Tag Archives: australia

Featured cool developer jobs at Wave Digital

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A couple of amazing roles for you this week at Wave Digital. For our #fetchtech readers looking to take their next step in Melbourne and join a cool company, check out these below…

Wave Digital builds innovative applications using best practice techniques for large organisations.

Application Developer – Web and Mobile

We’re looking for an experienced back-end developer who knows their stuff to join our expanding team in Melbourne.

The successful candidate will be an enthusiastic individual:

  • with an excellent grounding in OO programming,
  • who is a stickler for best practice and takes responsibility for quality control,
  • who prides themselves on staying abreast of the latest developments in their field.

Ideally you’ll have experience:

  • with PHP and/or Ruby
  • writing quality front end code (HTML, CSS, JS)
  • building complex database applications
  • with test driven development and agile methodologies
  • working in a team

Some experience or knowledge in the following areas is a big plus, but not mandatory:

  • DevOps (Linux, Cloud)
  • Business Analysis
  • iOS and Android development

Front-end Developer – Web and Mobile

We’re looking for an experienced Front-end Developer with strong JavaScript skills to join our expanding team in Melbourne.

The successful candidate will be a skilled programmer:

  • who is passionate about best practice for web and mobile,
  • with expert level JS, HTML and CSS,
  • who prides themselves on staying abreast of the latest developments in their field.

You will take charge of all things front-end and be responsible for determining the use and abuse of existing frameworks and libraries or, better still, have the mettle to develop and advocate your own interface development strategies.

Ideally you’ll have experience:

  • building responsive web apps,
  • writing JS that goes beyond JQuery,
  • prototyping, agile and test-driven development.

Some experience or knowledge in the following areas is a big plus, but not mandatory:

  • OS X and Android development
  • Back end technologies and databases (PHP or Ruby)
  • Interface design
  • Project Management

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Wave Digital is part of the SitePoint Group which is the company behind four of Australia’s most successful web start-ups – SitePoint.com, 99designs.com, Flippa.com and Learnable.com.  You’ll be sharing an office with some of the best in the business!

Wave Digital employees enjoy many benefits, including a nice office, an active social club, proper espresso, free beer, foosball, free gym membership and flexible work arrangements. We set high standards when it comes to our staff but you’ll certainly feel rewarded.

Interested?  Please send your CV to jobs@wavedigital.com.au.

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Do it!

Hello Justin – our Perth fetcher

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Go West, this is what we’re gonna do, Go West!

Perth! Booming Perth. We’re heading there too and I’m pleased to welcome Justin Strharsky as our city curator. Justin is active within the WA startup space and is the managing director at Synaptor – a platform where you can manage health, safety, and environmental risk in real time. You can follow him on Twitter here or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Justin will be sharing the best events, meetups, community news, jobs and more in each fortnight’s fetch. You can submit items to him via email here, via @thefetchper, FB and don’t forget to subscribe on http://thefetch.com so we’ll arrive straight to your box. Our first navy/purple-themed fetch (cough West Coast Eagles FC) will be sent shortly. As part of Justin’s welcome, we put a few questions to him:

Justin Strharsky

How did you end up where you are today?

I flew South from Russia. I spent three and a half years on Sakhalin island working with an Australian consultancy. We helped to manage health, safety, and environmental risks on what was at the time the world’s largest integrated oil and gas development project. When that project transitioned from construction to operations, and the GFC hit, I closed our Russian office and relocated to Perth.

In 2011 a client asked us to build yet another mind-numbingly boring and inadequate paper-based safety tool. We decided that we had had enough and could do better. We launched Synaptor in order to free workers from the tedium of safety paperwork and to enable companies to manage risk in real time.

Before moving to Russia, I had a few other ‘character-building’ experiences. I helped manage a family medicine clinic in Alaska, owned a cafe-bar in Prague, and worked for several years in Silicon Valley, primarily for Sun Microsystems.

What makes you tick? What makes you ick?

Most days it seems that coffee makes me tick. One cup too many and it also makes me ick. I get excited by big ideas, big plans. I dislike talking to people when they’re not really present. Hello, are you in there?

Why do you love ‘fetchin?

I’m convinced that culture – the ideas, attitudes, and habits of those around you – affects what you believe is possible. I want to contribute to a local culture that encourages people to believe that they can make good things happen.

What things excite you about our community right now?

I think it’s a fantastic time to be an entrepreneur in Australia. There are so many big, exciting problems to get after, and so many resources at our disposal. The community is relatively small and approachable, and while we are learning from the way things are done elsewhere, there is an invigorating freedom to make our our own way.

What’s your favourite thing about your city?

I think Perth is wonderful – don’t tell anyone, okay? I’ve found Goldilocks’ bowl of porridge here – it’s just right.

Today my favorite thing is the first rain of the season.

Where can we find you in Perth?

Hopefully I’m in King’s Park, enjoying a famous sunset. If I’m not there, check my desk.

How can we connect with you?

