Software Engineer

***Ideal start date is ASAP*

**NOTE: MUST BE FLUENT IN ENGLISH

Something made you click on this job post. Whether you're unemployed, unhappy in your current role, or just looking for a new challenge, this job description is for you.

We’re here to help!

But first, a little about us.

About Pilot

Pilot is an upcoming social travel planning app that helps people live happier lives through shared experiences. We're passionate about affecting social change, and we want to enrich the travel experience, helping people to live happier lives by achieving their dream of exploring the world. As we're an early-stage startup, you'll get the opportunity to gain a greater depth of experience and learning than any corporate job could provide. Your work will lay the foundation for what could one day be a large corporation. At Pilot you won't be a cog in the machine. You'll be building the machine.

Pilot is a Next Canada Accelerated Venture. We've spent the last 6 months doing market research, customer discovery interviews, and prototyping to build a travel technology company we know is going to be big.

Currently, we are a team of 9, passionate about travel.

Prior to Pilot, our CEO grew NiceJob, a B2B software (SaaS) company to 30 full-time employees with more than $3.4 million in annual recurring revenue, which was recognized as one of the top 2 startups in British Columbia, Canada in the 2019 New Ventures BC competition (won $60,000), and was listed on the Ready to Rocket list of fastest-growing tech companies in BC. This was all done without any investors. NiceJob was acquired for a $30mil post-money valuation on March 1st 2021, making our CEO a partner in a fintech firm valued at over $150mil. Prior to that, he ran an event marketing company managing ~400 students with teams across 12 Canadian cities, and was one of the first employees at a now billion dollar hospitality startup.

When you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, normally you don’t ask what seat, you just get on. But here at Pilot, we look for incredible talent at every level, hiring people who are looking for careers, not jobs. Innovation is our blood, and we’re redefining what it means to grow and market a business. We’re building a world where social media encourages social interaction offline, not online.

Want your seat? Read on below.

Need more convincing? Learn more about careers at Pilot here: https://www.pilotplans.com/careers

The Role. The Goal.

It’s very simple. We want our product developed faster.

That’s it. If you can figure out how to do that for Pilot, we don’t care how you accomplish it.

That said, we did title this role what we did for a reason. We’re looking for someone who thinks they can do the following well; things we know or believe can help up accomplish the above goal:

Job Summary

Keep in mind, these are entirely subject to change based on where you get the most results. It’s a startup. You have to be adaptable and we’re open to that. Here goes:

You will be developing and exercising your skills in…

• Node.js
• NoSQL & SQL
• GraphQL
• Testing Driven Design
• Machine Learning
• Google Cloud Platform (currently Firebase), including: Firestore, Firebase Hosting, Cloud Functions, Realtime Database + BigQuery, etc.
• Proof of significant scale completed projects
• Pushing to code production
• Working in a CI/CD environment
• REST APIs
• Strong understanding of what makes a great UX

Most of these we’re already doing to a degree, so you’ll be expected to either take ownership over them entirely or aid in their maintenance and ongoing improvement. Interested?

You’ll need to be eager and ready to work hard. We’re moving fast, and that means doing a lot more in less time. Still, work-life balance is important so you won’t be taking on more than is reasonable to accomplish within normal working hours.

The Culture

🎉 We’re fun. We’re friendly. What more could you ask for. ;)

😍 You’ll get to help people, and people will help you. We all genuinely care and are passionate about helping other people more than just ourselves.

🏆 You’ll be recognized and respected.

🌎 We’re proud to have a diverse team, with an equal gender split on the executive team.

🎓 Strong employee development (mentorship) with others from top universities in a culture of humility.

👑 Hierarchy Schmhierarchy. We let you be your own boss here, we’re just here to keep you on track and give direction.

💰 £9,000 – £11,000

Read our 22 page culture code here:

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gadFcFo79JWtVyI7n1FMj4wYePfzirAvZ1_kS7d2WnQ/edit?usp=sharing

You can also learn more about life at Pilot and other tech startup jobs we have open here: https://www.pilotplans.com/careers

Role Requirements

There’s no cookie-cutter model of the perfect applicant, so anyone can apply.

As long as you think you have either the necessary skills or the ability to learn them very quickly to do this role, you’re good. We care about your ability to execute, not your experience - though it certainly can be an indicator.

That said, if this role is local, you must be legally allowed to work in Canada, with the intent of staying local to Vancouver for the long term.

Additionally, the ideal candidate is probably…

• Excellent spoken and written communication ability
• Fluent (or native speaker) in English
• Understands best practices for working in a development team environment, including documentation, commenting, and semantic naming
• Can convey complex topics simply
• Someone with a good understanding of human psychology, who understands how the product SHOULD work when presented to them, and isn’t afraid to ask questions for clarification
• Someone with a strong portfolio of projects they’ve worked on previously or another way to demonstrate their ability.

Proudly an Equal Opportunities Employer

At Pilot, we don’t just accept diversity — we celebrate it, we encourage it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products, and our community.

• We are committed to fostering belonging through a diverse and inclusive workplace.
• We do not discriminate against any race, gender, religious affiliation, ethnicity or any other demographic - instead, we celebrate diversity.
• We don't ask or pay people based on what they used to make. We pay people what they're worth. To resolve this, we benchmark positions against industry rates and then beat them to attract and retain the best talent.
• Lastly, we hire for culture add, not culture fit so that we can gain unique skills, viewpoints, and ultimately innovation.

What are you waiting for, apply now! No cover letter required!