Basecamp is hiring Systems Administrators for our Operations team to help us deliver fast and reliable applications to our customers – Basecamp & HEY. Infrastructure for our apps exists in colocated data centers and in the cloud.

We’re only seeking candidates who live in Asia-Pacific, Hawaii, or US-Pacific time zones. Ops’s responsibilities are 24/7, so we’re looking to expand our time zone coverage so everyone on the team works regular daylight hours. Applications from outside those zones will not be considered.

About the work

The job of operating fast and reliable systems is mainly about making life as boring as possible by considering and mitigating all the things that could go wrong before they can go wrong. Operations shines the brightest when there’s nothing to see – systems just run. But getting there and sustaining that is challenging work.

It’s also impossible to get it perfect all the time! So part of the work includes being available for on-call duty, which may include getting woken up in the middle of the night when it’s your turn to be first responder. We rotate that responsibility on a regular schedule, and you won’t be on your own during your first several months.

Here are some things we’ve worked on recently that might give you a better sense of what you’ll be doing day to day:

You’ll be working hand-in-hand with a tight knit team that is always there to answer questions and share their collective wisdom at each step of the way. And your experience and background will join ours! We have worlds to learn and we’re eager to do it together. You can expect to teach us, coach us, and expect the same in return.

About you

We’re looking for experienced candidates only for this role. You’ve been doing this work for a while in a professional setting, and you’re comfortable doing it remotely. You’re familiar with most of our basic stack, which includes MySQL (both Aurora on AWS and on-prem installations), Redis, ElasticSearch, S3, Ruby on Rails, postfix, and Kubernetes. What you don’t know well, you’ll be able to pick up quickly.

You’re comfortable with the Unix toolchain, basic networking concepts, and you’re a passable programmer capable of writing or amending existing systems in Go or Ruby. You enjoy solving challenging technical problems. You’re comfortable with long-term project work as well as unexpected ad hoc requests.

All that said, we fully understand that you won’t know how all our systems work on day one… or even day 51! Our ops team does deep, critical work. Most people take a full year to feel completely comfortable working at full capacity, and that’s okay with us.

You can expect a mindful onboarding process with structured ramp-up time. You can expect a team that listens. You can expect to be counted on and the freedom to do your best work. We build our apps, our teams, and our company for the long haul, so you can build your career here if you choose to.

You might have a CS or engineering degree. You might not. That’s not what we’re looking for. We care about what you can do and how you do it, not about how you got here. A strong track record of conscientious, thoughtful work speaks volumes.

We value Managers of One. We appreciate people who can take a stand yet commit even when they disagree. We subject ideas to rigorous consideration and challenge each other, but all remember that we’re here for the same purpose: to do good work together. That comes with direct feedback and a high degree of trust.

Pay and benefits

Basecamp pays in the top 10% of the industry based on San Francisco rates. Same position, same pay, no matter where you live. The salary for this position is $158,989 (for Systems Admin) or $199,755 (for Senior Systems Admin). We assess seniority relative to the team at Basecamp during the interviewing process.

Our benefits support a life well-lived away from work. Ample time off and all the resources you need to support you in doing the best work of your career. Here’s more on the https://basecamp.com/handbook/07-benefits-and-perks we offer.

Applicants from outside of the US will be offered a contractor role on comparable terms and equal pay with our domestic employees.

How to apply

Please submit an application using the link below by Monday, November 1, 2021, at 5:00PM US-Central time. Introduce yourself to us as a colleague. Tell us why you want this job and why you’d like to work at Basecamp. We value great writers, so be yourself, be creative, and take your time.

We expect to take a few weeks to closely review all applications. You should not expect to hear from us until Friday, November 19 (and you will hear from us!). Please note that we’re unable to offer individual feedback during the screening process. We usually see hundreds of applications for Operations roles, and our small hiring team simply doesn’t have the bandwidth to offer personalized feedback before the interview stage.

Interviews will take place during November and December, and we’ll also ask some final candidates to complete a take-home technical exercise. We hope to extend offers by the end of the year, with a flexible start date in January. Please be aware that you may see intermittent delays as we go through the process, due to the holidays.

This is a demanding application process! We appreciate you giving us that consideration, and we promise to give you our full attention in return. We look forward to hearing from you!