Software Architect - Back End

About Ted TED is a nonprofit that shares educational and inspiring ideas with billions of people worldwide. As part of TED’s Learning & Education arm, TED@Work supports organizations as they learn, grow and lead through change. We enable global teams to create powerful learning moments through curated TED Talks, courses, events and other learning experiences. Job Description POSITION OVERVIEW TED delivers conferences and media that brings communities together around Ideas Worth Spreading and delivers those ideas to millions of people around the world. As Software Architect, Back-End, you will own the back-end systems and architecture that power TED’s media, identity, and associated systems. You will build and maintain large-scale systems in Ruby on Rails backed by MySQL. You will assure the reliable delivery of service to millions of people. This is an opportunity for your work to elevate the world’s most urgent ideas on a platform with global reach and a massive audience. Responsibilities Ensure the successful delivery of TED’s digital platform experience through rigorous engineering best-practices including coding to team-accepted standards, test-driven development practices, CI/CD enablement, observability and alerting implementation, and thorough documentation. Deliver a technology back-end that meets demanding SLAs 24/7/365Collaborate with product managers, engineers and stakeholders to ensure clear and consistent expectations for deliveryEngage fully in program management practices and ceremonies including team including scrum-style meetings, standups, wider department meetings, use of ticketing and tracking systems and other processes that may be prescribed Promote pairing and conduct code reviews with engineers in order to provide support, feedback and encouragement. Foster growth and support other back-end engineers through constructive, collaborative code reviewsAnalyze user requirements and design solutions for new featuresDesign tools and libraries that will be used by other back-end engineers and company-wideManage and monitor back-end testing, performance, and code qualityInfluence and guide the direction of our conference products back-end Experiment with new technologies and share discoveries with the teamEnthusiasm for and usage of AI-enabled workflows to accelerate the team’s workWillingness to contribute however possible to ensure overall effectiveness of the positionOther duties and special projects as may be assigned from time to time Qualifications 10+ years Ruby on Rails experience, including gem development or rails engines10+ years MySQL experience12+ years overall professional experience in software developmentExperienced with DevOps technologies including containerization solutions with a preference for Docker/AWSExperience authoring and delivering APIs via GraphQL strongly preferredDemonstrated success in designing complex ecosystems of web servicesDemonstrated experience using AI technology to accelerate coding productivity without sacrificing quality Experience with issues of scalability, uptime and quality of serviceExperience with data security and privacyExperienced in additional relational and document-based database technologiesStrong focus on code-quality, documentation, test-driven development, performance, scalability, monitoring, and readabilityAble to debug and test problems through complex, interconnected web services. Curious and knowledgeable about new web technologies and frameworks. Able to refactor legacy projects in addition to greenfield developmentOwnership of work with the ability to drive projects from inception through to completion, balancing doing it right and doing it fastValues cross-functional collaboration and a diverse workplaceFamiliarity with git, version control, and Unix/Linux command line best practicesSome experience with Javascript back-end technology: Express/Node a plusSome experience in Javascript, CSS, HTML, and related Web APIs a plus Additional Information WORKPLACE CONDITIONS / PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND VISUAL DEMANDS General: Office environmentPhysical: Repetitive movement of wrists, hands, and/or fingersMental/Visual: Concentrated mental and/or visual attention; work involves performing tasks to very close accuracy and quality specificationsMachines, Tools, Equipment, Electronic Devices, Computer Software: Ability to use common office equipment such as telephone, computer and copierComputer programs to include MS Office, Mac programs, Google Docs, functional related databasesTravel: Upon request TED Conferences LLC is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We invite all qualified candidates to apply online with their cover letter, resume, and writing sample or portfolio.