Keeper has recently been retained by a staffing organisation on behalf one of the world’s leading Fintech payment firms to help them spin up a global R&D centre based in Nenagh, Ireland. We’re helping many Croatian engineers to understand why they should consider relocating to Ireland; how that can happen and what that will look like. In this blog explores how this opportunity has arisen, what it’s like to live in Ireland as well as giving details of the process, how to make the move, job descriptions and financial rewards.
We look forward to speaking with you – if this is of interest drop us a line at info@keepersolutions.com and we’ll be happy to discuss things further with you.The plan is to scale up this green field site to a total of 300 engineering roles which will serve the company’s global operations. So far, a core team of 20-30 people have been hired, and the plan is to hire at least 50 more people by October 2018. Hiring talented software engineers on this scale is a challenge – to help with the effort, Keeper Solutions were contacted and have agreed to mount a campaign. We usually focus on hiring our own people in Croatia, but we have agreed to work with this client to help them establish their workforce in Nenagh.
Why This? Three main reasons;
(i) The work is interesting – global scale projects in one of the largest #Fintech players in the card payments space
(ii) We believe in the local leadership – to date, there has been 100% acceptance by all who have been issued with offers
(iii) Nenagh & the South West of Ireland is a fabulous place to live and work.
Lough Derg is a beautiful resource for those living in the area.
Why Nenagh? I hear you say…
It is a small(ish) town located in a stunning area of natural beauty (right next to the fabulous Lough Derg – (Nota Bene all who enjoy fishing, hiking, picnics, sailing, bird watching or water sports).
It’s on a motorway 20 minutes drive from Limerick, 90 minutes from Dublin. So you can enjoy working in one of the most dynamic European tech centres, without all the cost/hassle of trying to get set up in Dublin.
Initially, you may wish to rent in the area – you have a wide choice of locations, as Nenagh is situated right next to the M7. Renting in the South West of Ireland is much less expensive than in the Dublin region – and should you decided to settle and buy your own home, that is extremely affordable by European standards too. Check out Daft.ie to look at your options for renting. If you plan to buy, then you’ll need to save 10% of the cost of the property, which is feasible in this region given the reasonably price of houses.
You’re also only an hour’s drive from Ireland’s famous #WildAtlanticWay which has amazing opportunities for surfing, walking, fishing, sailing, trekking, biking and generally having a great time.
We do understand that it’s a big decision to make the move, but we’ll help you with assessing the opportunity, and there is an attractive relocation fee of between €3-4k.
Selection process:
- Phone screen with Keeper Solution recruitment team
- CV is presented and candidate is put into the selection process system
- Initial screening of the CV by Irish recruitment partners
- The candidate is submitted to hiring manager for review
- Hiring manager sets up video call with candidate in Croatia
- In country interview (HR+Hiring Manager) on first or second weekend in July
- Successful candidates will be given a contract on the spot
- Once the start date in Ireland is agreed, you’ll be given support, advice and assistance to make the relocation to Ireland as smooth as possible.
Application Developer – Java (We have about 15 roles in this category)
Salary range is between €40k and €75k+ package (see below) depending on experience and capability – as the process progresses, it will become clearer the salary level you can access. The application developer will, in collaboration with a multidisciplinary delivery team, design and develop software applications based on defined requirements
Primary Objectives
- Contribute significantly to implementing technical solutions within a collaborative, high trust, solutions delivery team which will contain other developers, data scientists, business analysts and DevOps engineers
- Work within a defined delivery processes to deliver high quality code for complex projects
- Work independently when required but communicate regularly with stakeholders on solution implementation
- Continuously innovate in terms of process and technology
- Provide technical coaching on moderately complex issues to colleagues
- Be a proactive stakeholder in quality of code and overall product quality
- Must be able to determine root cause and resolve issues in a timely manner.
- Must have strong verbal, written and organizational skills and strong customer focus.
- Will perform additional job duties as required
Knowledge & Skills
- Expert in one or more modern development language(s) and tool(s) suites such as Java or .NET.
- Thorough understanding and experience with database technologies such as SQL and NoSQL
- High degree of experience of both windows and linux based operating systems
- Strong understanding of cloud based technologies and providers such as AWS, Azure and GCP
- Experience working in a high-paced agile continuous deployment environment
- Experience with SDLC artefact management tools such as JIRA
- Experience with micro-service implementation is preferred
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline is preferred
Software Architect (2-3 of these roles available)
Salary range: €80-110k+ Package (see below)
Description:
In Nenagh, we are building the next generation of commerce infrastructure, services and analytics as part of the research and development organization of the largest global payment processor. We are currently looking for the founding team; people who want to work on core product for deployment on a global scale. We want to talk with people who want to;
- Create better experiences for users
- Prioritise ease of use and functionality
- Build and deploy new cloud based services
- Ask questions of the biggest data sets
- Be passionate, impactful and Be first
- Join a team on a mission and new journey
Role Overview
The Architect is responsible for the architecture design for complex systems and products, including designing and documenting technical frameworks, architectures and methodologies for business applications at an enterprise level.
As part of the initial ramp-up team the person will be a role model in terms of behaviours and actions that will proactively and positively support the culture that we are building.
