Middle Next.js Developer

Summary

Ruby Labs is a technology company that creates and operates consumer products across the health, education, and entertainment industries. The Middle Next.js Developer will build and ship product features across a TypeScript monorepo, owning work from task breakdown through testing, observability, production release, and post-release verification. The role also involves maintaining code quality, performance, security, reliability, and effective collaboration with senior engineers.

Responsibilities

• Build features across the Next.js client and the Fastify + Payload CMS backend according to product requirements
• Write code that follows the team's Feature-Sliced Design layering, naming, and import conventions
• Ship changes behind feature flags and A/B experiments, fully localized across every supported locale
• Integrate third-party providers — billing, email/CRM, analytics — over REST APIs and webhooks
• Cover functionality with unit, integration, and e2e tests at the level the team expects
• Run a thorough self-review before code review, and review teammates' code with the same rigour
• Fix bugs and perform root-cause analysis for recurring issues
• Optimize page and endpoint performance — rendering and caching strategy, database queries, bundle size
• Apply secure development practices: schema validation, access control, safe handling of secrets
• Follow observability practices — structured logging, metrics, and alerts — using existing tooling
• Break down, estimate, and ship your own tasks to production within the sprint — and stay accountable for them after release
• Own the areas of the product you work in: their stability, performance, and follow-up fixes
• Surface requirement clarifications, estimate changes, and risks early and in writing
• Escalate complex architectural decisions and critical risks to senior engineers

Skills

• • 2+ years of commercial React experience, including 1+ year with Next.js (App Router, Server Components, route handlers, rendering and caching strategies) and solid TypeScript
• • Node.js backend experience on a typed HTTP framework (Fastify, Nest, or Express) with PostgreSQL — REST API design, schema migrations, integrations over REST and webhooks (signature verification, idempotency, retries) — plus a working understanding of HTTP/REST, auth mechanisms, and web security fundamentals
• • Hands-on with the modern client stack: TanStack Query, Zustand, React Hook Form + Zod, Tailwind CSS, and a React component library such as HeroUI, MUI, or shadcn/ui
• • Experience with a code-first headless CMS on PostgreSQL (Payload, Strapi, Directus, or equivalent) — collections, access control, generated types, migrations
• • Testing and delivery discipline: e2e tests (Cypress or Playwright) and unit/integration tests (Vitest or Jest), Git flow, code review, working with CI
• • Daily use of AI development tools (Claude Code or equivalents), including configuring them for a project — context, instructions, rules, MCP/integrations — with full ownership of the quality, security, and correctness of generated code
• • English — B1+
• • Owns the outcome — takes a task from requirement to production without waiting to be pushed, and stays accountable for the result and the area it touches
• • Maximally autonomous and involved — needs a goal, not step-by-step instructions, and cares how the product performs, not just whether the ticket is closed
• • Verifies before trusting — treats AI output, third-party responses, and your own code as unproven until tested
• • Structured communicator — surfaces risks, blockers, and estimate changes early, in writing, in a remote team
• • Knows the edge of their scope — escalates architectural and security decisions instead of improvising them
• • Learns from incidents — fixes the root cause, not just the symptom
• Applicants from any country are welcome to apply for the position as long as they are located within approximately ± 4 hours of CET

Qualifications

Must Haves

• • 2+ years of commercial React experience, including 1+ year with Next.js (App Router, Server Components, route handlers, rendering and caching strategies) and solid TypeScript
• • Node.js backend experience on a typed HTTP framework (Fastify, Nest, or Express) with PostgreSQL — REST API design, schema migrations, integrations over REST and webhooks (signature verification, idempotency, retries) — plus a working understanding of HTTP/REST, auth mechanisms, and web security fundamentals
• • Hands-on with the modern client stack: TanStack Query, Zustand, React Hook Form + Zod, Tailwind CSS, and a React component library such as HeroUI, MUI, or shadcn/ui
• • Experience with a code-first headless CMS on PostgreSQL (Payload, Strapi, Directus, or equivalent) — collections, access control, generated types, migrations
• • Testing and delivery discipline: e2e tests (Cypress or Playwright) and unit/integration tests (Vitest or Jest), Git flow, code review, working with CI
• • Daily use of AI development tools (Claude Code or equivalents), including configuring them for a project — context, instructions, rules, MCP/integrations — with full ownership of the quality, security, and correctness of generated code
• • English — B1+
• • Owns the outcome — takes a task from requirement to production without waiting to be pushed, and stays accountable for the result and the area it touches
• • Maximally autonomous and involved — needs a goal, not step-by-step instructions, and cares how the product performs, not just whether the ticket is closed
• • Verifies before trusting — treats AI output, third-party responses, and your own code as unproven until tested
• • Structured communicator — surfaces risks, blockers, and estimate changes early, in writing, in a remote team
• • Knows the edge of their scope — escalates architectural and security decisions instead of improvising them
• • Learns from incidents — fixes the root cause, not just the symptom
• Applicants from any country are welcome to apply for the position as long as they are located within approximately ± 4 hours of CET

Benefits

• Remote Work Environment: Embrace the freedom to work from anywhere, anytime, promoting a healthy work-life balance.
• Unlimited PTO: Enjoy unlimited paid time off to recharge and prioritize your well-being, without counting days.
• Paid National Holidays: Celebrate and relax on national holidays with paid time off to unwind and recharge.
• Company-provided MacBook: Experience seamless productivity with top-notch Apple MacBooks provided to all employees who need them.
• Flexible Independent Contractor Agreement: Unlock the benefits of flexibility, autonomy, and entrepreneurial opportunities. Benefit from tax advantages, networking opportunities, reduced employment obligations, and the freedom to work from anywhere.