At a Glance
- Tasks: Join us to migrate client environments to our next-gen platform using Python and PostgreSQL.
- Company: Monolith AI, a fast-growing tech company with a dynamic team.
- Benefits: Competitive pay, flexible work environment, and hands-on experience in a cutting-edge project.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by transforming legacy systems into modern solutions in just three months.
- Qualifications: 3+ years in software development, strong Python skills, and experience with PostgreSQL.
- Other info: Fast-paced role with opportunities for learning and growth in a collaborative setting.
The predicted salary is between 500 - 1500 £ per month.
Monolith AI is seeking a talented Software Developer for an intensive 3-month migration project transitioning existing client environments to our next-generation platform. This role requires a developer who excels at rapidly understanding undocumented systems, extracting clarity from complex database structures, and building practical migration tooling in Python. You will work closely with our 15-person technical team (currently doubling), collaborating extensively with Customer Success and Product to ensure migrations meet defined business requirements while maintaining high velocity.
Primary Responsibilities
- Rapid System Understanding
- Quickly grasp existing PostgreSQL database schemas through code inspection, team discussions, and reverse engineering.
- Understand new platform database architecture and how legacy data maps to the new structure.
- Work with pickle files and S3 object storage to understand serialized data structures.
- Extract clarity from poorly documented legacy systems through hands-on investigation.
- Cross-Functional Requirements Gathering
- Collaborate with Customer Success to understand client migration requirements and acceptance criteria.
- Partner with Product team to define and iterate on what constitutes acceptable migration outcomes.
- Balance technical constraints with business needs to establish pragmatic migration standards.
- Clarify ambiguous requirements and drive decisions on edge cases and trade-offs.
- Product Context & Impact Analysis
- Understand how database entries and S3-stored objects drive UI behavior and user workflows.
- Work with the existing team to learn system behavior through discussions and knowledge transfer.
- Identify how legacy data structures distribute across new platform tables and storage.
- Migration Tool Development
- Build Python migration scripts to convert legacy notebooks to the new platform format.
- Work with Flask and FastAPI layers to understand API interactions and data flow.
- Handle pickle file deserialization and data transformation logic.
- Implement validation against defined Customer Success requirements (not 100% data integrity).
- Velocity & Communication Management
- Maintain rapid project pace with tight 3-month timeline.
- Provide frequent progress updates to the tech lead on development speed and blockers.
- Proactively communicate risks, timeline concerns, and decision points.
- Make pragmatic technical decisions that balance quality with delivery speed.
- Testing & Validation Against Requirements
- Test migration outputs against Customer Success acceptance criteria.
- Validate migrated notebooks meet defined business requirements.
- Identify and communicate gaps between migration output and requirements for product decisions.
- Process Documentation & Knowledge Transfer
- Document the migration process, key decisions, and data mapping logic.
- Create runbooks for executing migrations and handling common issues.
- Transfer knowledge primarily through discussions with the existing team.
- Prepare materials enabling the team to execute and troubleshoot migrations post-contract.
Key Performance Indicators
- Migration Meets Defined Requirements
- Deliver migrations that satisfy Customer Success acceptance criteria.
- Successfully validate migrated notebooks against agreed-upon business requirements.
- Project Timeline Adherence
- Meet aggressive 3-month delivery timeline for functional migration tooling.
- Maintain high velocity while communicating openly about progress with tech lead.
- Effective Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Successfully partner with Customer Success and Product to clarify and iterate on migration criteria.
- Drive timely decisions on requirements and edge cases to avoid project delays.
- Code Quality & Maintainability
- Produce clean, maintainable Python code that the team can support post-contract.
- Create clear documentation enabling team execution of migration processes.
- Communication & Knowledge Transfer
- Provide consistent progress updates and flag blockers early.
- Successfully transfer migration knowledge to existing team through discussions and documentation.
Required Qualifications
- 3+ years of professional software development experience.
- 2+ years working with Python in production environments.
- Experience working with PostgreSQL databases and complex data structures.
- Demonstrated ability to reverse engineer and understand undocumented systems.
- Previous work in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments.
Technical Skills
- Programming: Strong Python proficiency including handling pickle files, data processing, and object serialization.
- Databases: Solid understanding of PostgreSQL including complex data structures, relationships, and schema interpretation.
- APIs: Familiarity with Flask and/or FastAPI frameworks and RESTful API concepts.
- Cloud Storage: Experience with S3 or similar object storage services for reading/writing data.
- System Investigation: Ability to read and understand existing codebases to extract system behavior.
- Version Control: Proficiency with Git and collaborative development workflows.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with data migration or system modernization projects.
- Background working with legacy systems or technical debt remediation.
- Familiarity with Jupyter notebooks or similar computational environments.
