Full-Stack Web Developer — Operations & Team Platform (Contract-to-Hire)

We're looking for a full-stack developer to take ownership of two connected internal products for a growing service business: an operations dashboard (job estimating, vendor/material procurement, purchasing) and a team communication platform (messaging, task management, employee time tracking, and push-to-talk).

This is a contract-to-hire role, starting with a paid trial project. We're looking for someone who can move fast on an existing, functioning system, not rebuild it from scratch.

What You'll Do
• Take ownership of an existing, live web application and continue building on it
• Ship new features on a real roadmap: vendor/material search and procurement workflows, purchase tracking, and pricing logic
• Build out a Slack-style internal messaging system, task assignment, and employee clock in/out functionality
• Integrate and maintain connections with third-party business tools (accounting, job scheduling)
• Work directly with the founder to prioritize and scope work — this is a small, fast-moving environment, not a large team with heavy process

Mandatory Requirements
• 3+ years of professional full-stack web development experience, with live production apps you can point to (not just personal projects or tutorials)
• Strong JavaScript/HTML/CSS fundamentals — comfortable working without a frontend framework when needed
• Backend/serverless experience — building and maintaining APIs (Node.js or similar), ideally with experience on serverless platforms (Vercel, AWS Lambda, or similar)
• Relational database experience (Postgres or similar) — comfortable writing safe migrations without breaking live data
• Careful, disciplined approach to production code — this system handles real business data (pricing, purchasing, employee time) where mistakes have real financial/operational consequences. We need someone who double-checks before shipping, not someone who moves fast and breaks things
• Comfortable working from detailed written specs and asking clarifying questions before making architectural changes, rather than unilaterally rewriting existing systems
• Strong written communication — able to explain technical decisions and tradeoffs clearly to a non-technical founder

Nice to Have
• Experience with real-time features: WebSockets, live chat/messaging systems, or presence indicators
• Experience with real-time voice/audio (WebRTC, Twilio, Agora, LiveKit, or similar) — push-to-talk is part of the roadmap
• Experience integrating with third-party business APIs (accounting software, job/field-service scheduling tools, or similar)
• Experience with e-commerce, product catalogs, or vendor/procurement systems
• Familiarity with AI coding tools (Claude, Cursor, Copilot, etc.) as part of your normal workflow
• Experience with small business, field service, or trades-industry software
• Mobile app development experience (iOS/Android, React Native, or Flutter) — a mobile companion app is planned for a later phase