Web Developer Position (FILLED)

Web Developer Position (FILLED)

Web Developer Position (FILLED)

Full time remote position, apply by October 12 2022.

The Calyx Institute is hiring a Web Developer to play a key role in contributing to the design, development, and maintenance of web applications created by Calyx Institute. In this role, you will contribute to our custom-built web-based application for membership, donations, and inventory management. The Web Developer will help maintain the public facing Calyx websites, such as calyxinstitute.org and calyxos.org. As a small but growing nonprofit, Calyx is looking for someone who can work both independently and in close collaboration with our team.

In the coming year, we expect that you would be able to:

• Fix bugs and add features to our web applications.
• Help upgrade a Rails 5 application to Rails 7.
• Help migrate from MariaDB to PostgreSQL.
• Extract key components of our web application and make them open source.
• Modify our web applications to work in containers.

In the future, this role will have the opportunity to work on the design and implementation of our future digital cloud services that integrate with and support CalyxOS, in order to provide a complete and easy to use mobile experience with the highest level of privacy and security.

Qualifications

Essential skills

• Programming in Ruby on Rails.
• Relational databases (preferably MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or MySQL).
• Basic understanding of how the web works (sockets, DNS, HTTP, TLS, cookies).
• Familiarity with common git tasks such as forking, branching, merging, reviewing, and rebasing.
• Familiarity with SSH: generating keys, validating host keys, installing authorized keys.
• Ease and comfort using command line tools and shell scripts in a Linux environment.
• English proficiency required.

Recommended skills

• Understanding of common critical web vulnerabilities (SQL injection, cross site scripting attacks, session hijacking, etc).
• Experience with open source software development.

Ideal candidate qualities

• You should be a self-directed person, able to work efficiently under light management, and work well within a distributed team. Good communication skills are essential.
• We are seeking candiates who are interested in furthering our mission of educating the public about privacy and surveillance, and advancing the work of creating and providing “privacy by design” services and software.

We know that there are great candidates that may not exactly match the job description as it is written. Even if you do not think you meet all of the parameters described above, we would still encourage you to apply and tell your story. We all wear many hats, but we don’t expect anyone to wear every hat.

Compensation and Benefits

• $80,000-$90,000 / year, depending on experience and qualifications.
• Medical, Vision and Dental Insurance for US-based employees. Medical premiums are covered 100% and Vision and Dental insurance are covered 99% by Calyx.
• Tools: Calyx provides a work laptop, wireless internet hotspot, and phone equipped with CalyxOS to full time staff.
• 15 days PTO annually.
• 11 holidays annually, with a floating holiday policy.
• Generous sick leave and parental leave.
• Professional development, including covering costs for conference and event attendance.
• Annual performance reviews and salary increases that take into account rising costs of living, staff performance, and average nonprofit salary bands.
• Time-zone flexible work hours.

About Calyx Institute

The Calyx Institute is a small but growing non-profit headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. Our purpose is to educate the public about privacy in digital communications, to develop and provide “privacy by design” services and software, and share our experience and software with other organizations in order to ensure that everyone has access to a safe, secure, and private digital life.

We have several staff working in the office, several staff working remotely in the US, and several contractors working around the globe. We serve over ten thousand dues-paying members, and support millions of users through various projects such as CalyxOS, SeedVault, and CalyxVPN.

Calyx is funded primarily by our membership program. Through a partnership with the nonprofit Mobile Citizen, member donors can receive a wireless hotspot with unlimited access to T-Mobile’s 4G and 5G networks.

In addition to the mobile internet, the primary project areas of Calyx Institute include:

• Digital Services: We host several online services that promote privacy and prevent censorship.
• Grants and Sponsorship: We offer small grants and fiscal sponsorship to projects working in the areas of free software, human rights, privacy, and technology.
• CalyxOS: We develop and distribute one of the most popular alternative operating systems for Android devices, with a focus on privacy, security, and usability.
• Education: We develop educational materials and events relating to online privacy.

The Calyx Institute is an equal opportunity employer. Calyx encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction. We are committed to building a collaborative workplace that promotes skill-building of our employees, especially those from backgrounds that have historically been excluded from access to technology spaces.

Depending on your role, employees may be required to come in to the office at times. Our office policy requires proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test result before entrance, and adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols. During the pandemic, we are prioritizing work-from-home to the maximum extent possible. This position may involve out-of-state travel several times a year to conferences when it is safe to resume such activities. Calyx also offers generous sick leave to ensure anyone who is sick stays home until they’ve fully recovered.

How to Apply

To apply, please send the following to jobs@calyxinstitute.org with a subject line that includes the job title:

• A cover letter in PDF format. Please indicate in your cover letter where you learned of this career opportunity.
• A 1-2 page resumé in PDF format.
• 2 professional or academic references with contact information.