SparkFun Electronics/Boulder, CO
Company Description
SparkFun Electronics is an online shop for the do-it-yourself electronics enthusiast that operates out of a purpose-built 80,000 sq ft office in Boulder, CO. Our customers include inventors, artists, students, hobbyists, and just plain curious individuals looking for some fun tinkering with electronics.
SparkFun is also very committed to bringing electronics education into the mainstream by curating free educational materials and working with schools and institutions around the country to bring electronics into the classroom. Lastly, SparkFun is a staunch advocate of the open source movement, most notably being a leader in Open Source Hardware.
SparkFun is a growing company with $32 million in sales in 2014. Having never taken any venture capital, SparkFun grew to its current state entirely on its own ability to generate revenue. This affords SparkFun a high degree of autonomy and independence which fosters a startup-like environment in a well-established medium-sized company.
Job Description
About the Department
SparkFun's Information Technology department is responsible for the continuous development, maintenance, and security of all SparkFun web properties. This includes the primary ecommerce website (sparkfun.com) and the primary educational resources website (learn.sparkfun.com). Also included is Sparkle, SparkFun's custom-built ERP system which is used to manage all content on the aforementioned web properties as well as order processing, customer management, shipping, inventory controls, manufacturing, etc.
IT is also generally responsible for all server, network, computer, and software needs for the organization as a whole. This includes building and maintaining the campus network, deploying computers, printers, phones, and mobile devices to all departments, guiding the software selection and implementation process, and generally facilitating the flow of information throughout the company.
The Daily Workflow
The IT Director oversees all operations of the IT department. This can manifest as a mentor and air-traffic controller for the development team, or as a primary stakeholder and liaison for stakeholders inside and outside the company demanding development resources. The director oversees the budget by scheduling and approving equipment and software acquisition.
The IT Director regularly meets with other directors and top-level managers to facilitate documentation, management, implementation, and training of a wide variety of projects and initiatives. The director also provides general guidance and strategic vision for how to cultivate organizational strategy in terms of available resources and realistic time lines. Finally, the director is responsible for guiding the development, documentation, and implementation of all policies relating to digital information, security, access, and usage.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
• Experience managing developers on medium to large scale web applications
• Experience recruiting technical professionals (developers, systems administrators, etc.)
• Experience organizing multiple concurrent projects with interdependencies
• Experience with modern version control systems such as Git
• Familiarity with the general mechanics of modern web-based languages and technologies (e.g. HTTPS / HTML / JavaScript / CSS / web server languages like PHP / relational databases like MySQL or PostgreSQL)
• Experience with modern ecommerce business models and requirements (e.g. PCI compliance)
• Experience overseeing an annual budget in excess of $1 million
• Detail-oriented and diplomatic written and verbal communication skills
Preferred Qualifications
• Experience developing any software whatsoever, especially anything web-based
• Experience administering software issue tracking systems like Bugzilla or similar
• General understanding of the MVC software architecture
• Experience with public speaking and community engagement / outreach
• Experience reading and interpreting corporate financial documents
• A visible track record of contributions to open source projects or a demonstrable history of using open source technologies
• A general interest in electronics or the maker movement
• An innate understanding of Brooks's Law
Additional Information
Workplace Benefits
Note: all benefits become available after an initial on-boarding period of six weeks.
• Health, dental, and disability insurance (with FSA and HSA options)
• 401k matching up to 5%
• Eco pass
• Full on-site gym
• 2 weeks paid vacation to start, 3 weeks after one full year of employment
• $1000/year continuing education/professional development fund
• $25/month gym/massage benefit
Perks
Note: some perks only become available after an initial on-boarding period of six weeks.
• Flex time – days/hours in the office can be a compromise between work life and home life
• Liberal work from home / work remote policy (note: not interested in permanent remote employees for this position)
• Free and/or deeply discounted access to tools, parts, and education to tinker with electronics and physical computing
• Frequent Lunch and Learns – presentations by other employees and special guests on all manner of topics (often catered)
• Strong support and encouragement for professional development such as travel to conferences, speaking at events, access to training and software to improve you in your role at SparkFun (beyond your continuing education benefit).
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