Lead Developer hedgehog lab - Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

hedgehog lab is a global technology consultancy and we are on a growth trajectory. We are looking for a lead developer who can help us deliver great products and digital solutions to our customers across the globe.
While we have always been about premium digital experiences, our current customers (who consist of some of the biggest FTSE 250 and Fortune 500 companies) demand that we take our skills and team to the next level to deliver a world-class service. We would love for you to come on that journey and help us do some award-winning work. 

We expect you to have great passion for the development of world class apps and online services. We want someone who is more than an employee, who takes a 9-to-5 pay cheque and wants a job typing away at a keyboard. We want people who are passionate about staying up to date with the latest advances in technology, finding ways that it can be leveraged for businesses and end users.

Our client base and projects are diverse. We develop native mobile apps, web applications, desktop and supporting APIs. One team might be working with CoreAnimation and SpriteKit. Another team might be using machine learning platforms to deliver recommendation engines surfaced by massively scalable APIs. 

You have:
At least five years commercial experience as a developer. You'll take pride in writing simple, clean and testable code. You'll have expert-level experience in at least one of the below:

• Native mobile development for iOS (Swift, Objecive-C) or Android (Java)
• Knowledge of building web back-ends APIs, ideally with Python/Django
• Database design and implementation, primarily with MySQL but also an appreciation and experience with NoSQL databases such as MongoDB, Amazon DynamoDB and Google Cloud Datastore
• Modern front end web development using Angular or React, CSS and of course JavaScript

In addition you'll have:

• Experience with, or a willingness to extend your skills in unit testing
• Knowledge with the services provided by AWS or Google App Engine/Cloud Platform
• A working knowledge of git, build servers and other supporting systems
• An understanding of SCRUM/agile methodologies
• An aptitude and openness to continually learn new skills, approaches and technologies
• A strong desire to find solutions regardless of the constraints
• A solid understanding of networks, HTTP, RESTful APIs and how a mobile app or SPA consumes them

You are

• Passionate, with a desire to deliver world class technical solutions
• An excellent communicator (verbally and written), capable of inspiring colleagues and clients
• Detail oriented and delivery focused, with the ability to think big
• Organised and self motivated 
• Outgoing, personable, sociable and easy going
• Open to criticism from your team to benefit project development
• Always eager to learn and to share knowledge
• Comfortable with pressure and deadlines and can work in a fast paced environment

You can:

• Shape the technical architecture and approach for projects
• Articulate technical approaches and deploy a team to deliver, as well as being a key contributor
• Advocate patterns, best practices and take ownership of code quality in the projects that you lead
• Lead by example, sharing your knowledge with other team members
• Take a lead role in the planning and estimation phase
• Foresee technical problems and be able to make a call on the best remedy
• Contribute to the continual improvements to our internal development processes and developers' career development

You get:

• A competitive salary with inclusion in our company profit sharing scheme and a healthy bonus package related to performance
• 28 days holiday (that's excluding bank holidays)
• Best of breed equipment (MacBook pro -2002f, mobile phone of choice & tablet of choice)
• Customised benefits package that works for you including health insurance, life insurance, child care vouchers, discounted holidays, cycle to work scheme etc.
• A transparent and open company culture where politics is shunned and everyone works as a team with a simple "don't take the piss policy".

hedgehog lab is a post-PC technology consultancy that specialises in multi-platform software and connected device innovation. We architect, design, develop, and market apps & digital solutions for phones, tablets, TV, kiosks & and other post-PC devices.

We helps brands & enterprises prepare for a future dominated by post-PC technologies. We specialise in working with our clients on Innovation & R&D on mobile & emerging platforms.

Founded as a pure play post-PC consultancy in 2010, and with offices in London, Newcastle Upon Tyne & India, hedgehog lab has a team that is growing rapidly by focusing on delivering great post-PC experiences and campaigns to clients across the UK & abroad.

hedgehog lab has architected and developed mobile solutions and software for clients like News International, Channel 4, Financial Times, Booths, Statoil, Societe Bic, East Coast Trains, Statoil, and Grainger plc

With smartphone sales accelerating at a rapid pace and tablet technologies being spear-headed by the iPad, we have bet our future on a completely post-PC world where mobile devices, smart connected devices and touch screen technologies out-pace fixed desktop PC devices.

We are one of the leading smart phone & tablet application developers in our region, working with cutting-edge mobile platforms like the iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone 7, HTML5, and BlackBerry.