Software Engineer in Algorithms & Optimization

This is an opportunity in the exciting and fast-growing transportation technology industry. Public transit is being transformed from a system of static, scheduled fixed-routes, to a dynamic on-demand network, and you will be one of the pioneers shaping this transformation.

As the newest member of our Algorithms & Optimization team, you will contribute to the complex suite of algorithms that power RideCo’s core ridesharing platform. The ideal candidate must possess a sound grasp of Algorithms and Data Structures, strong critical thinking and reasoning skills, and the ability to produce readable, maintainable, and working software programs from abstract concepts and ideas. You will thrive in a small-team environment with fast-paced agile iterations, where every developer contributes code that delivers a meaningful impact to our customers and the company.

Your day-to-day responsibilities will include:

At RideCo, you will be switching hats between Software Engineer, Researcher, and Data Scientist depending on the problem at hand.

As a Researcher, you will:

• Stay abreast of the research publications in the fields related to vehicle routing and ridesharing algorithms.
• Compare best-performing ridesharing benchmarks from research papers with RideCo’s to ensure that we are staying ahead of the competition.
• Invent new algorithms to enhance the performance of our Optimization engine, both in terms of the quality of the solutions produced (e.g., sharing rate) and in terms of the speed at which we can converge to those high-quality solutions.
• Produce scalable and performant solutions to computationally hard (and often intractable) problems.
• Contribute to the invention of novel solutions to fleet partners’ operational problems by collaboratively working with product managers, co-developers, and our client success team.

As a Software Engineer, you will:

• Contribute to a distributed platform architecture design for smart partitioning of the problem space, caching mechanisms, and microservices.
• Build systems to intelligently automate manual bottlenecks in service rollouts.
• Expand the system’s capabilities to new features and use-cases while maintaining a high level of performance.
• Prototype, iterate on, develop, and test the ideas and algorithms that you invent.
• Build tools to gain greater visibility into the performance of our Optimization engine.

As a Data Scientist, you will

• Enhance the accuracy of the ETAs in RideCo’s real-time traffic forecasting system.
• Analyze ridership data to develop models to predict ride-demand, which will be used to reposition RideCo’s fleet of vehicles.
• Fine-tune the hyperparameters in RideCo’s Optimization algorithms to extract greater value from the system.

Your playground / what you’ll learn:

At RideCo you’ll get a chance to play, learn and build with the following tools and technologies, and as part of a cross-functional team that is the world’s foremost innovator in on-demand transit software.

• Languages: Python, Rust, JavaScript / Typescript (Angular)
• Web Stack: Django, Flask, Gunicorn, Nginx
• Mobile: Ionic, hybrid apps for Android and iOS
• Logistics Engine: algorithms for real-time vehicle routing, Optimization
• Mapping/Routing: OpenStreetMap, Open Source Routing Machine, Traffic forecasting algorithms
• Infrastructure: AWS, Terraform, Redis, PostgreSQL, Celery, RabbitMQ
• Health/Monitoring: AWS CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana, Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana
• Development Processes: Agile, CI/CD, Jenkins, zero-downtime software updates

Qualifications and Experience:

Required:

• 2+ years of experience in Software Development, preferably with high performance algorithms or data intensive applications.
• A deep and intuitive understanding of Algorithms and Data Structures.
• Ability to process, assimilate, and explain complex and abstract concepts from research publications.

Preferred:

Specialized knowledge. Seeking candidates with expertise in two or more of the following:

• Combinatorics and Discrete Optimization
• Online Algorithms
• Data Science / Machine Learning
• Open Street Maps or Open Source Routing Machine
• Distributed computing / Web Scale architectures.

Education:

- Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical discipline.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Base Salary: $90K- $120K + performance-based bonus or stock options.
• Work-Life Balance & Additional Perks: Flex-time work schedules, vacation time, bi-weekly catered lunches, social events, casual dress code
• Benefits Plan: Medical, dental, prescription, life/health spending accounts and more
• Work Environment: Located in KW's most desirable work space in the heart of Uptown Waterloo
• Commuter Program: Complimentary rides to and from work in Waterloo Region