Ruby on Rails Developer

Sanctuary Computer

At Sanctuary Computer — we’re building a different type of technology shop. Based in NYC’s Chinatown, the way we approach building things is more like a restaurant than a traditional agency, with an emphasis in providing our clients with an outspoken sense of layman comfort and hospitality.

We work in design, branding and engineering roles, with clients like Nike, General Electric, The Nobel Prize, Herman Miller, Adobe, Dig Inn and many others. That same thoughtfulness is applied inward, too. We understand that technologists & engineers have a strong sense of art and integrity, and are happier being a part of a team that promotes those values.

Who we’re looking for:

Right now, we’re looking for a late-mid-to-senior level Ruby on Rails Developer with an interest in functional programming, IoT, backend and systems engineering.

This person should have at least 4+ years experience working in a full stack engineering role, a computer science degree, and total fluency with Ruby on Rails (Server rendered & API).


The person we’re looking for is happy, relaxed and easy to get along with. They’re flexible on anything except conceits that will lower their usually outstanding work quality. They work “smart”, by carefully managing their workflow and staggering features that have dependencies intelligently — they prefer deep work but are OK coming up to the surface now and then for top level / strategic conversations.

We believe people with backgrounds or interests in design, art, music, food or fashion tend to have a well rounded sense of design & quality — so a variety of hobbies or side projects is a big nice to have!

Key Technology Competencies:
  • Extensive Backend Experience with Ruby on Rails.
  • Extensive Javascript Experience with one of React, React Native, Ember, Angular, Vue or Elm, and general familiarity with at least one other.
  • Fluency in SQL & database operations, and extensive experience with one of PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MySQL or even SQLite.
  • Fluency in HTTP, Status Codes, Security Standards and other Web protocols & patterns.
  • Extensive experience with API Design, and knowledge of oAuth2.0, JSONAPI, GraphQL, JSON Web Tokens and other such patterns.
  • Extensive experience with AWS (or equivalent) and a core understanding of best practices such as IAM & credential management.
  • Production Experience with one Heroku, Cloud66, Elastic Beanstalk, EC2 or Docker.
Nice to Have Competencies:

We’re always pitching for new and exciting technology niches. Some of the areas below are exciting to us!
  • eCommerce Experience, ideally with Spree, Solidus, Stripe & Stripe Connect.
  • Elixir Phoenix, Django, Rocket, .NET or similar, and a general familiarity with the backend landscape.
  • Open Source Contributions & experience with Semantic Versioning.
  • Experience in Hardware, Firmware, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality.
  • Native IDEs, Languages & Low Level experience, XCode, Android Studio, Swift, Rust, C & C++, Clang & LLVM, Electron, Nan & V8.
  • Hands on experience Zenhub, Trello or Similar.
How we work:

We believe that there’s a better balance between the poles of freelancing & full time, and for that reason Sanctuary works differently to most shops:
  • Profit Sharing: Every 12 months, we put aside a portion of profit earned throughout the year to be distributed to every member, through a simple calculation based on the overall team efficiency throughout the year, and time that each team member has been with Sanctuary.
  • 100% Healthcare: Unlike most US companies, we offer at least one of our four healthcare plans at 100% employer coverage (no cost to the employee). This usually means a saving of 3 - 6k USD a year for the individual!
  • Ideas & Products: In our spare studio time, we work to build our own internal products to diversify & bolster our income. We create amazing technology products for our clients, so why not for the studio?
  • Premium Fridays: In the spirit of Yvon Chouinard’s “Let My People Go Surfing”, the last Friday of every month is a day off. We think that well rested, calm and thoughtful team members make far better decisions, and 12 extra long weekends each year helps everyone stay focused.
  • Start Time Flexibility: We generally start between 8am & 11am everyday, and do a solid 8 hours. If you’re an early riser or like a sleep in, either works for us!
  • Remote Friendly: In the wake of COVID-19, our company has transitioned to remote working, and in the process have evolved to make our workplace more decentralized, and democratized in the process.
  • Optional 401k: Our payroll provider integrations with Slavic401k to provide Sanctuary employees a way to save for retirement, without all that tax.
  • Transparency & Ownership: We release out Profit & Loss statements to the community each year, open source our best ideas, and talk business & money with everyone in the company. We’re proud to run our business with integrity, and for that reason we share everything with our team & community.
  • Anti-bloat & Efficiency: Every business tends toward complexity as time goes on, introducing procedural bloat and middle management. Sanctuary instead employs a lean, flat management structure that can only work in a small, carefully curated team like ours. The outcome: we can move quickly and with precision, while never feeling over-managed.
Read more on our Medium, over here.