Lead Backend Developer

Job description / Role

Job Purpose:

Design, develop, improve and maintain the e-commerce architecture of one world-renowned department store for its Middle East omnichannel footprint. Manage other technical team members (both in-house and outsourced) to ensure sure the platform is launched on time and remains scalable for future business needs and expansion plans.

Strongly contributing to the solution's blue print, the Lead Backend Developer effectively works as a team leader in designing the technical specifications, being part of the core development and the code review process. Translate business needs into effective technical solutions using available technologies in the market. Map the business requirements to the product capabilities (Downstream OMS: Oracle customized; Commerce: Magento, Frontend: React with Node.js APIs, etc.) and layout the extensions wherever safe and possible or to develop the bespoke components.

Functional Responsibilities:

• Manage a team of Front-end developers (React), Magento developer(s), Full stack developers (Node.js, React), both in-house and/or remote, to release and maintain a fully fledged e-commerce solution with strong omnichannel features.
• Help defining effort estimations, sprints, project timelines with the help of ad-hoc project managers and product team inputs.
• Help recruit and interview new team members, both in-house and/or remote.
• Design scalable solutions that are suited to the enterprise architecture.
• Identify the performance bottlenecks by monitoring the application and provide technical solutions.
• Be part of the core development team as well as review the delivered code to make sure it adheres to the best practices.
• Enable the business units by supplying a rapidly deliverable solution architecture.
• Understand the capabilities of the team and engage where necessary to promote lead practice and learning, acting as the team leader for the whole technology team (4 - 8 people).
• Be responsible for the quality of the deliverables of the project against requirements
• Deliver fit / gap analysis between requirements and OOTB features. Fit / gap analysis should detail any level of customization required.
• Partner with project teams to clarify requirements, initiate solutions and develop deliverable software in the iterations of Scrum.
• Build internal confidence and ensure team success with solid technical skills and knowledge, hands-on implementation capabilities, can-do attitude, excellent communication skills, reliability and commitment to deliver quality.
• Coordinate with outside vendors (where applicable) to ensure their work is delivered on time and on scope.

Team Work:

• Promote a culture of innovation and teamwork.
• Mentor and coach other colleagues in best practices and lead projects.
• Inspire the team to reach higher results with proper thought leadership.
• Participate as a contributor to an interdisciplinary team that includes designers, project managers, product managers, business stakeholders, testers and developers.

People Development:

• Manage backend team including hiring, on-boarding, and professional development.
• Provide leadership and direction to subordinates towards the achievement of satisfying career goals and objectives.
• Guide and motivate subordinates to enhance performance and produce quality work, and ensure that they are continuously developed for higher level roles.
• Mentor team members (developers) to acquire your knowledge whilst growing into a more senior role.
• Includes employee evaluation, team building, employee counselling and/or discipline, and approving any recommendations for hiring (developers but not limited to), termination, pay changes, job changes, and training.
• Prepare performance evaluation and appraisal reports of direct reports to assess subordinates productivity and progress and identify training needs of team members to improve efficiency and ensure conformity with standard procedures and practices.

Key Internal and External Interactions:

Internal

• Product Management
• Product Designers
• Business/Product Analysts
• Project Managers
• QA and other developers
• Business stakeholders

External

• 3rd party agencies for remote resources
• 3rd party vendors for product evaluation / integration

Requirements

Education:

• Computer Science or Engineering background or equivalent experience in writing enterprise software products.

Experience:

• 6+ years of experience in installation, design and implementation of web and mobile applications
• 3+ years of Node.JS backend development with relational database experience
• 3+ years of proven eCommerce/ Omnichannel experience; MEAN / MERN stack and Magento implementation would be considered a huge plus
• Experience with managing teams of both in-house and remote resource is fundamental
• Experience with onshore/offshore specification/documentation style, agile and hybrid implementation methodologies with related components
• Experience with UNIX/Linux command line and shell scripting

Functional Skills:

• Have an experience on Node.JS development, enhancement and customization.
• Have an experience on REST APIs (preferably Stateless) and exposing data repositories via API's on Magento Commerce.
• Have an experience on headless / abstract architectures in terms of back-end and front-end communication.
• "Web-speed" development (weekly releases) and are comfortable delivering with tight deadlines and short release cycles.
• Fair knowledge of front-end (React, HTML5, CSS) and back-end (Node.JS, J2EEs, JSP, .NET, PHP) teams / technologies.
• Fair knowledge of Hybrid / native mobile development technologies.
• Comfort with agile development methodology and continuous integration.
• DevOps knowledge and understanding.

The following skills are plus:

• Setup of a 24 x 7 site with 99.99% availability across more than one geographical availability zone
• Retail Management Systems capabilities understanding
• Knowledge of JIRA system or Kanban boards for issues & tickets workflow management

About the Company

Established in 1979, Al Tayer Group is a privately-held, diversified company with operations in 12 countries in the Middle East and beyond. With over 7,800 employees from 95 different nationalities, the Group has its headquarters in Dubai, UAE.

Al Tayer Group operates leading, quality-focused businesses in automobile sales and service, luxury and lifestyle retail, perfumes and cosmetics distribution, engineering as well as interiors contracting. The Groups portfolio includes several of the worlds leading brands such as Armani, Bvlgari, Banana Republic, Ford, Ferrari, Gucci, Gap, Harvey Nichols and Maserati. The Group operates over 180 stores across multiple markets in the Middle East. In addition, Al Tayer Group has investments in commercial real estate, contracting, supply chain management, precision tools manufacturing and travel agency services.