Join Hovercode as an Infrastructure Engineer (Contract – Flexible, Remote ideally Europe-based)

About Hovercode

Hovercode is a QR code generator and analytics platform. We're a small, profitable company that's based in the UK and is trusted by hundreds of thousands worldwide.

We don't aim to "change the world," but we are in an industry with plenty of shady players who use questionable practices in the name of growth, which we play no part in. Our aim is to provide a good service for people who use QR codes & short links in their business and continue to grow our reputation as a reliable and partner. You can read some of our reviews here.

We're seeking an infrastructure engineer to architect a setup that can handle the next level of scale reliably

Current stack

  • Django app running on multiple DigitalOcean droplets
  • DigitalOcean managed PostgreSQL (280GB+), Redis (also managed)
  • Background processing via django_rq and Redis
  • Deployed with Ansible
  • Redirect service written in Go, deployed via Kubernetes, uses read-only replica of the DB, queues tasks for Django to process

Key challenges

  • Background queues get backed up under high load — we currently scale by adding app servers, but there are more efficient options
  • The Postgres DB is large and likely bloated — needs analysis and optimization
  • Some views (e.g., analytics-heavy pages) are slow and need tuning
  • The current setup is "working," but not confidently scalable

Goals of the contract

  • Architect a setup that can reliably handle 10x+ volume in a cost-effective way
  • Build a safer, more confident deployment process (zero-downtime)
  • Improve infrastructure reliability and observability
  • Lay foundations toward SOC2 compliance
  • Give the founder peace of mind — the system should just work

What we're looking for

  • You've designed and scaled similar systems before — not learning on the job
  • You understand tradeoffs and can balance speed, reliability, and cost
  • You don't need a lot of hand-holding — you'll understand the stack quickly from a short overview and reading the code
  • You care about clean, pragmatic solutions and know when to go deep and when to keep it simple
  • You appreciate flexibility — this is a contract role with room for part-time or async work

Job Details

  • Fully remote, ideally based in Europe
  • Full-time or part-time (2-4 days/week)
  • Contract basis, initial 3 months with possible extension
  • €250-550/day depending on experience, part-time, full-time etc

Application Process

  1. Step 1: Fill in the short application form below
  2. Step 2: If shortlisted, join me for a video call
  3. Step 3: Start the contract and hit the ground running! The priority is solving the "queue backing up" problem