Sr. .NET Lead Developer Sought by Bulldog Solutions

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Bulldog Solutions is a fun, fast-paced place to work. Our Lead Generation process has been embraced by businesses all over the world, including many Fortune 500 companies. We have developed successful lead-generation campaigns and strategies for B2B organizations in many different industries, including technology, finance, science, health care, telecom, insurance and publishing.

Senior Developer

Bulldog Solutions is currently seeking a Senior Developer to add to our Information Technology team. The Senior Developer will be the technical lead on software development projects supporting internal development, as well as, external facing product development. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing multiple development projects at a time, running code reviews, mentoring other developers, managing release cycles and writing code. This position requires an expert technical skillset in a Microsoft environment, as well as, as strong skillset with current Web 2.0 technologies (AJAX, Web Services, SOA). As the Senior Developer, you must possess a thorough understanding of rapid development methodologies, object oriented analysis and design, .NET best practices, and the development of highly scalable, maintainable and secure Web solutions. This is a full-time salaried position.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the software development team in estimating, planning, designing and coding of software applications



• Mentor developers by contributing best practices and holding code reviews



• Ensure that all code retains logical stability, reliability, confidentiality and integrity



• Manage source code versioning and system release schedule



• Review and analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of existing systems and develop strategies for improving or further leveraging these systems



• Meet with decision makers, systems owners and end users to define business, financial and operations requirements and systems goals as well as to identify and resolve systems issues



• Stay on top of industry changes and drive innovation of the Bulldog Solutions products

Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree or equivalent in computer science or MIS



• 5+ years development experience in fast-paced, technology company



• Expert knowledge of ASP.Net [preferably ASP.NET 2.0] and Web Services development using both VB & C#



• Experience with Web and Web 2.0 technologies including Web Services, Ajax, RSS, CSS, XML/XSLT and JavaScript



• Expertise in database design, data architecture to support systems development (preferably in a SQL Server environment)



• Web UI design exposure including basic principles and patterns
  Proven success mentoring junior developers (previous experience in lead developer role is a plus)



• System integration, SOA architecture design, implementation and management is a plus
  CMS (or WCMS) implementation and customization familiarity



• Proven experience working in environments where software applications are being built from scratch (concept to deployment)



• Demonstrated commitment to continuous personal improvement of business and technical skills, including the ability to learn and apply new technologies and techniques



• Microsoft developer/architect certifications are a plus

Desired Characteristics:

The successful candidate will posses expertise in both written and interpersonal communication and be at ease with public speaking, in relationship building, and in collaboration in a cross-functional team comprised of diverse personalities, skill sets, and levels of experience. Excellent organizational skills, focus, and attention to detail are a must, as is the ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic and energetic environment.
Description of relationships and roles

Candidate must demonstrate a proven track record of obtaining results without direct report authority.

Compensation

We offer a competitive salary based on experience; health care plans including medical, dental, and vision; a bonus plan; corporate fitness discounts as well as various other employee benefits in an energetic and cutting-edge work environment.

Disclaimer

To be considered an applicant, you must apply for this specific position and meet its minimum qualifications as determined by Bulldog Solutions. This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive statement of every duty and responsibility of the jobholder. Certain features of this job are described in the above headings, but are not necessarily limited to the above written statements. They may be subject to review. All positions within Bulldog Solutions may include other duties as assigned.

This is a full-time, regular position in our offices in Austin, Texas. As this is an immediate need, local candidates will be given more serious consideration. We are not offering relocation packages.

NO SPONSORSHIP IS AVAILABLE FOR THIS POSITION. U.S. CITIZENS OR GREEN CARD HOLDERS ONLY PLEASE.

Please forward your resume to khaynes@bulldogsolutions.com.

Real Life Collides with Online Life

Social networking and media have recently become more and more real to me as I've been having more human interactions with folks that I've become friends with on various social networks. The two have collided.

This afternoon as I logged into my Twitter account I found that I was invited to attend a Social Media Breakfast here in Austin this week. Just after registering to attend I had a call come through on ooVoo from Geoff Livingston in D.C. I clicked on, plugged in my webcam and for the first time had a conversation with Geoff, Jay Moonah, Joseph Jaffee, and Robin Good - - two guys here in the states, one guy in Toronto, one guy in Rome and little 'ol me in Central Texas.

A year ago it would have never crossed my mind that I would be having conversations of any kind with folks like this and that they would be from all over the world. But today, it's becoming more and more normal. In addition to this afternoon's chat I also caught up with my CMO in Belgium and an old friend in Argentina earlier this week. Amazing.

My boyfriend has been chatting with his social friends online for years now - again coming from all over the world. Of course his conversations are never around media, marketing and the effects of social media though.

My organization, Bulldog Solutions, is constantly trying to help our Business-to-Business (B2B) clients find better ways to reach their clients on social networks and media and the simple truth is that it begins with a conversation. First they have to determine where their customers live and then begin interacting with them there. And by interacting we know it's not pushing more advertisements at them, but really interacting - posing questions, offering helpful insight and opening up about what's going on at an organizational level and becoming more personal and interesting.

I have to believe in my own experiences that although it might take us a while to teach our clients how to evolve in this new social world that their efforts will pay off exponentially.

Let the hiring begin

I've been in the HR / Recruiting world for going on close to a decade now and one of the things I know is the fourth quarter of any year is generally not the time for huge hiring sprees. Then when the calendar flips to January the frenzy begins.

That's exactly where I find myself these days. With awards like this it's not surprising that Bulldog Solutions is about to undergo tremendous growth, yet again! Do you have what it takes to be a Bulldog?

