Principal, Full-Stack Developer - Farmhand Platform
Full Time, Salaried
Ottawa, ON
About Growcer
Growcer is an innovative agri-tech startup launched in Ottawa in 2015, specializing in the manufacturing and design of modular hydroponic systems that enable commercial food production in plug-and-play 40 ft. modules. Its vertical farming technology enables customers to grow fresh vegetables in virtually any climate, having been deployed within the Arctic Circle below -50°C. Growcer has empowered conventional farmers, entrepreneurs, communities and institutions to grow food locally all year round. Growcerâs work has been recognized with awards including Fast Companyâs World Changing Ideas and the Entrepreneursâ Organization and was featured on Season 13 of CBCâs hit show, Dragonsâ Den.
Growcer is looking for a driven individual with a self-starter attitude as the company enters the next phase of rapid growth and scales across North America. Effective Growcer employees are tenacious, enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, and are comfortable working on big-picture challenges with lots of autonomy.
About the Role
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.
Responsibilities
Farmhand Platform Maintenance
- 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
Architecture and Improvements
- 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
IoT and Controller Integration
- 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
Collaboration and Documentation
- 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)
Work Environment and Culture
- Operate effectively in a fast-paced startup environment comfortable with ambiguity and evolving technical requirements
- 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
Requirements
Knowledge and Education
- 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
Work Experience
- 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
Skills and Competencies
- Previous experience in a startup or agri-tech environment preferred
- 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; willingness to work an average of 3 days per week in person at Growcer HQ (891 Boyd Ave., Ottawa) is a nice to have
Interested candidates should submit a concise cover letter and résumé to: [email protected] by July 31, 2026. Our process typically includes an initial screen, a technical conversation, a take-home or pairing exercise, and an onsite round with the team.
Please note, AI may be used to support the screening, assessment, or selection of applicants. This is a new role within the organization.
The compensation range for this role is $175,000-$200,000 CAD plus benefits, commensurate with experience.
Accommodation:
Growcer is dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. If you feel you need accommodation(s) because of illness, disability, or other special needs at any time during the recruitment process, please contact [email protected].
