Small, remote friendly dev team. Short, greenfield projects.
Pros
BACKGROUND: SKYCATCHFIRE primarily builds projects for it's clients. Projects are usually greenfield projects, 1-3 developers, and contracted for a relatively short development period (a few months), after which you might only make small changes and bugfixes to it but will largely move on to a new project for a different client. PROS: - You'll get to program a lot. - the employees are all pretty cool, fun people to work with - You'll get to start projects from scratch and incorporate new technologies, libraries, & frameworks. You'll generally use React, Next.js, some Remix, TypeScript, always Tailwind, lots of MongoDB, sometimes SQL. - most projects only have 1 to 3 developers on them, so you will get opportunity to take ownership of the codebase you are working on. - full benefits - flexible work hours & PTO - "no meetings" culture (there ARE meetings, just the minimum required) - pay is not location adjusted (however pay is tied to a LCOL area) - slick MacBook pro - no corporate BS - work-from-home friendly - there is an office in Canton OH (an hour outside of Cleveland) that you can go into if you want, but most people WFH, and some live in different cities / states
Cons
Because of the short-term nature of contract work, most projects do not warrant as much thoroughness as an in-house long-term project would. Additionally, while there are several senior app developers, the company's process around app development is very young. CONS: - Very weak SDLC. Requirements gathering, planning, architecture, UI/UX, product design, & testing are given less attention. You will generally just start building (this could be a pro for some). Similarly, everyone is a developer. There's no dedicated roles for UI/UX, design, or product. There is one Jr Product Manager, but IMO he's really a developer (and there's no Sr Product Manager or head of product or anything). Some projects will use a 3rd party designer. - Since it's client work, you'll have to fill out a timesheet daily - oof! - Management is lacking hierarchy. Everyone reports directly to the president, but his time is spread very thin and he is not involved deeply on any one project. I rarely interacted with him outside of performance reviews. This makes it difficult to know where you stand in terms of performance (also makes it difficult for him to gauge your performance). - Pay is on the lower end / reflective of Cleveland metro area. Reasonable deal if you live in a low cost of living area, but feels low even compared to other fully remote companies.
