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MSNBC.com seeks Software Development Engineer / News JunkieOctober 14th, 2007 by Hans Bjordahl :: see related comic |
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There’s lots going on these days at MSNBC.com, so much so that we’re on a little bit of a hiring jag (at least by MSNBC.com standards — after all we’re only about 200 employees). Much of what we’re working on right now I can’t yet talk about in the public sphere, but our recent acquisition of Newsvine underscores MSNBC.com’s commitment to being a primary driver in the rapidly evolving online news space. In short, if you’re interested in journalism and technology, MSNBC.com is where the action is.
My team (the somewhat generically named “Site Development Team”) is right in the thick of some of the good stuff, and it just so happens we now have a position open for a developer. Interested (or know someone who might be)? Read on. Applicants for the below job should e-mail me directly at hans(dot)bjordahl(at)msnbc(dot)com. The position is located in the Seattle area (Redmond, Wash., specifically).
Software Development Engineer, MSNBC.com Site Development Team
You know, we had a prepared speech ready to tell you how great this job is, but instead, we’re going to tear that speech up and just speak from the heart.
(Sound of prepared speech being torn up.)
Here’s the bottom line: We’re looking for software developer who’s two things:
1) A brilliant software engineering mind who can’t be contained in just one technology. Your war stories include adventures in C#, SQL, XML/XSL/XSLT, ASP.NET and some stuff they haven’t even created acronyms for yet. Whatever it took to get the job done. You’ve had it with the dull, siloed, bureaucratic existence in huge corporations, but you really don’t want to go work for a startup where chaotic 100-hour weeks are the norm and every bug is treated like a company-wide panic attack that threatens to imperil the next round of funding.
2) You’re a news junkie. Some have even called you a “problem news junkie.”
If that sparks your interest, keep reading. MSNBC.com is a company of about 200 employees dedicated to delivering the Web’s leading news site and helping define the future of journalism in the process. According to our internal figures, we serve approximately a billion page views a month. That’s “billion” with a “b.” Though we’re the 10-year-old brainchild of corporate parents Microsoft and NBC Universal, we have a distinct culture all our own. At MSNBC.com, you get a profit sharing program, but also a life.
But enough about us. Let’s talk about you.
As an MSNBC.com Software Development Engineer, your primary responsibility will be to design and develop advanced features and functionality in a multi-tier Web environment. Duties include creating and reviewing functional and design specifications, writing and reviewing C#, XSL and SQL code, debugging and analyzing code, troubleshooting and resolving issues related to site features, and working closely with program managers, testers, and other business teams in the process.
You’ll need to apply advanced C# programming skills, excellent XML/XSL/XSLT skills, and solid SQL database architectural and development skills. Additionally, you’ll need working knowledge of highly scalable internet-based systems and experience in shared development with ASP.NET, Web services, Internet Protocols (Soap/XML etc), HTML/DHTML/CSS, IIS, and scripting languages (VBScript, Jscript). To demonstrate your experience in programming for Web environments, please provide specific URLs that showcase high-traffic sites and projects you’ve worked on.
You’ll also need to be creative. Really. We have a company-wide brainstorming alias and people from all disciplines contribute and debate innovative ideas as we determine what to build next. You’ll also need a firm grasp of what we like to call “the basics”: knowledge of the Software Development Lifecycle, strong ship discipline, outstanding written and verbal skills, and an ability to communicate effectively with partners inside and outside of MSNBC without baffling or enraging them. You also need to be exceptionally self-motivated, because we’re really just too small to hire professional motivators who do nothing all day but stand behind you barking encouragement while you’re trying to code.
A BS degree in computer science or related program is preferred, but if you can make the case that you’ve amassed an equivalent level of knowledge from your personal school of real-world experience and hard knocks (see also: Bill Gates), hey, make your pitch.
We should warn you, however, that this place is pretty intense. This is the news business, after all. History live. Some days you get to work on what you planned. Some days you get Hurricane Katrina. You’ll need to be able to thrive in a fast-paced collaborative environment, juggle priorities and resources with ease, improvise and adapt to overcome obstacles, and assess risk and make trade-offs to achieve project goals. No one said driving the future of news was going to be easy. That’s why we try to have a little fun during the downtimes and even the busy times.
At MSNBC.com, thinking big and taking risks is a part of our culture. If that’s the kind of challenge you’re looking for, contact us today.
More MSNBC.com jobs at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3303596/
Bug Bash is a comic strip written and illustrated by Hans Bjordahl. Bug Bash is a comic strip about technology: managing technology, the business of technology. It's about project management and managing projects through the dull world of Rational Rose, use cases, and requirements. Functional requirements, user requirement, functional specifications, design specifications, call it what you want but it's still the bane of project managers. And when you're done with that, you can think about all the fun that comes with timelines, scheduling, estimates (PERT estimation anyone?) and resourcing until Gantt charts are coming out of your ears. Let's not forget the risk management in the software engineering life cycle. Maintaining the project is just as much fun, managing what was initially set out in requirements and trying to keep feature creep / scope creep in check with change management. If any of these words send nightmares to you, the project manager, then this site probably rings true with you. (Who Links Here?)