Vacancy experienced software engineer for a more climate-resistant society

As experienced Software Engineer, you will join the Product Development Team and work on the core of our product platforms. In collaboration with the domain experts, you will help in defining the requirements and writing the specifications. In collaboration with your team, you will contribute in designing the solutions and implementing the functionalities.

Our products involve a panel of technical challenges: open APIs, third-party integrations, demanding and performant user interfaces, ingestion of large amounts of data with different structures… You will contribute to solving these challenges while keeping in mind the big picture: from the product vision to the customer’s practical expectations. 

You will help promoting software development best practices within the Product Development Team and take part in continuously improve our ways to communicate and work together.

As part of a growing team, you will help coaching new colleagues, onboard them to our products and methodology, and provide them guidance so they can improve their coding practices.

• Capturing Requirements: Outline the functional and non-functional requirements of feature and enhancements requests provided by product owners and ensure that business and technical departments share the same understanding of what needs to be done.
• Design: Elaborate the characteristics of the solution – blue prints, architectural changes, prototypes.
• Develop: Implement the functionalities according to the specifications and design, focusing on performance, maintenability and flexibility.
• Test: Provide means to quickly detect faulty behaviours and prevent regressions.
• Document: Write comprehensive documentation about the works.
• Internal Coaching & Mentorship: Coach internal developers in the Innovation Department, especially in the development of algorithms for flood prediction, to improve their coding practices, efficiency, and overall software development quality.
• Quality Assurance & Code Review: Establish best practices for coding, conduct regular code reviews, and ensure that software is maintainable, scalable, and efficient.

• Experience: At least 8 years of experience in product software development, working within interdisciplinary teams, user-centered design and SaaS environments.
• Technical Expertise: 
  • Software architectural patterns (and when to, and not to, use them).
  • Object-oriented programming and related design patterns.
  • Ability to convey ideas, designs and approaches through visual representations (diagrams, UML).
  • Proficiency in Python and its eco-system, including Django and FastAPI frameworks.
  • Proficiency with the SQL language and structuring relational database. Experience with document or timeseries databases is a plus.
  • Understanding of web protocols and standards. Proficiency in frontend development technologies such as Typescript and Vue.JS is a plus.
  • Experience with Docker and Docker-Compose.
  • Experience in source code management using Git.
• Strategic Thinking: Strong vision for technology, with the capability to understand business goals and align technical decisions with the overall business strategy.
• Leadership Skills: Proven ability to mentor and lead a development team, with strong communication and coaching abilities. Experience with managing or working closely with external teams is an advantage.
• Languages: Professional English. Dutch or French mother tongue. Active knowledge of a second Belgian language is a plus.

• Experience in the environmental or climate-tech industry, particularly in flood prediction, geospatial data, or related fields.
• Familiarity with cloud technologies (e.g., AWS, Azure) and DevOps practices.
• Familiarity with AI/ML algorithms.
• A track record of contributing to open-source projects or participating in the tech community.

Besides a competitive salary, complemented by a wide range of fringe benefits, we also offer you:

• Personal development. Opportunities to expand your professional boundaries, and adanve your career within a growing product development team 
• Impact. You participate in an integrated, climate-adaptive and sustainable water management 
• Responsibility. You have a responsible position. Autonomy and own initiative are important.
• Participation in a growing company with a start-up mentality (horizontal structure) that is fully committed to innovation.
• Flexibility. With opportunities for working from home and choice of workplace: Leuven, Ghent, Antwerp, Gembloux.
• Dynamic and respectful working environment. Motivating and open corporate culture. Read below what our employees themselves say about this

1. Challenging projects in different areas of expertise
   In terms of job content, our water engineers can really do their thing at HydroScan, with the necessary challenges in various areas of integrated water management, such as rainwater plans, flood forecasting, hydraulic modelling, solution scenarios and remedial measures such as infiltration techniques, collective buffering, leak detection, real-time alarm systems ...
2. Social importance
   Water is a scarce commodity. Reducing drinking water losses, lowering water consumption and using rainwater sustainably are professional activities that contribute to a more sustainable society.
3. Young and dynamic team
   The average age at HydroScan is 36, with an ideal mix of young talent and experienced experts. There is a collegial working atmosphere and a real team spirit. 
4. Flexibility
   HydroScan employees can handle their working time flexibly. For example, they can do an errand during the working day or go to the hairdresser and work longer hours at other times. 
5. Freedom within a structure
   Employees appreciate being able to work independently, to find the necessary freedom within a given framework.