Rapha - A few Technology Roles (Infrastructure, Data, Mobile and Platforming)

Howdy folks,

At Rapha we're going through a re-platform and embarking on a transformation to build out our next stack. We're hiring a few roles to bolster the team. This is quite an exciting time for Rapha as we're able to use newer technology to focus on e-commerce offerings (headless checkout, new webapp, commerce in mobile app).

Technology:
Platform Engineer: https://boards.greenhouse.io/rapha/jobs/­4341805
Senior Infrastructure Engineer (DevOps if you prefer): https://grnh.se/57bf00da1us
iOS Developer: https://boards.greenhouse.io/rapha/jobs/­4633636

Data:
Power BI Developer: https://boards.greenhouse.io/rapha/jobs/­4414496

Rapha is a great place to work and has some great perks - particularly if you like to ride bikes. We benefit from good relationships with the rest of the industry and of course - free coffee.

If you would like to know more please reach out.

If you are a clothing brand why are your creating your own web/tech stacks? There is no shortage of services that will deliver ready-made solutions for you. Having said that I applaud you for rolling your own. To be honest with you anyone who can do these couple of jobs can end up 'owning' Rapha. It isn't impossible. Is that what you want? How much is cyclist offering for pay?

Really fair and considered questions.

If you are a clothing brand why are your creating your own web/tech stacks?

My response would be that we are not a volume based retailer and want to focus on aspiration and experiences for our customers and aim for loyalty. With it's on the ground focus with the RCC and partner cafes, the community plays a huge part in our offering. Very few brands offer this. The gluing (middleware) together of best in class services offers us the ability to make a different customer proposition in our view.

To be honest with you anyone who can do these couple of jobs can end up 'owning' Rapha. It isn't impossible. Is that what you want? How much is cyclist offering for pay?

Not entirely sure that I understand your last question. It is possible to own/purchase garments from Rapha, but there also seems to be a clear Venn diagram with overlaps with technology workers and cyclists. Working here offers you the ability as a customer and someone passionate to make a difference to a brand using technology. That is not possible at a volumetric centred business.

In terms of compensation, we try to remain market competitive, but are unable to offer technology competitive salaries (fintech, fang, services, vc). I would also say a cyclist would be able to get the benefit of working at Rapha versus an individual that does not cycle. There are not that many technology focused jobs in e-commerce within the cycling market. I know this first hand as someone that pushed hard for a job here..! We get time to ride each week, clothing allowance and a subsidised top-notch mechanic in the office (hi Bart if you read this!). All of these are tangible to me.

Any more questions ? I am happy to answer as honestly as I can!

The cycling industry - that well known bastion of appropriately salaried jobs. Where people's utility companies and landlords accept clothing allowances and staff discounts as payment.

Wednesday morning rides. You have to make that time back, right? Or is it a 4.5 day week?

You have to make that time back, right?

Nah

I’d be tempted, my cousin works there already and speaks good things of it. But a tech job that requires in office time and doesn’t have salaries in the ads may be a difficult sell. So much can be done remotely and “ad hoc flexible working” isn’t quite the same as “work from anywhere, just get the job done”. Especially if the salary isn’t as competitive as it may first look. Agree on benefits as a nice perk for a cyclist, hence the temptation!

I thought Rapha was a VC backed firm now?

No doubt honesty is in order.
You are a niche brand, focus on that.
Most organisations tend to focus on specialisation. So in this case either clothing/experience or stack. You spread yourselves too thinly by trying to do both. What did I mean? From the engineers you seek to recruit, anyone with fair experience can make the stack their's, thereby owning your product. The correlation between cyclists and tech workers is purely coincidental, believe me. If you are looking to harbour a lasting vision in cycling, you may not find that in an engineer. The tech sector is so much vaster than cycling. Although there has certainly been an influx of engineering in the cycling industry particularly in the last decade or so. Because as with all things there is money to be made.
No question, you are a niche brand but Rapha never struck out as brand worth pursuing for me personally. But then I have always been a somewhat of cheap-skate myself given the plethora of competition available.
GLWS :)

We try. I'm happy we're able to offer technology roles in London and be surrounded by creative and curious people that are likeminded - I personally appreciate that!

A key outcome for our allowance is not bribery of landlords or trading for Yu-Gi-Oh! cards but to give people that cycle the opportunity to wear test clothing for us and circularly bring that round to product enhancements.

Time should be made up, but people do that anyway. Beats going out at 6am in the dark or soon to be 6pm in the dark.

Remote Work:

We've been struggling with this if we're honest, but the proof and feel is that getting together to ride and being in person is advantageous to us as a business and a delivery outcome. The jury is still out with remote work for sure. We're not unique in this space.

We do have a team in Asturias, Spain, and therefore it is not a unique problem for us as an org.

