Lead Ruby on Rails SWE

**About the company** A well-established US education-technology company with a global presence, providing digital learning content and platforms to a large user base for over two decades. Distributed, international team working on products used by millions of active users worldwide. **About the role** Lead Ruby on Rails Software Engineer needed to join the Engineering team. This is a technical leadership role for someone with deep Ruby on Rails expertise and a strong understanding of technology architecture, programming languages, systems, and security models, who can drive the architecture and delivery of complex software solutions, mentor engineers, and lead cross-team technical initiatives. The role combines hands-on technical ownership with people leadership: you'll be responsible both for the systems you design and for the growth of the engineers around you. **Responsibilities** * Leading the architecture, design, and development of Ruby on Rails applications * Planning and overseeing large technical projects involving multiple engineering teams * Coordinating tasks and assignments within complex cross-team projects * Driving technical direction, coding standards, and engineering best practices * Mentoring and developing junior, intermediate, and senior engineers * Collaborating with Product, Engineering, and Architecture teams to deliver scalable solutions * Identifying technical risks and driving resolution strategies * Identifying team-specific technical issues and proposing or implementing solutions * Evaluating new technologies and recommending solutions aligned with business goals * Leading prototyping and research initiatives for future platform improvements * 7+ years of experience in software development * 5+ years of professional experience with Ruby on Rails * Experience designing and scaling APIs, distributed systems, and web applications * Experience with MySQL or other relational databases * Experience with Git and modern CI/CD practices * Expert-level software development, debugging, testing, and analytical skills * 2+ years of experience planning and executing cross-team technical projects * Expert-level knowledge of relevant sector technologies, engineering processes, and security models * Strong written and spoken English (interviews are conducted in English) * Ability to freely communicate in Russian or Ukrainian **Nice to Have** * Experience with microservices and service-oriented architectures * Experience integrating third-party platforms and APIs * Leadership, team-building, and mentoring skills * Strategic thinking and ability to evaluate alternative technical approaches * Strong communication and stakeholder management skills * Data-driven decision-making and analytical mindset * Expertise in using generative AI tools to improve software development, code quality, debugging, testing, documentation, and engineering productivity * Experience working on multiple projects in various stages simultaneously **Compensation:** Up to $6,000 gross/month **What's Offered** * Stable, long-term position with a well-established American company (many team members have 5+ years of tenure) * Significant ownership and responsibility for the systems you develop * Dynamic, continually growing company culture where your contributions make a real difference * Fast, agile development within a smart, highly collaborative, and dedicated team * Cutting-edge, open-source tech stack and large-scale, global applications with real impact on students, classrooms, and institutions of higher learning * Friendly and supportive team culture **Contract type:** Independent contractor (sole proprietor / IP), incubator arrangements are not accepted.