Front-end Developer
Fastmail, Australia
Job Description
At Fastmail, we’re building a better future for the internet. We are creating this through our commitment to advancing open standards and user privacy. When the vast majority of people get email for free, our users choose us because they value both privacy and a great user experience. Our podcast, Digital Citizen, provides listeners with actionable advice about digital citizenship in their lives and our open source projects power email applications and more across the world.
We’re searching for a mid level front-end developer to join our team. You’ll work with our collaborative team of developers, designers, and researchers to improve our customers’ experience, keeping it secure and a delight to use. We work together to write code that is optimised for in-browser speed and resilience. Our web app has to stay responsive while interacting with a sometimes-wayward server. The network isn’t reliable, latency is non-zero, and every missed data binding means one more bizarre state that the interface can enter. There’s always an interesting new challenge to solve!
We use the tools the browser provides. Our interfaces are built in JavaScript, on our own Overture framework and the JMAP network standard. This gives us full control from top to bottom to build the right solutions.
Requirements
Much of what we do is bespoke so the most important attribute for success in this role is a willingness to learn and ask questions. The Fastmail web client is a complete network application running in the browser. You'll be learning many parts of the web API that often look cool but don't get used: IndexedDB, web workers, push, and the list goes on. As a web client for real standards, you'll also learn the web, calendar, and contact standards as they are, without lossy mediation by a third party web service API.
You’re comfortable working with marketing, design and product managers to collaborate on feature development. You enjoy engaging with your colleagues to find the ideal solution. Experience with design systems is a bonus.
You strive to find root causes and apply the fix at the right level of the stack; this includes reading other people’s code and determining why it exists before making changes. You delight in an elegant solution, especially if it makes the user’s experience faster. We take pride in the little details, and we hope you do too.
You have excellent written language skills for async communication, strong verbal and interpersonal skills for collaborating in person, patience, diligence, and an ability to gracefully adapt to change.
If this sounds like you and you’re not sure if you have enough experience, we encourage you to apply and have a chat with us.
Benefits
This is a full time hybrid role. And, like everyone on our team, you’ll get great benefits.
- 4 weeks paid parental leave at full salary
- annual professional development budget to fund your own growth
- opportunities to travel to our sister office in Philadelphia, a historic US city!
- dedicated time to contribute to open source, internet standards, and conference talks
This job is based in Melbourne CBD. We have a strong in-person culture and are looking for someone who will be on-site and part of that culture. We aim to be in the office 3 days a week and you are welcome to work your remaining schedule at home or in the office. We also offer further remote flexibility for life events.
We’re in close communication with our colleagues in Philadelphia. This means that you’ll need to be available for an hour or two of morning calls (from 8am) each week. We are partners, parents and caregivers ourselves, and we understand time-zone flexibility goes in both directions. Talk to us if you’re unsure.
We encourage employees to write and speak about the great work we do, and to stay engaged with their professional peers. Many staff members choose to attend conferences for learning and networking, and several staff members are regular conference speakers.
You can read about our values, and our blog contains interviews with some of the people who will become your colleagues at Fastmail.
We welcome all applicants regardless of race, colour, religion, age, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, disability, or sexual orientation. The thing we can’t help with is a visa or sponsorship. You must already have the right to work in the Australia.