I thought Rapha was a VC backed firm now?

Not that straight forward. We're backed by wealthy shareholders but not strictly a VC. We are working to be a performant business rather than relying on handouts. We still sell physical product or experiences to achieve this. These shareholders have a key and genuine interest in cycling as a way to enrich lives and have put their money where their mouth is on this front in their hometown.

https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/essays/bentonville-arkansas-mountain-biking/

Thanks for the answers, much appreciated. Would be tempted by the PBI role personally, but definitely curious to about the definition of “competitive” as that’s a fairly senior role you’re asking for!

Reminds me of the posts that have floated round LinkedIn: “if the pay is so competitive why don’t you tell us”

This.

No offence. But there is really no excuse for “competitive” it’s bullshit, simple as. Especially today in 2022. Be honest and transparent.

If you pay based on experience/seniority, then post a salary band, use numbers, don’t just say it.

Why should anyone piss away emotional and physical labour preparing an application for a job only to get into the process and find out the pay is bad/ too low?

@lazysuperhero, @C4r1s - both fair points and I certainly get it, but I am going to have to disappoint. I do understand that compensation is important, and the whole smoke and mirrors around it is frustrating. We are not alone in this approach.

As a small team we are casting a wide net and looking for an individual different experience across the board. I can tell you that we are unable to match compensation found contracting or at a larger technology company.

It's also sadly unrealistic with us at such small scale to do any meaningful banding where everyone has varied levels of experience and specialisms. Especially at the moment - it would be a very large undertaking.

I may be wrong in this assumption, but I feel most people have a CV nearly up to date and if interested I would love people happy when on a bike to apply.

Tristan

I do get that, having worked in both small and marge corps. Sometimes difficult to band especially where individuals don’t have similar roles or it’s a band of one.

Would be helpful none the less to know roughly, if nothing else to judge relative seniority especially for a role like “developer” where companies use the same title but covers a more junior role at £30k or a senior role at £80k but quite a different expectation!

Re point on effort: submitting a cv and some prelim questions isn’t time consuming (or hopefully!), it’s the several interview rounds and likely task that are. And I guess it’s only at offer that the salary is discussed?

Thanks also for your comment on the IT thread re remote work, interesting to hear

Glad people are at least engaging! There were bands that were multi-instrumentalists but we've taken as many off people as we can. I can't play the drums for shit.

In terms of salary disclosure, there is a section during the initial interview process that ask for your current salary and expected salary. I'd advocate an individual using these!

If this is wildly over the banding or unrealistic then we will let the candidate know that. It's fair and means nobody is wasting too much time. Always fun to see what the American candidates in New York are asking for... despite roles stating London!

Tristan

In terms of salary disclosure, there is a section during the initial interview process that ask for your current salary and expected salary. I'd advocate an individual using these!

Fucking lol, we won't tell you the band, but give us your salary information to enable us to lowball.

Seeing where the discussion is going, Rapha is looking in the wrong place for any sort of quality engineering. We don't expect competition with FANG but then again anyone with fair valuation of their salt would know what sort of salary to expect and what Rapha should offer. But Rapha should not expect applicants to do Rapha's work for them.

Rapha you strike me as an immature organisation. After all these years that you've been in "business". Firstly you are better off enlisting the services of a third party than making a pig's ear of your product in the hope that users will beta test for you. There's so much competition, why should I engage with Rapha? Because of what exactly..

Why not just disclose it on the job spec? To save literally everyone's time, rather than meaning 'nobody is wasting too much time'? Why the secrecy? I don't get it.

In terms of salary disclosure, there is a section during the initial interview process that ask for your current salary and expected salary. I'd advocate an individual using these!

If this is wildly over the banding or unrealistic then we will let the
candidate know that.

Ah didn’t spot that bit on the JD. But not means there is also a budget that Rapha have, so might as well put it there to save everyone time either applying or reading through unsuitable applications.

Involving users in beta testing would actually avoid making a pig’s ear of the product.

Me at the job interview trying to score the sweet Friends and Family discount:
https://twitter.com/findareaction/status/1581440780799180801?s=46&t=Afd9f3DVl3PcY2BNSUfl1Q

.

After the fact.
A common theme in industries nowadays is to introduce half baked products and then expect consumers to suss the bugs out for them. It used to be the case that along with R&D there would be thorough testing of the product. Products would also have had very specific applications. We see little of it these days as everyone's out to take shortcuts. It's perhaps understandable that there's more access to tech and processes than ever before thereby levereaging the ability to design and create more novel products. Still, a lack of rigour and testing of a product should not be excusable.

Is it higher than £32k?
Is it lower than £45?

Lower!

ask for your current salary

How about $0 of your business

Unless you're also making ex gratia payments to all applicants in return for free salary benchmarking (which you don't appear to have bothered doing yourself)