Software Developer Contract Junior Jobs in Newark, NJ

About the role

We're a technology firm in lower Westchester, in business for over twenty years and a leader in our field. We're hiring a junior software developer — someone early in their career who we intend to grow into a strong engineer.

We build real, full-stack systems: C#/.NET services, TypeScript and Vue front ends, mobile apps, and a fair amount of Microsoft Azure infrastructure underneath it all. We also work on interesting edges — machine vision, facial recognition, and OCR integrations. You will not spend a year moving buttons around on one screen.

Our office is about one block from the Bronxville Metro-North station. We offer flexible working conditions, but we expect you in the office at first so you can learn the company, the products, and the people. That part is not negotiable — mentorship for a junior developer works far better in person.

Who we're looking for

We care about three things above all else:

• Work ethic. You finish things. When something is hard, you stay with it.
• You're sharp, especially about programming and problem-solving. We'd rather hire someone who reasons well and knows less than someone who has memorized a framework.
• You're good to work with. You can disagree, take feedback, ask for help, and give it. Skill does not buy an exemption from being decent to your colleagues.

And one more thing, which is the reason this posting reads the way it does:

We want someone who actually likes this work. Not someone who finished a course and picked software because the salary looked reasonable. We’re looking for the person who has built something nobody asked them to build. Who has an opinion about a language or a tool and can defend it. Who has gone down a rabbit hole on how something works and come back out the other side knowing it. Who reads about this stuff on a Saturday because it’s interesting, not because it’s assigned.

If that's you, this is a very good place to be junior. If it isn't, you will not enjoy it here, and you should apply somewhere else — we mean that kindly.

What you'll do

• Write and ship C#/.NET code for our products
• Build and maintain front-end features in TypeScript and Vue
• Work across the whole stack — database, web server, network, front end — and understand how the pieces connect
• Help maintain and improve our Azure infrastructure
• Read and review other people's code, including work from our offshore developers
• Contribute to technical specifications, architecture discussions, and API design
• Basic troubleshooting and support of our products, in-house and via remote sessions

You'll do all of this with support. We don't expect a junior hire to be self-sufficient on day one, and we're not going to hand you a critical production system and wish you luck. We do expect you to be curious enough to ask good questions, and to try things before you ask.

What you need

This is a junior position, so the required list is short and real:

• Comfort on Linux — you can navigate a filesystem, use Bash, and you're not afraid of a terminal
• Working knowledge of Git, ideally from the command line. You understand commits, branches, merges, pull requests, and the difference between a local and a remote repository — and you know that GitHub is not Git
• At least one scripting language you're genuinely productive in (Python, Bash, PowerShell, Ruby, or similar)
• Real programming ability in at least one language — JavaScript/TypeScript, C#, C, C++, Java, Rust, Go, or something else substantial. Depth in one language beats a résumé listing eight
• Evidence that you can build something end to end. A personal project, an internship, coursework you took past the assignment, an open-source contribution — anything we can look at and talk about
• Clear written and verbal communication
• Authorization to work in the United States, and willingness to pass a background check

What will move you to the top of the pile

None of these are required. Any one of them makes you a stronger candidate, and the more you have, the more interesting your application gets.

Most valuable to us: IT infrastructure experience, particularly Azure. Familiarity with RBAC, Entra ID / Active Directory, subscriptions, App Services and App Service Plans, Resource Groups, Key Vaults, Azure Front Door, or Application Gateway is a significant plus for this role — more than most of the language-specific items below.

Also valuable:

• Intermediate TypeScript and JavaScript
• Intermediate C#, or deep knowledge of another serious language (C, C++, Java, Rust, Go, Odin, Jai)
• Vue 3, or another SPA framework such as React
• ASP.NET Core or ASP.NET Framework
• SQL, or ClickHouse or another analytical database
• Genuine full-stack experience in the original sense of the term — you've integrated a set of software across a network, from database to web server to front end, and made it work
• Multiple scripting languages rather than one
• Public code we can read: GitHub, GitLab, a blog, anything
• A bachelor's degree or higher in computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, chemistry, or another hard science

Our core values

• Ownership mentality. We care about our product, our customers, and each other. We do what it takes to get the job done and done well.
• Creativity and inventiveness. We keep an open mind, stay curious, and value a growth mindset.
• Have backbone; disagree and commit. We hold different viewpoints and still move forward together.
• Bias for action. Aim, shoot, move. Evaluate, act, iterate.
• Integrity. Say what you will do, and do what you say.
• We value value. We are committed to delivering and preserving it.

Compensation and benefits

Base salary: $50,000–$60,000 per year, depending on qualifications and experience. This is a good-faith range for this position.

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• 401(k) and profit-sharing plan
• Paid time off
• Flexible schedule after your initial in-office period

How to apply

Send us your résumé, and tell us about one thing you've built or figured out that you're proud of. It does not have to be big, polished, or professional. A script that solved an annoying problem in your own life is a better answer than a tutorial project. Tell us what it was, why you made it, and what was harder than you expected.

We read these. They matter more to us than the bullet points above.