Staff Engineer

Job Description:

Here at Rakuten Kobo Inc. we offer a casual working start-up environment and a group of friendly and talented individuals. Our employees rank us highly in terms of commitment to work/life balance. We realize that for our people to be innovative, creative and passionate they need to feel valued and supported. We believe in rewarding all our employees with competitive salaries, performance based annual bonuses, stock options and training opportunities.

If you're looking for a company that inspires passion, personal, and professional growth – join Kobo and come help us on our mission of making reading lives better.

The Role 

Rakuten Kobo is looking for a Staff Software Engineer, Front-End, to join our awesome development team that owns the front-end web platform and in-house design system. The team is responsible for enabling and empowering the delivery of delightful, performant, and accessible user experiences. This is a remote position based in Toronto, Canada. 

As a Staff Software Engineer, you'll be a technical leader and mentor to the team. You'll work closely with cross-functional stakeholders and senior leadership to drive decision making and alignment. Our engineers are enthusiastic and operate across the development spectrum, including front-end architecture, design system, back-end integrations, infrastructure, and deployment pipelines. We take full responsibility for our work, from driving requirements gathering and solutioning, to implementation and testing, through to releasing and monitoring. Rakuten Kobo is looking for an engineer who shares these passions, takes pride in delivering high-quality solutions, and is eager to elevate the craft of software engineering. 

Reporting to the Senior Software Engineering Manager, the Staff Software Engineer will play a pivotal role in shaping the technical direction and execution across all aspects of delivery. This includes leading technical design discussions, strategic planning, navigating complex challenges, and ensuring the reliability and observability of our systems in production. 

Responsibilities 

• Lead the development of the front-end web platform, identifying areas of opportunity and points of friction in enabling other teams to effectively build on top of it. 
• Work closely with architects and principal engineers to define and implement our vision for our front-end architecture, alongside advancements to underlying frameworks. 
• Take ownership of technical decisions and guide the team through complex challenges, ensuring best practices are followed and scalable solutions are implemented. 
• Lead the expansion of our in-house design system, ensuring consistency and reusability of components and patterns. Work closely with design and accessibility teams. 
• Explore opportunities to expedite the process of moving from designs to display, with minimal developer involvement, by leveraging automation and the latest AI tooling. 

The Skillset 

• Computer Science or Computer Engineering degree, or equivalent experience. 
• Ability to clearly communicate and collaborate with various teams and cross-functional stakeholders. Comfortable presenting to both technical and non-technical audiences. 
• Passionate about fostering a culture of learning and technical excellence through knowledge sharing, mentorship, meticulous code reviews, and constructive feedback. 
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, with a focus on iterating quickly and improving continuously. Familiar with Agile methodologies, such as Kanban and Scrum. 
• Expertise with front-end development frameworks, ideally React and Next JS. Extensive knowledge of CSS, including libraries such as Tailwind and Styled Components. 
• Excellent understanding of web and accessibility standards, including interactivity, responsiveness, performance, security, and cross-browser compatibility. 
• Extremely high level of proficiency with JavaScript and TypeScript. 
• Expertise with design systems, preferably React Aria, and Storybook. 
• Experience with trunk-based development and version control systems, preferably Git. 
• Knowledgeable about testing strategies and techniques (unit, integration, end-to-end). 

Nice to Have 

• Knowledge of scripting languages, such as Python or Ruby. 
• Knowledge of object-oriented programming and principles. 
• Experience with test automation using Selenium or Playwright. 
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, leveraging GitHub Workflows and Argo CD. 
• Familiar with communication protocols, including HTTP, RPC, and WebSockets. 
• Experience with containerization and orchestration, using Docker and Kubernetes. 
• Familiar with message brokers and streaming platforms, such as RabbitMQ and Kafka. 
• Familiar with architectural patterns, such as back-end for front-end and API gateways. 

The Perks:

• Flexible hours and hybrid remote working environment
• Subsidized in-office lunches
• Full benefits starting from your first day
• Paid Volunteer days, unlimited sick days, and 3% RRSP matching
• Monthly commuting allowance for those who are hybrid
• Lifestyle spending account
• Talent and development training budget
• Free Kobo device + free weekly e-book or audiobook
• Weekly Kobo Tech University sessions
• Maternity/paternity leave top up
• Dog friendly office

About Rakuten Kobo Inc.
Owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten and headquartered in Toronto, Rakuten Kobo Inc. is one of the most advanced global ecommerce companies, with the world's most innovative e-reading services offering more than 6 million eBooks and audiobooks to 30 million + customers in 190 countries. Kobo delivers the best digital reading experience through creative innovation, award-winning e-readers, and top-ranking mobile apps. Kobo is a part of the Rakuten group of companies.

Rakuten Kobo Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Accessibility accommodations for candidates with disabilities participating in the selection process are available on request. Any information received related to accommodation needs of applicants will be addressed confidentially.

Rakuten Kobo would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this role however only qualified candidates will be shortlisted.

Beware of fraudulent job offers claiming to be from Rakuten. Rakuten does not send unsolicited job offers or request money during the recruitment process. Learn more:

#RKIND

Five Principles for Success
Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success.

Always improve, Always Advance - Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen
Passionately Professional - Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best
Hypothesize - Practice - Validate – Shikumika - Use the Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory
Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile
Speed Speed Speed - Always be conscious of time - take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team

Rakuten is an equal opportunity employer. Accessibility accommodations for candidates with disabilities participating in the selection process are available on request. Any information received related to accommodation needs of applicants will be addressed confidentially. 

Rakuten would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this role however only qualified candidates will be shortlisted.

Beware of fraudulent job offers claiming to be from Rakuten. Rakuten does not send unsolicited job offers or request money during the recruitment process. Learn more:

At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the Compensation (base salary + discretionary bonus) for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job-related factors, including the skills, qualifications, and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location. The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for stock options, health, vision, dental insurance, RRSP matching, Personal Time Off (PTO), Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements.