Full-Stack Engineer - Frontend
(all genders) ☠️
Are you a frontend leaning full-stack engineer with a taste for adventures on the high seas of US parcel shipping? Do you enjoy solving real-world problems with a healthy dose of pirate spirit? Team La Louise is hiring, and we'd love to hear from you!
Summary
Team: La Louise (product team, shipping/reconciliation domain)
Position: Full-Stack Engineer (frontend focus, all genders)
Location/Remote-Work: We are open for remote positions, but you should be able to occasionally attend team meetings on-site, such as our "All Hooks Below Deck" planning meetings which we facilitate on a four-monthly basis.
Languages: German and English (B2 is the minimum level for both)
Your Role
We're looking for a frontend-focused Full-Stack Engineer to strengthen our cross-functional product team "La Louise", named after an old pirate ship from the 18th century. You'll lead the way on the user-facing side of our reconciliation product - turning what our customers actually need into clear, well-built interfaces - and you'll own the path from the browser down into the system: how our web client consumes our APIs, and how that shapes the architecture behind them.
Backend, infrastructure, and deeper domain knowledge already live in the team. What we're missing is someone who makes the frontend their home turf - and who cares enough about structure and architecture to keep our client and backend honest with each other (yes, we've felt what happens when they drift apart). You won't be a lone frontend specialist, though: we build full-stack, so if you don’t already bring it with you, you'll grow into PHP and our backend over time. We'll give you the room to do it!
We work in self-organized teams, hence we're counting on team players who bring their own initiative. You'll dive into product discovery yourself - sparking ideas, sitting in on user interviews, and translating customer and support feedback into real world improvements. You'll help us shape how we work together and take ownership of far more than just your code, have a real voice in decisions, help set priorities, and nurture a culture where learning and experimenting go hand in hand.
What We're Looking For
We're looking for an experienced software engineer with a genuine frontend focus. Ideally, you are someone who has seen both sides of the fence in product development, frontend and backend.
Must-Haves:
- Experience with functional programming in JavaScript
- Experience with TypeScript
- Experience with modern component-based frameworks (we work with React)
- Experience in designing and consuming APIs (GraphQL and RESTful)
- A solid feel for structure, architecture, and clean code
And, if you are not already familiar with PHP8 and OOP:
- Genuine curiosity to grow into the backend; object-oriented programming (OOP), PHP8, and domain-driven development (DDD) are part of this role; we'll support you to dive deeper!
Nice-to-Haves:
- PHP8
- SQL/MySQL
- Experience with Nosql databases and key-value stores e.g Redis
- Understanding of object-oriented programming (OOP)
- Understanding of domain-driven design (DDD)
- Understanding of distributed systems and asynchronous data processing
- Experience with unit and integration tests (PHPUnit, Codeception, Cypress)
- Fluency in git and corresponding workflows, CI/CD (Gitlab, Docker)
- Experience with agile software development practices
You can check out our full tech stack in our Tech Radar.
Mastering every area is not necessary. What matters most is that you share our values and are a good fit with our crew. We value personal growth and provide the space for it. Strong English language skills are essential, as we regularly communicate with colleagues in the US and write documentation in English. At work, we communicate mostly in German, but we are also able to express ourselves in English. If you speak pirate that wouldn’t hurt either – YYYAAAARRRRrrrrrr!
The Team
Team "La Louise" helps merchants through the reconciliation process of US parcel shipping. We keep the books straight long after a parcel has set sail - handling adjustments when a package turns out heavier or bigger than expected, and making sure our customers always know where they stand, and why. Basically, we match what was paid during label creation against what the carriers actually charged, helping our customers to understand and solve the issue. As more and more of this might turn into user-facing features, how we present it in the browser becomes just as important as the logic behind it. That's where you come in.
Right now, we're working on topics and projects including:
- Building and improving the user-facing side of our reconciliation experience
- Getting our API layer (GraphQL) and our frontend to pull in the same direction, so the way we consume data strengthens our architecture instead of eroding it
- Expanding and optimizing our test suite (PHPUnit, Codeception, Cypress)
- Improving the modularization of existing code and refactoring legacy code
Diversity
We're committed to diverse teams and especially welcome applications from women and non-binary people.
Who we are
Since our founding in 2014, we’ve been disrupting the package shipping market in the US with our software.
Our mission is to make the complex parcel shipping process as simple, user-friendly, and affordable as possible. We operate in multiple locations in the US and serve the American market exclusively. However, the development of our web app has always had its home base in Hamburg-Ottensen.
Together with our overseas colleagues, we work daily to deliver the best possible product for our users. This is what we're valued for, and it’s the wind in our sails.
Our Values & Culture
As an owner-managed company with a crisis-proof product in a growth-oriented market, we can combine high-quality standards, attention to detail, and an attractive working environment with great conditions. We believe creativity and room for personal ideas provide the optimal environment for innovation, progress, and quality. Trust and helpfulness, combined with many opportunities to take on responsibility, enable personal growth. This means working with little hierarchy and a pull, not push, approach to tasks.
This agile, self-organized way of working requires a high level of personal responsibility and enthusiasm for close teamwork. We give each other quick feedback and aren’t afraid of conflict, but always find fair, solution-oriented consensus. In doing so, we learn a lot from each other, and value diversity as opportunity.
To ensure long-term collaboration, we do everything possible to make family and work compatible.
What Doesn’t Fit
You won’t be happy here if you expect complete, end-to-end processes like in large corporations. On our ship, some things are still not perfectly tied down, but we work together to improve systematically. You’ll also be unhappy if you’re a lone wolf, apathetic, or expect to be told exactly what to do. And if you happen to be a macho, fascist, or conspiracy theorist, you’ll be quickly keelhauled!
Anything Else?
We haven’t listed the usual perks like free fruit, beer, foosball, or ball pits. If you’d like those, let’s chat. We either already have them or can make them happen!
We offer the following conditions:
- You decide whether to work remotely or on-site at our Hamburg-Ottensen office
- We’re only hiring in Hamburg and surrounding areas, as we occasionally meet in person for special events, such as our "All Hooks Below Deck" planning days
- Part-time work is possible
- We have a flexible working time model
- 30 days of vacation
- Regarding development environments: we use macOS – Windows isn’t supported and isn’t planned. Most of us use PHPStorm, Vim, or VS Code.
- We offer an extensive budget of EUR 3000 per year for learning through conferences or trainings
Next Steps
If you think you’d be a good fit for our team, feel free to reach out via anheuern@pirateship.com
What to expect
- Introduction call (50-60min): Spend time with our Engineering Manager, align on the responsibilities of the role, and answer your questions.
- Get to know the team (50-60min): You'll meet the Software Engineers and Product Manager on the team and learn more about the current challenges.
- Coding Challenge and Technical Deep-Dive discussion (60-90min): You'll get to solve a little coding challenge at home as a conversation starter; if your solution meets our expectations, we’ll invite you to a technical Deep-Dive discussion afterwards.
- Offer to come on board (30 min): At this point, the team is excited about you.
