributed systems, and web applications</li><li>Experience with MySQL or other relational databases</li><li>Experience with Git and modern CI/CD practices</li><li>Expert-level software development, debugging, testing, and analytical skills</li><li>2+ years of experience planning and executing cross-team technical projects</li><li>Expert-level knowledge of relevant sector technologies, engineering processes, and security models</li><li>Strong written and spoken English (interviews are conducted in English)</li><li>Ability to freely communicate in Russian or Ukrainian</li></ul><p><strong>Nice to Have</strong></p><ul><li>Experience with microservices and service-oriented architectures</li><li>Experience integrating third-party platforms and APIs</li><li>Leadership, team-building, and mentoring skills</li><li>Strategic thinking and ability to evaluate alternative technical approaches</li><li>Strong communication and stakeholder management skills</li><li>Data-driven decision-making and analytical mindset</li><li>Expertise in using generative AI tools to improve software development, code quality, debugging, testing, documentation, and engineering productivity</li><li>Experience working on multiple projects in various stages simultaneously</li></ul><p><strong>Compensation:</strong> Up to $6,000 gross/month</p><p><strong>What's Offered</strong></p><ul><li>Stable, long-term position with a well-established American company (many team members have 5+ years of tenure)</li><li>Significant ownership and responsibility for the systems you develop</li><li>Dynamic, continually growing company culture where your contributions make a real difference</li><li>Fast, agile development within a smart, highly collaborative, and dedicated team</li><li>Cutting-edge, open-source tech stack and large-scale, global applications with real impact on students, classrooms, and institutions of higher learning</li><li>Friendly and supportive team culture</li></ul><p><strong>Contract type:</strong> Independent contractor (sole proprietor / IP), incubator arrangements are not accepted.</p>