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JustinStrharsky
https://twitter.com/thefetchper

Email:
justin@synaptor.com.au
justin@thefetch.com

Come out to one of the entrepreneur meetups.

Interview: Melbourne Local, Trevor Young

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Melbourne curator/founder Kate Kendall interviews Trevor Young, entrepreneur, writer, speaker and blogger also known as The PR Warrior!

Name: Trevor Young aka ‘The PR Warrior’

Website: trevoryoung.me

Twitter: @trevoryoung

Works at: Edelman Australia + I speak/write/blog

What was your first job?

Apart from stacking ‘clays’ on a dodgy clay pigeon machine at a shotgun shooting range (true story!) … my first ‘real’ job out of school was as a gofer/driver/publicist with ‘Young Talent Time’.

What’s the hardest challenge you’ve had to face work-wise?

Running a reasonably-sized PR agency of some 16-18 people (along with a business partner), and having a wide variety of clients and short-term projects on the go at any one time – the key challenge was to always have a pipeline full of client prospects; this was particularly difficult when you were personally on many of the accounts in one form or another. Of course this is a perennial issue faced by most professional services firms, especially if you’re always having to pitch for work which is a time-consuming business.

Who do you think is doing cool stuff in our industries?

I think locally, Valerie Khoo and the team from Sydney Writers’ Centre are virtually the complete package when it comes to using content and social media to connect with people and build a community of supporters for their brand. I love the fun, humorous and authentic approach Scott Kilmartin takes with his company Haul (for example, he promotes his pet boxer dog Gus as public ambassador for the brand). At the big end of town, Ford in the US has used social media to re-engineer not only the way it markets its brand but also how it designs its cars. In terms of individuals, Mari Smith, Danielle LaPorte, Chris Guillebeau, Gary Vaynerchuk and Problogger Darren Rowse are all showing how you can use content and socially-driven marketing techniques to build your personal brands on a global scale.

You’ve been blogging for a while and recently launched Bloghub.com.au – can you tell us about your publishing journey and what’s the mission behind the new site?

I think ‘journey’ is an apt word because that is what it’s been, lots to learn along the way. PR Warrior – my main blog which I started in mid-2007 – has always been a hub of experimentation, a local base for me professionally; I’m less concerned about attracting big numbers and more interested in building influence, reinforcing credentials and creating conversation around topics I’m interested in. Over time PR Warrior has ticked those boxes but you always need to be tending the ‘blogging’ garden as it were so expect a PR Warrior redesign in coming weeks!

BlogHUB was borne out of a view I held that Australia needed an online ‘heart’ for its emerging blogging movement. While BlogHUB started with a directory plus news and opinion posts and blogger profiles, I think over the next month or so I will pare it back to a more functional directory plus maybe a ‘Blog of the Week’-type profile. I’ve also written a free introductory e-book called ‘The MICRO MAVEN Manifesto’ which will be the forerunner to a new website/online community based around the concept of building a mini-business empire around your personal brand.

Do you classify yourself more as an entrepreneur or a consultant after starting your own agency and getting acquired by one of the big players?

Entrepreneur, definitely. I do consult, that’s largely my gig, but in my heart I’d say I’m an entrepreneur. I’ve started three businesses – two I’ve sold, one I’ve merged with a bigger organisation; I guess I’m just one of those people who is always looking to innovate and do things differently and if that leads to starting a business, then so be it. I must say I hang around lots of entrepreneurial types and do enjoy following their progress as they turn their ideas into reality.

What tips do you have for people looking to build their online presence, be it personal or for a business?

There are two intersecting elements you need to be active in – one, the ongoing creation of content that’s relevant, interesting, original and compelling – if it’s hard for you to tick all of those boxes, then become skilled at filtering information and curating content – become the go-to person for your particular specialist area or niche (or as Edelman’s Steve Rubel likes to say: “separating art from junk in the vast sea of digital content”).

Secondly, get involved – participate, connect – online and offline. Attend events, hold meet-ups, grab coffee with people who you’ve connected with online.

To build your personal brand today, unless you’ve got a TV or radio show, you are going to need to create a platform for your work, your opinions, content and ideas, be it blog-based, a podcast, online video show etc. Chris Brogan has an interesting series going about this that’s worth checking out –> http://www.chrisbrogan.com/platform01/

What’s next?

Getting the new-look PR Warrior and BlogHUB website up and running is my immediate priority, followed by launching ‘The MICRO MAVEN Manifesto’ e-book and accompanying website; I’ve got a few speaking gigs coming up which is nice plus my consulting work and blogging – so enough to keep me out of mischief!

Interview: Sydney Local, Annie Le Cavalier

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Name: Annie Le Cavalier

Website: www.vibewire.org

Twitter handle: @annielecavalier

Works at: Executive Director, Vibewire

What is the mission of Vibewire?

Vibewire is a dynamic non-profit organisation that exists to ensure that young people are included (and able to participate) in conversations that matter. We do this by providing platforms, opportunities and events for emerging voices to express themselves on the big questions of our times.

