Lead Ruby on Rails Software Engineer

Alex Staff; Town of Poland (NY); On-site; USD 40,000 - 67,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation up to $6,000

Job summary

Alex Staff is seeking a Lead Ruby on Rails Software Engineer to join our Engineering team in a technical leadership role, combining hands-on ownership with people leadership.

You will design and scale Rails applications, mentor engineers, oversee cross‑team projects, and drive architecture, coding standards, and security practices to deliver high‑quality software.

This independent contractor position offers a dynamic, globally distributed team and compensation up to $6,000 gross per month.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software development experience.
• 5+ years of professional Ruby on Rails experience.
• Experience designing and scaling APIs, distributed systems, and web apps.
• Experience with MySQL or other relational databases.
• Experience with Git and modern CI/CD practices.
• Expert-level software development, debugging, testing, and analytical skills.
• 2+ years of cross-team project planning/execution.
• Expert knowledge of sector technologies, processes, and security models.
• Strong written and spoken English (interviews in English).
• Ability to communicate in Russian or Ukrainian.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture, design, and development of Ruby on Rails applications.
• Plan and oversee large technical projects with multiple engineering teams.
• Coordinate tasks within cross-team projects.
• Set technical direction, coding standards, and best practices.
• Mentor junior, mid, and senior engineers.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Architecture teams to deliver scalable solutions.
• Identify technical risks and drive resolutions.
• Prototyping and researching future platform improvements.

Skills

Ruby on Rails

API design

MySQL

Git & CI/CD

Architecture & security

Leadership/mentoring

English proficiency

Russian/Ukrainian

Job description

About The Company 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.

About The Role 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. 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.

Responsibilities

• Leading the architecture, design, and development of Ruby on Rails applications
• Planning and overseeing large technical projects involving multiple engineering teams
• Coordinating tasks and assignments within complex cross-team projects
• Driving technical direction, coding standards, and engineering best practices
• Mentoring and developing junior, intermediate, and senior engineers
• Collaborating with Product, Engineering, and Architecture teams to deliver scalable solutions
• Identifying technical risks and driving resolution strategies
• Identifying team-specific technical issues and proposing or implementing solutions
• Evaluating new technologies and recommending solutions aligned with business goals
• Leading prototyping and research initiatives for future platform improvements

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in software development
• 5+ years of professional experience with Ruby on Rails
• Experience designing and scaling APIs, distributed systems, and web applications
• Experience with MySQL or other relational databases
• Experience with Git and modern CI/CD practices
• Expert-level software development, debugging, testing, and analytical skills
• 2+ years of experience planning and executing cross-team technical projects
• Expert-level knowledge of relevant sector technologies, engineering processes, and security models
• Strong written and spoken English (interviews are conducted in English)
• Ability to freely communicate in Russian or Ukrainian

Nice to Have

• Experience with microservices and service-oriented architectures
• Experience integrating third-party platforms and APIs
• Leadership, team-building, and mentoring skills
• Strategic thinking and ability to evaluate alternative technical approaches
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Data-driven decision-making and analytical mindset
• Expertise in using generative AI tools to improve software development, code quality, debugging, testing, documentation, and engineering productivity
• Experience working on multiple projects in various stages simultaneously

Benefits

• Compensation: Up to $6,000 gross/month
• Stable, long-term position with a well-established American company (many team members have 5+ years of tenure)
• Significant ownership and responsibility for the systems you develop
• Dynamic, continually growing company culture where your contributions make a real difference
• Fast, agile development within a smart, highly collaborative, and dedicated team
• Cutting-edge, open-source tech stack and large-scale, global applications with real impact on students, classrooms, and institutions of higher learning
• Friendly and supportive team culture

Contract type: Independent contractor (sole proprietor / IP), incubator arrangements are not accepted.