Careers
We’re seeking both backend and frontend developers to join the Zao team on a contract basis. As of now, we’re looking for a minimum three-to-six month commitment on a 20-40 hours/week commitment, and ideally, looking to add some folks to our team in the long-term for the right fit. All positions at Zao start with a 90 day trial period.
The kinds of projects we work on:
We work with small to mid-sized companies, with a focus on WordPress eCommerce, advanced development with the new block editor (Gutenberg), learning management, and complex integration development. In particular, Zao delights working with clients to find innovative technical solutions to their problems, with an eye on long-term partnerships to aid our clients in their growth and meeting their goals. We pride ourselves on creating fantastic work, and doing so in a way that is ethical, positive, and collaborative. One of the pillars of the work we do is based in utilizing and contributing to open-source software.
Job duties include but are not limited to:
- Developing eCommerce plugins, most often with WooCommerce, but occasionally with EDD and WP eCommerce as well
- Debugging performance issues
- Performance audits and tweaking
- Code audits
- Advanced WordPress plugin development
- Contributing to open-source software
- Continuous integration and code shipping
- Communicating with our team via Slack and phone/video conferencing software
- Communicating with clients regularly
- Strategizing and architecting technical solutions to resolve client business problems
- Providing weekly updates to the Zao team
- Attending bi-weekly meetings with the Zao team
- Writing the occasional blog post
Applicant Requirements:
Let us know in your application if you’re applying for front-end, back-end, or if you consider yourself comfortable with the full stack! Also, include your favorite emoji in your application and let us know why it’s your favorite ?. It sounds silly, but most applicants won’t do it – and it’s vital for us to hire folks who follow direction well!
- Advanced PHP and JS experience
- Familiar with Git/Version Control
- Familiar with WordPress
- Familiarity with WooCommerce, but also capable of thinking outside of WC to find the best solution possible
- Excellent command of written and spoken English
- Experience with and commitment to open source software – We <3 Github profiles!
- Advanced development skills – You can ship regularly and consistently without breaking stuff
- Remote work experience – You know the flow of working remotely and can communicate well and be accountable without sitting five feet away from your coworkers.
- Excellent, excellent communication skills – You can communicate what you need, what you’re doing, and what you’re thinking clearly.
- Availability to overlap at least four hours within 9AM – 5PM PT – You don’t have to live where we live, but you do need to share at least some of our work hours.
- Self-motivation when it comes to work and professional education – You’re committed to getting stuff done and learning new things, without having your hand held to do so.
- A commitment to transparency and personal accountability – It’s okay if you mess up; we do too. You just have to be able to own it.
- An awesome attitude – Whether you’re an optimist or a realist, you can see the positives of even tough situations and come to work with a can-do ‘tude. You are willing to (and like) solving problems, and view obstacles as opportunities.
Applicant nice-to-haves:
- Proficiency in modern JS frameworks (Vue.js and React especially)
- Proficiency with WP REST API
- Proficiency building complex custom integrations with Gutenberg
What we’re offering:
- Competitive hourly compensation
- A guarantee of at least ten hours a week of work
- An awesome team to work with
- The ability to work from home (or wherever you’d like)
- Flexible scheduling
Here’s what happens if you move full-time:
- Competitive salary
- Medical benefits (including dental) for US-based employees
- Investment in furthering your education as a developer and leader
- Bonuses and raises based on company profit and your hard work
- Flexible PTO, both sick and vacation days
- Company wide profit sharing
- The rest of the above!
Here’s what contractors have to say about working with us when asked to describe working with Zao in three words:
Improving my skillset
Jon Campbell
Fun fun fun. Or ‘fun times three’ if you’d like different words. 🙂
Ian Bixby
Thoughtful delightful experts
Stacy Kvernmo
You can learn more about our individual team members here.
The application and hiring process:
Please fill out the form below with the specified items requested.
Your name, resume, and other information will not be shared until the code has been reviewed and approved on a pass/fail basis. We want to hire awesome folks without any of our internalized biases getting in the way. Period.
This job is open to international applicants.
There will be three interviews for qualified applicants, moving forward to the next interview dependent on the interview that preceded it. We will notify everyone who applies (unless we somehow get thousands of applications) regarding our decision, as we know what it’s like to not be acknowledged when job searching (it sucks).
We look forward to meeting you!
We are not looking for agencies or recruiters at this time.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading to the end! Here is an emoji for your troubles ?. We expect to have this listing open for 20-30 days, depending on the response we get, but if you apply, you will hear back from us no later than February 21st, 2019.