- Previous contract or consulting roles requiring rapid onboarding.
- Experience in startup or scale-up environments with evolving requirements.
- Knowledge of data serialization formats and their trade-offs.
- Prior work extracting understanding from poorly documented codebases.
- Experience balancing technical perfection with business pragmatism.
Necessary Soft Skills
- Communication Excellence: Exceptional verbal communication for knowledge transfer through discussions. Clear articulation of technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders (Customer Success, Product). Proactive in providing progress updates and surfacing blockers to tech lead. Comfortable driving conversations to clarify ambiguous requirements and make decisions. Strong active listening skills for extracting knowledge from existing team members.
- Rapid Learning & System Investigation: Ability to quickly understand complex, undocumented systems through code inspection and experimentation. Comfortable with ambiguity and extracting clarity from incomplete information. Resourceful problem-solver who can piece together understanding from multiple sources.
- Velocity & Pragmatism: Thrives in fast-paced environments with tight deadlines (3-month delivery window). Makes practical trade-offs between thoroughness and speed appropriately. Self-directed with strong bias toward action and delivery.
- Collaboration & Stakeholder Management: Partners effectively with Customer Success to understand business requirements. Works iteratively with Product to define acceptable migration outcomes. Team player who actively engages with tech lead and existing engineers.
- Adaptability & Ownership: Comfortable with evolving requirements and criteria as project progresses. Takes full ownership of deliverables despite short contract timeline. Maintains composure and productivity in dynamic, growing organization (team doubling).
- Results-Oriented Mindset: Focuses on meeting defined business requirements rather than technical perfection. Transparent about what's achievable within timeline constraints. Accountable for commitments and proactive when risks emerge.
Key Challenges in This Role
- Extracting Understanding from Undocumented Legacy System: Must rapidly reverse engineer and understand complex PostgreSQL schemas and S3 object structures with limited documentation, requiring strong investigative skills and ability to learn through code inspection and team discussions.
- Balancing Speed with Quality in Tight Timeline: Two-month delivery window requires making pragmatic decisions about what to build vs. what to defer, while ensuring migrations meet Customer Success requirements—demands constant communication with tech lead about velocity and trade-offs.
- Navigating Requirements Through Multiple Stakeholders: Must work with Customer Success to understand business needs, Product to define acceptance criteria, and engineering to understand technical constraints—all while maintaining project momentum and driving timely decisions on edge cases.
Data Migration Specialist (3 Months Contract) employer: Monolithai
Contact Detail:
Monolithai Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Data Migration Specialist (3 Months Contract)
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, attend meetups, and engage on platforms like LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can refer you directly.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by practising common questions and scenarios related to data migration. Think about how you’d tackle challenges like understanding undocumented systems or working with complex databases. Show them you’re ready to hit the ground running!
✨Tip Number 3
Don’t just wait for job postings—be proactive! Research companies you admire and reach out directly. Express your interest in their projects and how your skills could help them, especially in areas like Python development and database management.
✨Tip Number 4
Keep your online presence sharp! Update your portfolio with relevant projects, especially those showcasing your Python skills and experience with PostgreSQL. Make sure it’s easy for potential employers to see what you can bring to the table.
We think you need these skills to ace Data Migration Specialist (3 Months Contract)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Data Migration Specialist role. Highlight your experience with Python, PostgreSQL, and any relevant migration projects. We want to see how your skills align with our needs!
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills: In your application, share examples of how you've tackled complex, undocumented systems in the past. We love seeing candidates who can think on their feet and extract clarity from chaos!
Communicate Clearly: Since this role involves a lot of collaboration, make sure your written communication is clear and concise. We appreciate candidates who can articulate technical concepts in a way that everyone can understand.
Apply Through Our Website: Don’t forget to submit your application through our website! It’s the best way for us to keep track of your application and ensure it gets the attention it deserves.
How to prepare for a job interview at Monolithai
✨Know Your Databases
Make sure you brush up on your PostgreSQL skills before the interview. Be ready to discuss how you’ve navigated complex database structures in the past, and think of examples where you’ve successfully reverse-engineered undocumented systems.
✨Showcase Your Python Proficiency
Prepare to demonstrate your Python skills, especially around data processing and handling pickle files. You might be asked to solve a coding challenge or explain your approach to building migration tooling, so have some relevant projects in mind to discuss.
✨Communicate Clearly
Since this role involves collaboration with Customer Success and Product teams, practice articulating technical concepts in a way that non-technical stakeholders can understand. Think about how you would explain your past projects to someone without a technical background.
✨Be Ready for Rapid Learning
Expect questions about how you handle ambiguity and learn quickly. Prepare examples of times when you had to adapt to new information or rapidly understand a complex system. Highlight your problem-solving skills and how you prioritise tasks under tight deadlines.