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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for a Ruby On Rails Engineer

💰 $120,000 - $180,000

Software EngineeringBackend DevelopmentFull-Stack Development

🎯 Role Definition

As a Ruby on Rails Engineer, you are the backbone of our application's server-side logic. You will architect, develop, and maintain our core services, APIs, and data structures. This role involves close collaboration with product, design, and frontend teams to transform ideas into tangible, high-quality features. You'll be instrumental in ensuring our platform is scalable, secure, and performs flawlessly, directly impacting user experience and business success. We're looking for a proactive individual who takes ownership of their work and is eager to contribute to a collaborative, high-performing engineering culture.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Junior/Associate Software Engineer
  • Full-Stack Developer (with experience in other frameworks like Python/Django or Node.js)
  • Software Engineer from a different tech stack eager to specialize in Rails

Advancement To:

  • Senior Ruby on Rails Engineer
  • Staff Engineer / Principal Engineer
  • Engineering Manager or Tech Lead

Lateral Moves:

  • DevOps Engineer
  • Solutions Architect
  • Technical Product Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Design, build, and maintain efficient, reusable, and reliable Ruby code to support our core platform features and new product initiatives.
  • Develop and integrate robust, scalable, and secure backend services and APIs that power our user-facing web and mobile applications.
  • Actively participate in the entire software development lifecycle, from initial concept and requirements gathering through to deployment, monitoring, and maintenance.
  • Write comprehensive and high-quality tests using RSpec and Capybara to ensure application stability, prevent regressions, and enable confident refactoring.
  • Collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and frontend engineers to define feature specifications and deliver seamless, integrated user experiences.
  • Perform thorough code reviews for fellow engineers, providing constructive feedback to maintain high code quality standards and foster a collaborative environment.
  • Optimize application performance by identifying and resolving bottlenecks in database queries, background jobs (Sidekiq), and application logic.
  • Manage and maintain relational databases, primarily PostgreSQL, including schema design, query optimization, and complex data migrations.
  • Implement and maintain continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to automate testing and streamline the deployment process.
  • Troubleshoot and debug complex production issues, identifying root causes and implementing effective, long-term solutions to ensure system reliability.
  • Contribute to architectural discussions and decisions, helping to shape the future direction of our technology stack, infrastructure, and engineering best practices.
  • Integrate with various third-party services and APIs, such as payment gateways (Stripe), email providers, and analytics platforms.
  • Ensure the security of our application by implementing and enforcing best practices for data protection, authentication (e.g., Devise), and authorization.
  • Refactor and improve the existing codebase to enhance maintainability, scalability, and adherence to modern software design patterns.
  • Develop and maintain background job processing systems using tools like Sidekiq or Resque for handling asynchronous, long-running, and computationally intensive tasks.
  • Stay current with the latest Ruby on Rails advancements, emerging technologies, and industry trends, and advocate for their adoption where appropriate to improve our stack.
  • Create and maintain clear technical documentation for new features, APIs, and system architecture to aid knowledge sharing and streamline onboarding for new team members.
  • Work within an Agile/Scrum development environment, participating in daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospective meetings to ensure iterative progress and team alignment.
  • Build and maintain containerized application environments using Docker and support orchestration efforts with tools like Kubernetes.
  • Monitor application health and performance using tools like New Relic, Datadog, or Sentry, and proactively address potential issues before they impact users.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to provide insights for business stakeholders.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by ensuring data is accessible and well-structured.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements and actionable development tasks.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team and other cross-functional groups.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert-level Proficiency in Ruby and the Ruby on Rails (RoR) Framework: Deep understanding of the Rails ecosystem, conventions, and design patterns.
  • Relational Database Expertise: Strong command of SQL and experience with databases like PostgreSQL or MySQL, including schema design and query optimization.
  • Testing Frameworks: Proven experience with TDD/BDD principles and tools such as RSpec, Minitest, and Capybara.
  • API Development: Experience designing, building, and maintaining RESTful or GraphQL APIs for consumption by web and mobile clients.
  • Background Job Processing: Hands-on experience with Sidekiq, Resque, or a similar background processing framework.
  • Version Control: Mastery of Git, including branching, merging, and pull request workflows (GitHub, GitLab).
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  • Cloud & DevOps: Familiarity with deploying and managing applications on cloud platforms like Heroku, AWS (EC2, S3, RDS), or similar.
  • Caching Strategies: Knowledge of in-memory data stores like Redis or Memcached for performance enhancement.
  • Frontend Technologies: Solid understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Experience with modern tools like Hotwire (Turbo, Stimulus) or a major JS framework (React, Vue) is a plus.
  • Containerization: Practical experience with Docker for local development and creating production-ready container images.

Soft Skills

  • Strong Problem-Solving: Ability to break down complex problems, identify root causes, and implement elegant, effective solutions.
  • Excellent Communication: Capable of clearly articulating technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Collaboration & Teamwork: A proactive team player who thrives in a collaborative environment and enjoys mentoring others.
  • Ownership & Accountability: A strong sense of ownership for the features you build, from conception to production support.
  • Attention to Detail: Meticulous approach to writing clean, maintainable, and well-tested code.
  • Curiosity & Continuous Learning: A desire to stay updated with new technologies and continually improve your skills.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's Degree in a related field or equivalent practical work experience in software development.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Computer Science or a related technical field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Software Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3-7+ years of professional experience in software development, with a significant portion dedicated to building production-level applications with Ruby on Rails.

Preferred:

  • A portfolio of projects or a GitHub profile that demonstrates a strong track record of building scalable, well-crafted Ruby on Rails applications. Experience in a fast-paced, product-driven SaaS or e-commerce environment is highly desirable.
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