Primary Objectives
- Responsible for architecture design for new applications and products
- Ensuring architecture is realized in the end product
- Support and influence selection and adoption of core technologies, development tools and standards in conjunction with the Senior Architect, Directors and Senior Engineering Managers
- Key contributor to defining and governing architecture standards working with the Senior Architect and other architects
- Partner with developers, analysts, and tech leads across the enterprise, to identify business needs and appropriate technical solutions.
- Development of Prototypes and Proof of Concept applications as required to prove new architectures and technologies
- Lead the development of core frameworks and services
- Communication and stakeholder management of technology and business stakeholders
- Provide technical guidance and coaching to engineers to support business and operational partners.
Skills & experience
- At least 8 years experience in software engineering with at least 2 years in an architecture role
- Excellent understanding of business challenges around delivery of Digital solutions at pace within a large organisation;
- Ability to translate and articulate business requirements in terms appropriate to the audience; ability to determine the best technical solution to meet a business outcome.
- Strong understanding of how technology relates to business, market and industry and applies knowledge to support the needs of critical systems and projects
- Experience with Micro Services, User Experience, Responsive Design, API Adoption, Cloud Stacks, Structured and Unstructured Databases and Big Data Platforms.
- Have a strong architecture background with deep knowledge of large scale enterprise business systems and solutions integration.
Have in-depth conceptual functional and non-functional knowledge of:
- User Interface (UI) – Solid awareness of cross-browser/device “responsive” development. Standards compliant HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Bootstrap whilst having strong experience delivering to accessibility standards and usability principles
- User Interface (UI) – Knowledge of implementation considerations for UI technologies including jQuery, AngularJS, Node.js, Ember.js, React, Dojo, Backbone.js
- Service architecture – Experience of API and service based architectures using REST APIs, micro-services and utilising JSON for web applications o Enterprise scale distributed NoSQL solutions including: MongoDB, in-memory databases and caching solutions adopted for globally distributed Digital solutions
- CI/CD – tools such as Confluence, Jira, Jenkins, Git, Stash, SonarQube, Performance centre o Cloud Technologies – PaaS/IaaS/SaaS –Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, etc
- Methods and delivery – DevOps processes and experience. Strong understanding of lean and agile methods of software delivery including Scrum, Kanban, Lean User Experience (UX), XP
- High availability and contingency solutions
- Excellent written and spoken communication skills with experience of successfully influencing others, negotiating effectively and winning over audiences with compelling and persuasive presentations
- Promoted and led best practice in risk and compliance management
- Ability to dive in, understand both business and customer’s needs
- Detail oriented with a passion for Quality
- Can do, Will do attitude:You will be joining a founding team first and a large organisation second. This is exciting, you will wear many hats, some you will be familiar with and others will be an opportunity to develop.
So What Are the Non-Salary Package Elements?
Health Insurance Employer covers the full cost of health insurance for each owner-associate and 50% for their family (husband/wife/civil partner and dependents up to age 21 when in college). You are entitled to join the scheme from the first day of employment but you are not automatically enrolled and must apply to receive this benefit. Current provider is Vhi and Plan is PMI 3513.
The Owner-associate Assistance Program (EAP) is available to you and your family and friends from your first day of employment, completely free of charge. This confidential 24-hour counselling service gives you access to information and advice either by email or through a telephone helpline. The EAP can help with anything from bullying at school to buying your first house.
Pension The Employer pension scheme is a ‘defined contribution’ scheme. After successfully completing probation you can elect to contribute to the pension scheme and the Employer will match your contributions up to a maximum of 5% of your gross basic salary.
Life Assurance You are automatically covered from your first day of employment and this benefit is fully paid by the employer. In the event of your death while employed by the Employer, a lump sum payment of 4 times your basic salary and the value of accumulated pension fund will be made. You may indicate your wishes as to where this payment should be made by completing an expression of wish form and returning this to HR to be held confidentially.
Cycle to Work Scheme In support of owner-associate wellness we participate in the Cycle to Work Scheme which is available to all owner-associates after successfully completing probation assuming you have not participated in the previous 5 years and will use your bike for some part of your journey to work.
The scheme allows you to purchase a bike and equipment (up to €1,000) and for the cost to be deducted from your gross salary. As such you don’t pay tax, PRSI or USC on this amount, which means you can get 20% to 52% discount on the value of the purchase depending on your Income Tax, and you have the benefit of spreading the cost over 6 months.
Equity At the Employer, everyone is an owner of the company and, as the company grows and prospers, we all benefit. Equity Awards is dependent on meritocracy and achievement of Employer corporate objectives and shall be determined in the Company’s sole and absolute discretion.
Family Friendly – Maternity Leave: 26 weeks at 50% base salary payment – Adoptive Leave: 24 weeks at 50% base salary payment – Paternity Leave: 100% payment for 2 weeks All Subject to eligibility.
Annual Leave All full time owner-associates are entitled to:
- 22 days annual leave on first calendar year
- 23 days annual leave on second calendar year
- 24 days annual leave on third
Relocation package: €3,000-4,000
Finally – How Much Tax Will I Pay?
Income tax in Ireland is fairly significant – if you want to figure out your net pay, then the Deloitte Tax Calculator is invaluable.