Full time

UK-based with choice of office-based/remote/hybrid working

Salary range £55-65k dependent on experience 

About us 

Overton is a socially conscious startup focused on making government policy more transparent: we help researchers, journalists and the public to see the evidence and influences behind real world guidelines, laws and regulations.

Want to see the research behind national climate change plans, or the influences pushing different COVID policies? Overton is where you go. Our primary product is a large, searchable database of government policy that we text mine to pull out topics, links to academic papers, people and more. 

The founding team is experienced, friendly and genuinely cares about the space – we’d love you to join us.

Your new role

As our new Frontend & Design Engineer you’ll be responsible for the design and front end of Overton, our core product, used by think tanks, universities and charities to search and analyze the policy world.

Together with our product manager you’ll be translating feedback from users into UX improvements and implementing them with the rest of the tech team

Our clients range from UNICEF, the British Heart Foundation, big universities and think tanks like the Institute for Fiscal Studies all the way to individual researchers or journalists. They’re all interested in different aspects of our data, and your challenge will be making sure their app experience is a smooth, intuitive one across devices and use cases.

Part of this is search, and part is helping users to visualize and understand large or complex datasets quickly.

You’ll also work on smaller apps aimed at specific audiences or that help our wider mission of making policy more evidence based. You’ll develop quick prototypes for new ideas or interfaces, helping us to test and validate concepts quickly with our development partners

You’ll contribute to or own our visual identity online, an important part of how we set ourselves apart from similar applications

You’ll be joining us at an exciting stage of development and though you’ll be focused on improving the UX & design of our apps there’ll be lots of opportunity to try out new ideas, for professional development and to try your hand at other parts of the business be they technical or otherwise.

The tech

For the most part we use vanilla Javascript in our front end but familiarity with modern frameworks is a plus. You should have in-depth knowledge of HTML & CSS

You should be able to mock up and present – either in code, Figma or similar tools – ideas so that we can validate, test and iterate on them quickly.

On the backend of the platform, the tech stack is PHP, Python, Postgres and Elasticsearch. We scrape and process a large number of documents from the web, index them and allow users to search them through our web app. 

About you 

We’re looking for somebody with a mix of design, UX and front-end engineering skills: 

• At least 2-3 years of experience working with SaaS applications in PHP or Javascript.
• In-depth knowledge of HTML & CSS
• At least basic knowledge of Javascript – for the most part we use vanilla JS in our front end but familiarity with modern frameworks is a plus
• Able to mock up and present – either in code, Figma or similar tools – ideas so that we can validate, test and iterate on them quickly

And these would be a bonus: 

• Real world experience of UX design: we want you to have read (or even better collected) feedback from users, mapped the relevant flows and have figured out how to streamline them
• Some back-end knowledge of Python or PHP
• 
  

How we work

We’re very open to different ways of working and the team at the moment is a mix of remote and hybrid practices. We have nice office space in London very close to Euston for people who want to use it, and we get the whole team together in London a few times a year for face to face meetings.

How we hire 

1. Apply using the form below with your CV and a non-generic cover letter that explains why you are right for this role and why it interests you. We’ll get back to you within a week.

2. We’ll follow up by email with any questions we might have about your application, usually around logistics or your expectations about the role.

3. We’ll schedule a 30-minute call for an initial discussion to discuss the role and your experience, to see if they look like a good fit.

4. We’ll schedule a more in-depth interview, which is typically two hours long. The first hour is discussion, and the second hour is based on a short, practical take home assignment (no memory testing whiteboard questions!) or exercise during the interview if you’d prefer.

5. We’ll make an offer. We’ll be interviewing a number of candidates so there may be a short delay, but we will try to keep you informed throughout the process.

Benefits

• Hybrid and flexible working
• A supportive, friendly work environment within a company that cares about its staff and its impact on the world (we are accredited by the Living Wage Foundation and the FSB Good Business Charter and we’re aiming to become net zero this year!)
• The chance to have a real, customer facing impact on the product and team from your first week here 
• Competitive salary, dependent on experience and location
• We’ll provide a new Mac, PC or Linux laptop along with a stipend for other equipment
• Enhanced employer pension contribution of 6%
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 28 days per year excluding bank holidays

Plus enhanced family leave and pay policies (subject to full conditions, available on request) including:

• After 6 months’ service, we’ll pay 90% of normal basic pay for the first 3 months of maternity leave and shared parental leave (less any taken as maternity/paternity leave)
• After 6 months’ service, we’ll pay 90% of normal basic pay for 6 weeks of paternity leave
• With no minimum length of service, you can take up to 6 weeks’ paternity leave, including 2 weeks paid at 90% of normal basic pay

If this sounds like your kind of thing, we’d love to hear from you! 

Apply using the form below with your CV and a cover note that explains why you are right for this role and why it interests you. If you have any questions about the role, contact jobs@overton.io

We are reviewing applications on a rolling basis so please get in touch as soon as possible if you’re interested. Interviews can be in person or virtual as preferred, at a time that suits you.

We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability or parental status. If you need any adjustments to allow you to fully participate in the application and interview process, please just let us know.