Who do you think is doing cool stuff in our industries?

I think Social Leadership Australia (the people behind the Sydney Leadership Program) is transforming the way we think about leadership and our individual capacity to change the world from whichever viewpoint we’re standing. They run some really innovative programs (including some desert leadership programs), which I believe, will revolutionise our organisations and institutions of the future. I also the work of Digital Sydney, Creative Industries Innovation Centre (CIIC), School for Social Entrepreneurs, TACSI, ASIX, the Centre for Social Impact, and Social Innovation Sydney.

I’ve also recently come across Districts of Creativity, which unites 14 of the most creative and innovative regions from around the world to foster the exchange of best practices and experiences in business, culture and education.

Where do you get your information from?

I’m not a massive tweeter, but I do follow heaps of people that feed most of the info I need.
I read StartupDaily regularly, which is a useful source of compiled readings relating to growing your business. I’m a loyal subscriber of Stanford Social Innovation Review and keep an eye on Social Innovation Exchange. I’m also very lucky to have such a savvy president on our board – Gavin Heaton from servantofchaos.com is a fountain of knowledge – always connecting me to relevant and interesting new concepts, people and info.

What was your first job?

My mother was a hairdresser so I grew up in hair salons washing and sweeping up hair. However, my first real and meaningful job was being an educator, working with marginalised young people in Montreal’s inner city for about five years before coming to Sydney – using available resources to get the kids interested in their own learning. I soon realised what amazing and transformative potential filmmaking and media could play to empower these kids to have a voice and realise their potential.

What’s the hardest challenge you’ve had to face work-wise?

The hardest challenge has been rebuilding an organisation that was on the brink of collapse from the ground up, one day at a time, and often without having any idea what the next step should be. I’ve been working at this for three years now and there’s still a lot of work to do. I’ve had to surround myself with incredible mentors who have been instrumental in helping me navigate through the series of challenges that keep coming up.

What is the one issue are you most passionate about?

I’m deeply affected by all forms of injustice, discrimination and inequality. I want to live in a world where we can all be given a fair chance at demonstrating our unique brilliance and contributing meaningfully to society.

What are your thoughts on the current Australian coworking scene?

Vibewire’s been running a Hub/cowork space since 2003. We were among the first, but we have seen a huge rise in a few short years. Coworking was a foreign concept up here in Australia until three to four years ago. Melbourne now leads the way, with just under 10 coworking spaces. There’s currently only a handful here in Sydney, but we are catching up fast, with four (branded) coworking spaces opening their doors since the beginning of 2010. The organic collaboration and knowledge sharing that emerges in cowork spaces has proved to be the biggest advantage. It would be great to start a Yammer network amongst us all so we can share ideas and resources… any takers?

What are some cool upcoming events at Vibewire?

Vibewire is just about to unveil a brand new website in the next month. We will be holding a launch party as part of Surry Hills Late Night Library on 9 February. We will also be hosting an Art Auction on 15 March showcasing Australia’s best new emerging artists. And of course our flagship monthly breakfast innovation series, fastBREAK will resume in February 2012, on the last Friday of each month. We also run a monthly entrepreneurs meetup in our Hub and a monthly cowork Jelly day where we invite people to come try out our Hub!

Ed note: Vibewire is located at 525 Harris Street in Ultimo, Sydney. We’ve also created a guide listing other coworking spaces in Australia here.

Interview: Melbourne Local, Rebecca Costello

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Name: Rebecca Costello

Website: www.themonthly.com.au

Twitter handle: @rebeccacostello

Works at: CEO, The Monthly

What was your first job?

My first job was at 13 years of age working Saturday’s and Sunday’s at the Donvale Craft cottage. It was so exciting to me at the time, Guy Pearce was a regular and my first celebrity crush.

What’s the hardest challenge you’ve had to face work-wise?

Initially explaining what The Monthly was (and how often it was published!!!) to media buyers, nationally.

The Monthly’s in-depth essays have a great impact on society, highlighting the issue to a readership of the publication. Has there been a situation that demonstrates this most to you?

Robert Manne’s in-depth profile on Julian Assange was a significant contribution to understanding why Julian Assange was, at the time, one of the most powerful people in the world.

What’s your favourite part of the job?

Working with a great group of passionate, dedicated people producing an independent publication that makes a valuable contribution to Australia’s cultural landscape.

If there was one issue or idea you would like discussed more, what would it be?

I’m a firm believer in waxing but there still needs to be a greater understanding and adjustment of cultural attitudes towards women in this country.

As the year draws to a close, what in your opinion are the three most significant issues of 2011?

  • The worlds population grew to seven billion and there is still a massive question mark about environmental sustainability
  • The European debt crisis has highlighted inequality, poverty, corruption and greed across the globe
  • The depressing lack of quality political debate in Australia

What’s next?

For me, a holiday is what’s next on my agenda!