Principal, Full-Stack Developer — Farmhand Platform

Growcer Inc.•Ottawa, ON

29d•CA$175,000 - CA$200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Growcer is looking for a Principal, Full-Stack Developer to own and evolve Farmhand, our web-based platform for monitoring and managing vertical farm operations. Farmhand is a React-based web application connected to physical farm controllers via IoT infrastructure, and this role sits at the intersection of web development, embedded systems integration, and cloud infrastructure. The Farmhand ecosystem includes: Farmhand 2 (the current web platform), Farmhand Web (the cloud-connected client), Farmhand Local (offline client for direct controller access), Farmhand Hub (controller firmware), and Farmhand Internal (fleet management and internal tooling). You will be responsible for maintaining the stability of the current Farmhand 2 platform, improving its architecture, and contributing to strategic initiatives such as migrating away from AWS IoT Greengrass before its end-of-life. You will work closely with the product, hardware, and operations teams, and report to the Director of Product Development.

Requirements

University degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
Strong proficiency in React and modern JavaScript/TypeScript for web application development
Familiarity with REST APIs and monolithic or service-based backend architectures
Hands-on experience with Node.js for server-side development, including building and maintaining REST APIs
Working knowledge of JSON-based configuration management and rules-driven systems
Familiarity with IoT protocols (particularly MQTT) and cloud IoT platforms (AWS IoT Core, Greengrass, or equivalents) is an asset
Experience with Linux systems, Docker-based deployments, and ISO image management is an asset
Working knowledge of AWS services (ECR, IoT Core, cloud data storage) is an asset
Strong understanding of software architecture principles, including service-based design, separation of concerns, and scalable system design patterns
Minimum 8-10 years of professional software development experience
Minimum 4-5 years of experience as a Full-Stack Developer
Experience working with embedded or IoT systems is a strong asset
Exposure to hardware-software integration projects is an asset
Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills in English; French an asset
Strong debugging and problem-solving skills, especially in distributed or hybrid online/offline systems
Ability to learn quickly and take ownership of legacy systems without complete documentation
High attention to detail, particularly when working with configs and versioned system state
Adaptable and flexible personality that thrives in a fast-moving and ever-changing environment
Ability to work autonomously and manage own priorities
Must be able to legally work in Canada

Nice To Haves

Previous experience in a startup or agri-tech environment preferred
Willingness to work an average of 3 days per week in person at Growcer HQ (891 Boyd Ave., Ottawa) is a nice to have

Responsibilities

Maintain and improve Farmhand 1 and Farmhand 2, a React-based monolithic web application serving both web and mobile browser clients
Manage and debug controller firmware configs (JSON-based rule sets) that govern on-farm automation and sensor logic
Triage and resolve issues arising from sync inconsistencies between controller firmware, Farmhand Local, and Farmhand Web
Monitor and maintain the production and staging environments, ensuring reliable deployments and rollback procedures
Support the Farmhand Local interface, which allows offline farm operation via direct controller connection
Lead or contribute to the migration away from AWS IoT Greengrass ahead of its October end-of-life, evaluating alternatives such as localized MQTT-based networking solutions
Assess and mitigate risks associated with the Greengrass end-of-life, including security, authentication, and IoT device connectivity
Improve config versioning practices to eliminate operational sync issues caused by unversioned config changes
Contribute to the design and implementation of service-based improvements across Farmhand 2 subdomains (login, client, almanac, account, etc.)
Evaluate hardware transitions, such as replacing discontinued controllers with an industrialized alternative (e.g., Raspberry Pi), including ISO image development
Understand and work with the controller firmware (Farmhand Hub) as the source of truth for farm state, including its rules engine and action sets
Debug issues related to Farmhand Web commands traveling through the internet to the controller, and Farmhand Local commands sent directly to firmware
Maintain and improve AWS integrations including ECR (Elastic Container Registry) and historical data storage (Almanac)
Work with the team to manage sandbox config environments for safe testing without impacting production or custom customer configurations
Participate in architecture deep-dive sessions and lunch-and-learn knowledge sharing to upskill cross-functional team members
Maintain and improve internal documentation of system architecture, config types, versioning practices, and service interactions
Collaborate with hardware, operations, and customer success teams to resolve field issues and triage customer-reported bugs
Support the Growcer service team with Farmhand issues customers are experiencing, communicating directly with the service team and, in some instances, directly with customers
Support internal tooling in Farmhand Internal (fleet management, status dashboards, factory reset workflows)
Contribute to engineering best practices, including versioning discipline, environment hygiene, and change management
Bring a problem-solving attitude and initiative when encountering unknown or under documented systems