Freelance Full Stack Developer Jobs in Houston, TX

Main purpose

We are seeking a highly skilled technologist to join our dynamic and agile North America IT team. You will own the end-to-end development of web applications, workflows, and process automation solutions, ensuring these integrate seamlessly with the systems and data they depend on, and will make full use of AI tooling, including Claude Code/Cowork, across the entire software development lifecycle. This role demands a solid understanding of client, server, and data tier architecture, combined with the ability to build efficient, scalable, and user-friendly solutions across a wide range of technologies, along with practical skill in extending AI agents through tools and MCP servers so they can reliably connect to and act on those same systems.
A strong grasp of the commodities trading business is essential, as you'll be working closely with end users and building solutions that support the full trading cycle; familiarity with the oil and crude business specifically is a plus. This is a great opportunity to operate in a fast-paced commercial setting, playing a vital role in a data-driven trading environment.

Key responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end development lifecycle of a variety of applications, workflows, and automation solutions, ensuring optimal performance, scalability, and reliability
• Evaluate business problems and determine the most effective solution type, whether a web application, workflow automation, or AI agent, and design the architecture accordingly
• Bring innovative thinking to solving business problems, exploring new approaches and technologies rather than defaulting to familiar patterns
• Participate in the technical design and development of significant or complex enhancements
• Investigate and resolve high-severity issues, identifying root causes and implementing effective solutions
• Collaborate with Business Analysts to understand functional requirements and translate them into technical specifications
• Build and maintain integrations, including AI agent tools and MCP servers, that connect solutions to the systems and data they depend on
• Coordinate with IT teams to deploy and scale new instances as required by performance demands and expanding business needs
• Proactively identify and mitigate technical risks, performance bottlenecks, and system degradation
  

Required qualifications

• Solid experience with server-side programming in at least two of: C#, Python, or Java
• Extensive experience with front-end frameworks such as React or Angular, plus JavaScript/TypeScript and CSS
• Solid general database knowledge, with the ability to write performant queries across relational and other database systems
• Experience designing, building, and consuming APIs, with strong understanding of RESTful architecture and GraphQL where appropriate
• Experience with workflow orchestration or automation tooling
• Fluent daily use of AI coding tools such as Claude Code and Claude Cowork across the full development lifecycle
• Practical experience building or extending AI agent tools and MCP servers to connect solutions to systems and data
• Hands-on experience building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines in GitLab
• 10+ years of hands-on development experience across the full stack
• 4+ years of experience in a technical lead role
• Experience in commodities trading or related industries
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field
  

Preferred qualifications

• Familiarity with the oil and crude business specifically
• Exposure to commodity trading platforms or CTRM systems
• Experience working with distributed or cross-regional engineering teams
• Exposure to AWS
  

Attributes for success

• Versatile and adaptable, comfortable moving between web applications, workflows, automation, and AI agent solutions rather than specializing in just one
• Pragmatic approach to technology choices, picking the right tool for the problem rather than chasing trends
• Curious and self-directed learner, quick to pick up new technologies, frameworks, and platforms as the problem demands
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with sound judgment on when a novel approach is worth the risk versus when a proven one is the better call
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, able to collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders
• High attention to detail, ensuring quality and accuracy of code and documentation
• Able to manage multiple tasks and projects simultaneously, prioritizing effectively
  

Department overview

Trafigura is committed to building and maintaining world-class IT applications and infrastructure. The North America IT team directly supports the Trafigura trading business, delivering tactical, high-impact solutions with an innovative, close-to-the-business mindset. The team operates with the speed and flexibility of a small unit, empowering business teams with the tools and solutions they need to thrive - accelerating development cycles, staying highly responsive through close engagement with end users, and favoring decentralized decision-making over process for its own sake.

Reporting structure

You will report into the Head of Trading IT: North America, and work under the direction of the Chief Architect: North America.

Equal opportunity employer

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and take pride in a diverse workforce. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital or veteran status, medical condition or handicap, disability, or any other legally protected status.