2006 Listed as one of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies by the Austin Business Journal

2007 Listed as one of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies by the Austin Business Journal

2007 Listed as one of the Inc 500s Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies

2007 Listed as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas

And now . . . I'm in need (or soon will be in need) of the following:

• Event Manager - In essence a DJ for our clients Webinars. Folks with 2-3 years of professional experience and RTF degrees usually fit well in this positions.
  
• Account Director - The bridge between our sales department and our project campaign managers. We're looking for folks with 5-7 years of strategic marketing experience. Interactive advertising / marketing a huge plus.
  
• Web Production Developer - HTML proficient and graphic / design background who is comfortable with an incredibly fast-paced work environment and is fanatical about quality.
  
• Campaign Manager - If you've led campaigns for the Democratic or Republic party goody for you, but this title is all about project managing our client events and marketing objectives.

There will be more listed very soon so if you're in the job market, if you know someone in the job market, if you live in Austin or can't wait to get here, then bookmark this page or subscribe to my RSS feed.

Oh, and you have to like working with dogs. I'm not saying our employees are dogs, we actually allow our employees to bring their well-behaved dogs to work with them.

Bulldog Solutions' Company Party Proves Muy Bueno!

Bulldog Solutions has held an annual company party for three years now. Pretty impressive considering we're going into our fifth year of business. It's always near Halloween and costumes are highly encouraged.

The first year's theme, which I missed, was a Headbangers Ball. Last year was Boogie Nights. This year's occurred last night and the theme was Latino, which had a wide breadth to interpret and undoubtedly saw some of our best costume choices to date.

We've encouraged our employees to upload their own personal photos to a Flickr site we've created and we'll also soon upload some of the professional photographs we had taken as well.

Wanna know what crazy Bulldog Solutions' employees look like when their partying? Check it out the first sets of photos here: Bulldog Solutions Halloween.

Prior to the event we had created a set of three "Telenovellas" about a fictional story line happening in our offices and sent it out to those that received an invite. It was a great way for us to begin getting psyched for the night on the town.

We danced until after Midnight to the sounds of Grupo Fantasma at The Mohawk in downtown Austin. There was even a guy handrolling cigars. A huge hit of the night.

Ohhhh, what will we do next year . . .?

How to Make an Impact with an Invitation

My organization, Bulldog Solutions, prides itself with hosting a bang-up annual party in Austin during the month of October and amazingly enough our next event is just around the corner.

In order to promote this year's event we've started putting together teaser videos - the theme is Latin.

Enjoy!

General It Is!

Charles and I had a tough time deciding on a name for our new puppy. We have Gizzy the Chihuaha, Belay the Calico and Zambezi the Himilayan.

My cats were named after events that occurred in my life. Belay joined me right before I went on a rock climbing trip and Zambezi joined our family just before I went bunji jumping over the Zambezi River between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Gizzy took up residence with Charles last year.

I thought an Ewok name would have been cute and Charles was pulling for Chewbaca, but I have had my fill of Star Wars from my Ex and just couldn’t bring myself to anything from those films.

As I’ve learned a bit about Shih Tzu’s history from way back in 624 A.D. I found it steeped in China and Tibet, which led me towards wanting to name the puppy after one of the places I’d been in China, like Xian or Wuhan or perhaps the Yangtze River. I taught English in Changchun, north of Beijing during the summer of ’87, but the thought of hollering any of those names was a bit bizarre.

We finally stumbled across General Tso. Yes, from the Chinese dish General Tso chicken, but the real General Tso was from the Hunan province in China, which was one of my favorite places. And you know it fits well. We’ve taken to calling him General.

I’ve attached his latest videos where he’s quickly learned how to grab hold of Gizzy’s collar and pull her around. It’s hilarious and the reality is that he will always be a bulldog!

Oops - I guess that last comment should have some explanation around it for those of you who don't know. One of my fellow co-workers at Bulldog Solutions was actually the first "mommy" to General, but unfortunately she couldn't keep him, so she brought him to the office and I took him home and adopted him into our family. Thank you, Linda!



Who's in charge? from Kim and Vimeo.

So long, farwell . . .

So one of Bulldog's semi-newest employees is packing up and leaving fabulous Austin so that his wife and kiddos can be closer to family - in Ohio! Who the heck leaves Austin for Ohio? Everyone wants to move TO Austin, not the other way around.

But as a send off for themselves they hosted a wonderful farwell party this weekend at Stubbs downtown and had Jim Halfpenny and Band play. It was a great evening with yummy barbeque, chips, queso and guacamole and my good friend Jamie who just moved down from Dallas last week came as my date.

Adios, Tim and Julie! Thanks for opening up Bulldog's first official office in Ohio!

A pup for the Bulldog crew

You'd think with the name of our company being Bulldog Solutions that at least one of us would have a bulldog, but not so until recently. Our president, Todd Davison, finally purchased one for his family. The video below is from Clover's first day at the office. Awww - we love her!



Clover's First Day from kfarwell and Vimeo.

And, yes, there had been a bulldog in the past. Read about Augustus here.

Video - Why work at Bulldog Solutions

Be sure to check out the cool video link on the right hand side, which helps explain the culture and why everyone should want to work at Bulldog Solutions.

Bulldog Solutions is a fun, fast-paced place to work, with headquarters in Austin, Texas (the Live Music Capital of the World) and European offices in Brussels, Belgium. Our impressive roster of clients includes some of the most recognizable Global 500 brands. We develop and manage online lead-generation campaigns for business-to-business marketers across the technology, finance, science, health care, telecom, insurance and publishing sectors.