Digital Democracy is looking for a front-end developer with 3+ years experience to join our small, remote team on a 6-month contract (with potential long-term) starting as soon as possible. You will help build cutting-edge open-source mobile and desktop mapping apps for remote and marginalized communities to document, map, monitor, manage and report information on environmental and human rights issues around the world.

We’ve seen firsthand that change does not come from technology, but from how people use it. We are building tools our partners are using to achieve transformative change. We are dedicated to working towards a world where all people can participate in the decisions that govern their lives.

What we’re looking for

You will work with our growing, small team of four engineers and designers to help maintain the tools and websites used by Digital Democracy and our partners in the field. You will also provide support in building new features and fixing bugs in the Mapeo desktop app, written in React+Electron, and mobile app, written in React Native. You have 3+ years experience working in a team to deliver apps to production. You are proficient in React and are familiar with using Git for collaboration. You are comfortable working on a variety of tools such as interactive story maps, our website, and online user manuals.

We are a small, high-impact team that takes a collaborative approach to tool-building and decision-making. Our tool development is led by our partner communities. You would be building tools that will be tested and used by our partners to confront real problems on the ground in the Amazon and around the world: Protection of the world’s forests and their ancestral homelands from deforestation and contamination. We need someone who can think creatively and collaboratively to solve these problems.

The Role

Maintain standard websites using HTML, CSS, Markdown, and basic JavaScript.
Maintain several tools that use many different technologies. We do not expect you to know everything, but are willing to learn and ask questions when needed.
Support the development of new features and bug fixes for an existing React Native mobile app and React+Electron desktop app for offline mapping, monitoring, and storytelling. Both apps are primarily written in TypeScript, so while a familiarity with it is helpful, it is not required.
You’re comfortable working with a small team and jumping in to help where needed.

Requirements

Love of code. You love a challenge, value testing, and create maintainable code.
Values-based. You share our belief in building tools that prioritize the autonomy of our partners, and challenge legacies of colonialism and extraction.
Enthusiasm for open source. We have over 100 repositories on Github and believe in building open tools that others can contribute to and build upon.
Self-directed. You are comfortable with managing your own priorities and tasks in coordination with a small, remote team.
Zeal for design. A listen-based, human-centered design process is at the heart of our work. The tools you build need to be accessible and easy-to-use for smart, fast learners who have maybe never touched a computer or smartphone before.
A no-ego approach and a willingness to learn and grow the team.
Experience working with a team (Product Manager, UX Designer and tech team) to plan, prioritize, build, and deploy code.

Other qualities we’re on the lookout for

Experience working within an Agile environment
Ability to communicate technical concepts to the team and partners in non-technical terms.
Experience in iOS Development
Ability to speak more than one language, in particular Spanish or Portuguese

Benefits

4-day week. We consider “full time” to be a 4-day week (8 hours per day).
Flexible schedule, location and hours. As an organization we embrace working smarter, not harder. We are happy for you to work from where you live, on a schedule that works for you
Opportunity to visit our partners in the field. Although most of the job is desk based, this role may include travel to our partner communities for workshops if you continue working with us long-term beyond the current pandemic.
Opportunity to play a key role at a ground-breaking organization. You have the opportunity to make a big impact in a small team.
Compensation commensurate with experience. $6,000—$7,000 per month (for a 4-day week

Our Team

Our small but growing team is based in Montreal & Squamish, Canada; New York, DC Metro Area & Washington State, USA; Barcelona, Spain; Goiás, Brazil; Lima, Peru; Hastings & Edinburgh, U.K. and we welcome candidates from around the world, especially South America. We embrace distributed working, and are happy for you to work from where you live. The Indigenous communities we work with have lived through colonization and deal with its effects everyday, along with marginalization and discrimination against their language and culture. It is therefore particularly important that we build a diverse team with individuals who understand and empathize with their situation. Indigenous people, people of color, women, LGBTQ folk and others who identify as coming from a marginalized identity are strongly urged to apply. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Digital Democracy

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