Key Skills

Job Description

About Dancify Dancify is a mobile-first festival platform for the global social dance community. We help dancers discover events, connect with other dancers, verify festival access, and plan their festival experience. Currently pre-launch with an existing community, waitlist, and pilot festivals being prepared. This is the MVP build phase targeting the first pilot festival release within 13 weeks. The Role You will build major backend product features for Dancify’s MVP alongside a Backend Lead Developer and a separate React Native / Expo Mobile Developer. The Backend Lead will own shared architecture, infrastructure, security, authorization, database governance, and production releases. You will have direct ownership of agreed product modules, APIs, business logic, database queries, testing, and documentation. This is an equity-first contractor role focused on fast implementation, independent feature ownership, collaboration, and milestone-based delivery. Compensation includes milestone-linked vesting equity. The role also includes a predefined deferred settlement cap of up to €4,000 EUR that may optionally be used in the future if the company secures funding or sufficient operating revenue. Any future settlement remains entirely at company discretion and would only apply in exchange for reducing or repurchasing an agreed portion of vested equity. Contractors are not co-founders and do not receive governance or voting rights. What You Will Build Node.js / Express APIs using TypeScript Prisma/PostgreSQL feature schemas and queries User and profile APIs Public event discovery and filtering Organizer event creation and management Ticket/pass catalog and ticket-import workflows Ticket attribution and supporting verification workflows Matching queries and dancer filters Connection requests, accept/decline flows, and cooldown logic Festival Hub endpoints Schedule CSV import and validation Personal planner and My Day Schedule conflict detection Coordination tools for rides, roommates, stays, and meetups Announcements Organizer insights and reports Moderation, reports, and blocking Export and GDPR-related endpoints Unit and integration tests OpenAPI documentation and mobile integration support Milestones and Equity Schedule M1: Foundation Deliverables: Profile/account APIs, public discovery foundations, feature schemas, R2 workflow support, tests and API documentation Weeks: 1-3 Equity Vesting: 0.25% M2: Events & Tickets Deliverables: Event CRUD, discovery, pass catalog, ticket imports, attribution, organizer event APIs Weeks: 4-6 Equity Vesting: 0.25% M3: Matching & Connections Deliverables: Matching queries, filters, eligibility, connections, cooldowns and notification triggers Weeks: 6-8 Equity Vesting: 0.35% M4: Festival Hub & Planner Deliverables: Schedule import, Festival Hub, planner, coordination, announcements and organizer insights Weeks: 8-11 Equity Vesting: 0.30% M5: Staff & Launch Deliverables: Moderation, reporting, exports, GDPR endpoints, QA fixes and documentation Weeks: 11-13 Equity Vesting: 0.10% TOTAL: Backend Developer ownership 13 weeks 1.25% Requirements 3+ years building backend applications Strong TypeScript skills Node.js / Express experience Strong PostgreSQL fundamentals Experience building REST APIs Experience with relational database schemas and migrations Comfortable implementing business logic from product requirements Experience writing unit and integration tests Comfortable with Git and pull-request workflows Comfortable working under an agreed shared architecture Able to coordinate API contracts with a mobile developer Able to own features from implementation through staging Self-directed and milestone-driven Strong written English Able to communicate blockers early Strong Advantage Experience with: Prisma Firebase Google Cloud Cloudflare R2 or S3-compatible storage OpenAPI Event platforms Social applications Matching systems Scheduling Ticketing Intellectual Property & Ownership All project-specific work produced under the engagement, including code, systems, documentation, database work, tests, and technical implementations, will be governed by Dancify’s written contractor and intellectual-property agreements. Dancify owns and controls production repositories, cloud accounts, billing relationships, infrastructure, domains, and production credentials. Contractors are not co-founders and do not receive governance rights, voting rights, or executive authority through equity compensation unless separately agreed in writing. Application Send: Relevant GitHub or production code samples Brief overview of Node.js / TypeScript projects you have shipped Examples of PostgreSQL work you personally implemented Brief overview of product features you personally owned Your realistic weekly availability for the next 13 weeks Confirmation of availability for a short technical trial NDA will be signed before confidential technical details are shared.

Core Responsibilities

Build and own backend product modules for Dancify’s MVP, including APIs, database schemas and queries, business logic, tests, and documentation. Deliver features across profiles, events and tickets, matching and connections, festival planning, coordination, moderation, reporting, and GDPR-related exports in collaboration with the backend lead and mobile developer.

Requirements

Applicants need at least three years of backend application development experience, strong TypeScript and PostgreSQL skills, and experience with Node.js/Express, REST APIs, relational schemas and migrations, and automated testing. They should be self-directed, comfortable working within shared architecture and Git pull-request workflows, able to coordinate API contracts with a mobile developer, and communicate clearly in written English.

Benefits

• Equity Compensation