Experienced Software Engineer
Automattic
Hirezar Summary for South African Applicants
This fully remote full time position at Automattic is open worldwide, so South Africans can apply. As a remote position, you can work from anywhere in South Africa — whether you're based in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, or a smaller town.
Job Description
<p>WordPress doesn’t try to keep its users inside walled gardens, a rare thing in a world that is dangerously moving away from the open web. Instead, WordPress gives them the freedom to build a business website, an online store, or a personal blog – the way they like it. Big sites or small, using the community-run <a href="https://wordpress.org/">open source project</a> or Automattic’s <a href="https://wordpress.com/">WordPress.com</a>, vanilla or customized with hundreds of plugins, WordPress users always get to own and control their data, their expression, and their freedom.</p>
<p>We’re always looking for talented and experienced engineers worldwide, excited to help Automattic’s product ecosystem, and join our mission to make the web a better place. </p>
<p><strong>What have we worked on recently?</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>AI is at the heart of many <a href="https://wordpress.com/ai-website-builder/">new product developments</a> and powers a lot of our day-to-day development workflows.</li>
<li><a href="https://woocommerce.com/">WooCommerce</a> is the most popular and most flexible e-commerce platform on the web. We're working tirelessly on giving you all the control, while keeping the platform fast and stable.</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/">Gutenberg</a> is a new block-level editor for WordPress with clean abstractions for users, too, not just developers.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> is a microblogging social network where users create, share, and follow what they love.</li>
<li>To view more of our recent work, check out our longer product list on <a href="https://automattic.com/">Automattic.com</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>How do we work?</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>We’re <a href="https://automattic.com/creed/help-a-colleague/">kind to each other</a> and our users – we build a positive, supportive, and inclusive culture of cohesive teams focused on building useful products for our customers.</li>
<li>We work as a global and distributed workforce resulting in a unique way of working built around <a href="https://automattic.com/creed">our creed</a>. </li>
<li>We offer flexible work arrangements allowing our team members to work when they feel best.</li>
<li>We open-source! We’re cool with <a href="https://github.com/Automattic">open-sourcing</a> everything except passwords, or secret keys.</li>
<li>We ship often, <a href="https://automattic.com/about/">deploying many</a> times daily with the help of peer code review, continuous integration, and our global workforce in over 70 countries.</li>
<li>We welcome collaboration, and you can be involved in any discussion across our many communication channels.</li>
<li>We encourage you to learn and develop and we support you with what you need – covering expenses, easy internal mobility, coaching.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Enough about us, let‘s talk more about you. Working at Automattic might be a good fit if:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>You care and often obsess over the quality and the details of your work.</li>
<li>Debugging any problem is a fun challenge and not a chore.</li>
<li>Understanding the layers of abstraction below and above your work isn't something extra, but how you operate.</li>
<li>You have production experience with several programming languages, frameworks, and paradigms. We mostly use PHP and JavaScript at Automattic, we expect you to be comfortable with the idea of becoming an expert in these languages, even if being one isn't a requirement to apply.</li>
<li>In your mind abstraction is associated as much with cost as it is with value.</li>
<li>You have experience working at scale – it can be on the backend and performance side, or via the complexity of interacting with a multi-million diverse userbase.</li>
<li>Are open and able to travel 3-4 weeks per year to meet up with your teammates in person.</li>
</ul>
<p>These are exciting times at Automattic and you’ll have a unique opportunity to shape the future of our products. Join us! We look forward to hearing from you.</p>
<p><em>Curious who works in engineering at Automattic? </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLQFhxUeNFfdLVtK-tsuAZbDa4a-LqFZlx&v=jyhYkuuzL_0"><em>Meet our Code Wranglers</em></a><em> – Brandon, Jeremy, Mark, Jennifer, Roy and Kat!</em> </p>
<p><strong>What to Expect:</strong></p>
<p>We know applying to jobs can be stressful and we want to ease the stress by giving clear expectations upfront about our process. We’ve outlined <a href="https://automattic.com/how-we-hire/">everything you need to know here</a> including all of the steps in the process as well as how we approach hiring. </p>
<p>Please note that we are paying extra attention to your answers to the questions in the application form. They are a significant part of the hiring process, and we will review them just like we would review any other step of the hiring process. We’re always iterating so if you happen to join us in the process, please feel fr
Tips for South African Applicants
Timezone Advantage
South Africa (SAST, UTC+2) overlaps well with European business hours and has a few hours of overlap with US East Coast. Mention your timezone flexibility in your application.
Salary in Context
Even without a listed salary, international remote roles typically pay 2-3x more than equivalent local positions in South Africa due to the exchange rate advantage.
Application Tips
Tailor your CV to international standards — use a clean format, highlight remote work experience, and include your English proficiency. Many SA applicants succeed by emphasising their strong work ethic and cultural adaptability.
Load Shedding Preparedness
If you're applying for a remote role, having a backup power solution (UPS, inverter, or generator) and mobile data as a backup internet connection shows employers you're prepared for South Africa's infrastructure challenges.
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About Automattic
Automattic is a company in the Account Executive industry that hires remote workers from South Africa. They currently have 16 open positions on Hirezar. View all Automattic jobs →