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Here’s a look at the jobs and skills being sought at 6 Baltimore tech companies

Companies who are frequently hiring talk about the roles that are standing out, and the skills that can help be successful.

Dev talks. (Photo by SSM Photogaphy)

This editorial article is a part of Technical.ly's How to Get Hired month.

When a tech company wins new work or raises funding, a need to hire isn’t far behind.

Yet the roles that are required and the skills that are needed to succeed are often shifting. With a focus on How to Get Hired this month, we asked a handful of Baltimore companies engaged in the process of seeking new talent about what they want to see. Here’s a look:

Fugue — Cloud infrastructure

The Frederick-based company makes technology to ensure that cloud infrastructure stays in continuous compliance with enterprise security policies.

“There’s no shortage of demand for talent in understanding how cloud works, how to automate it and how to make sure it’s secure,” said cofounder Drew Wright.

Roles in this area include cloud infrastructure operations, devops, devsecops or cloud security engineers. VP of Product Richard Park said full-stack flexibility is also key, with the ability to work interfaces as well as on the back-end.

Allovue — Sales

The Baltimore startup working in the area of edfintech announced a $4 million funding round this week. Among the key areas it’ll grow: sales. Marketing Manager Autumn Dorsey provided the following details:

Some of the top priority hires that we’re looking for are to help expand our Sales team. Specifically, Business Development Specialists who would help with lead generation efforts at the top of our sales hourglass. Making those initial connections that establish credibility and trust with our target market is crucial so we’re always looking for “unicorns” that can help our prospects articulate their pain points without the pushy, “sales-y” experience. We’re also looking to expand our Account Executive position, the next phase in our sales cycle that deepens the relationships with our qualified leads by clearly aligning their pain points with our solutions.

Fearless — Digital services

The Spark Baltimore-based dev agency is hiring for a digital services director right now. The role includes identifying potential federal government clients and proposal opportunities, consultative work with clients, and work with the company’s technical teams.

“We are growing and recognize that Digital Services is the future and we are embracing it now with this new position,” said Fearless recruiter John Priest. “The Digital Services Director will take a leading role in our expanding Digital Services business. This is a really awesome position, and it’s one that will be integral to Fearless’ future success.”

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Mindgrub — From enterprise to robotics

At the Locust Point-based company, CEO Todd Marks said there were several skills they’re seeing:

  • node.js — The company is working with more enterprise systems, and developers working in the open source server environment.
  • Enterprise systems — Work with those enterprise clients is also bringing new partnerships with Salesforce and SAP, and new jobs at the company involve work on those platforms.
  • AI — The company is also doing more work in business analytics, where artificial intelligence plays a role.
  • Robotics — Mindgrub’s has prided itself on learning new skills associated with emerging technologies, but as teams grow they’ll look to add people with more specific experience in areas such as robotics, Marks said.

Mind Over Machines — ‘Soft skills + SaaS skills’

At the Owings Mills-based software and data solutions consultancy, VP of Innovation and Strategy Tim Kulp said the team is looking to build up business application capabilities.

“Clients want consultants who are experienced with tools like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and SAP but can also guide the client through the pitfalls of implementing these tools,” Kulp said via email. “Finding consultants like this is tough (experience + soft skills). So what I recommend my mentees do is grow their soft skills and dig into these SaaS platforms (most of which have free online training). Soft skills + SaaS skills are looking like the wave of the tech future for business.”

SmartLogic — Product Design

We reached Yair Flicker, president of the Canton software development agency, as the company just posted a role for product designer on the Technica.ly jobs board. Flicker said the role is a “new approach to a problem we’ve solved in other ways before.”

“We prefer designs and prototypes over words on a page when describing what a client wants to build,” he said. “Having someone on the team build those designs and prototypes will be extremely helpful in determining scope, cost, and success criteria for all involved.”

So what does the role entail? The person in the role will help bring clarity to the vision for a project expressed by clients and potential clients.

“They will help us document the data and user flows, and what a user experience might be like within the application we are building. They will also build interactive prototypes using InVision, Sketch, or other popular tools, to help remove any ambiguity on what a project will include,” Flicker said. Additional duties include proposal writing, making suggestions on improvements to existing projects we support, and implementation and streamlining design into codebases.

Flicker said that the company is utilizing new technologies like Phoenix and Elixir, React and React Native. Flicker said they represent the next-generation of languages that enable the team to build “robust apps, faster and with better reliability.”

“With the advent of technology like Elixir and Phoenix, we’re getting scalability and performance benefits that were unheard of just ten years ago,” he said.

Yet it’s worth noting that developers don’t need experience in those specific technologies to get hired at SmartLogic.

“You don’t need to know Elixir or React, you just need to be motivated to develop your skills and build yourself into the best developer you can be,” Flicker said.

So what are the most common tech jobs, anyway?

Hearing about some of the most unique jobs around got us thinking about what’s most in-demand. So we asked human resources consulting firm Robert Half Technology what it’s seeing locally. According to data from Baltimore Branch Manager Katie Plankey, roughly 65 percent of the job requests are in the following areas.

  • Help Desk
  • Net Developer
  • Java Developer
  • Systems Administrator
  • SQL Developer/Microsoft Business Intelligence Developer

Want to meet hiring companies face-to-face?

There will be opportunities at NET/WORK 2019, Technical.ly’s annual jobs fair. If you’re looking for a new position or seeking to hire, find a fit on your calendar for the evening of March 14 at University of Baltimore’s Thumel Business Center.

Meet Baltimore's most exciting tech companies. RSVP nowhttps://js.hscta.net/cta/current.js hbspt.cta.load(2084427, ‘f1d069d3-2285-47f1-ac8d-c56c9995d4e1’, {});

Grow and accelerate your pipeline. Exhibit at NET/WORKhttps://js.hscta.net/cta/current.js hbspt.cta.load(2084427, ’38b6c238-3b56-4a37-bd3a-585362f3419a’, {});

Companies: Mindgrub / Robert Half Technology / Allovue / SmartLogic
Series: How to Get Hired Month 2019
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