DescriptionAs leader of the team responsible for developing and maintaining Spare's core routing engine, you will play a critical role in designing and building the complex, scalable system that globally optimizes trips for our customers' on-demand transit systems. Working closely with others on the team, you will own the correct and efficient operation of the engine in a variety of real-world trip optimization scenarios.
In this role, you'll split your time 50/50 between hands-on technical contribution and people leadership, working in an autonomous environment where you'll solve interesting technical challenges while growing and mentoring a high-performing team. Currently there are two software developers reporting to this role.
Given the nature of our business, this role requires someone who can balance technical expertise with strong product sensibilities, creating solutions that are both technically sound and accessible to end users. The role includes some travel as part of the job responsibilities – specifically, up to four customer site visits per year to gain firsthand insights, plus participation in our biannual software development hackathons in Vancouver.
Key Responsibilities

• Own the design and development of core routing engine features from inception to launch
• Work with traffic, routing, and vehicle routing algorithms to solve complex optimization problems
• Architect and implement high-performance, scalable distributed systems
• Lead technical direction for Spare's core engine and related technologies
• Work with a functional language (Scala) around 30% of your time
• Actively mentor software developers of all levels and uplift team capacity
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product managers, designers, and other software developers
• Make high-impact technical decisions that lead our team to success while building complex products
• Translate customer needs into technical implementations with strong product sensibility
• Participate in architectural discussions and propose multiple solutions to complex problems
• Ensure 99.99% uptime and maintain exceptional system performance
• Travel to customer sites (up to four times per year) and attend software development hackathons in Vancouver (twice yearly)
• Participate in team agile rituals and help improve software development processes

About you ✨You are...

• A highly productive software developer with a proven track record of delivering high-quality code in complex environments
• A strong product software developer who understands how to translate complex user needs into effective, efficient technical solutions
• A passionate mentor and technical leader who enjoys helping others grow
• Passionate about optimization algorithms and distributed systems
• Comfortable making critical technical decisions with sound reasoning
• Experienced in designing and building large-scale applications and systems
• Adept at balancing theoretical optimality with practical implementation constraints
• Strong in software architecture and design principles, with the ability to influence technical direction
  

Requirements:

• 7+ years of software development experience, with at least 2+ years in a people leadership role
• Expert in backend technologies with strong distributed systems experience
• Experience optimizing algorithms for performance and scalability
• Experience with VRP algorithms, constraint satisfaction problems, or other approximation approaches to NP-Hard problems
• Experience with functional programming languages, particularly Scala
• Deep understanding of algorithms, data structures, and computational complexity
• Experience with real-time, complex, or distributed systems at scale
• Demonstrated success in managing a team of software developers, with a focus on team and individual performance
• Demonstrated ability to mentor other developers and provide technical leadership
• Experience with TypeScript and modern JavaScript frameworks
• Strong problem-solving, debugging, and system design skills
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
  

Benefits

• Purposeful work: Be a part of a mission-driven company that is solving real-world problems and improving the lives of people around the world.
• Growth Opportunities: Spare is growing fast and there is uncapped potential for rapid advancement of motivated high performers on our team!
• Market-competitive pay: We benchmark roles annually to attract and retain top talent. For Growth roles, we also offer a competitive commission/bonus structure that rewards strong performance.
• Stock options: Enjoy the feeling of ownership. All Spartians are provided stock options, so you can share in the growth and success of Spare!
• Home office allowance: We recognize the importance of a productive home office setup to help you do your best work, which is why we provide a CA$1,000 home office allowance.
• Health insurance: We offer a fully-paid health insurance package for you and your dependents that includes prescription drug, paramedical, mental health, dental, life insurance, travel insurance, and Employee Assistance Program.
• Lifestyle Spending Account: We offer CA$500 per year Lifestyle Spending Account (taxable benefit), which you can use to get reimbursed for a variety of expenses including education, wellness, transportation, and childcare/pet care.
• Paid time off: Along with your three weeks of annual vacation, we offer unlimited sick days and have company-wide shut-down days to help you rest and recharge.