Full-stack Lead Developer / Consultant
About the Project
The company has built an online platform for peer review and independent publication of academic manuscripts. Authors upload their papers, go through a peer-review process, and readers gain access to the resulting review reports. The platform consists of two parts: a public and private portal for authors and reviewers (manuscript upload, payments, review workflows, and report generation) and an internal management panel used by the company's own staff.
The platform is approximately 90% complete, built by a previous vendor whose engagement ended due to significant delivery delays. The existing codebase contains bugs, deviations from the original specification, one missing critical component, and outdated dependencies. We are looking for a Lead Developer to take ownership of this codebase, stabilize it, complete the remaining work, and bring the platform to a reliable, commercially launchable state.
What You'll Do
You will play a leadership role within the customer's development process — not writing code yourself, but directing, validating, and de-risking delivery across the audit, stabilization, and completion phases.
- Audit the current system, architecture, and end-to-end workflows; document issues, gaps, and deviations from spec; produce a prioritized inventory that separates Go-Live-critical items from non-critical improvements.
- Lead the development team through stabilization and the remaining phases — setting priorities, defining work packages, and ensuring critical issues and the missing component are resolved.
- Validate the team's deliverables at a system level — confirming they meet agreed requirements, quality standards, and acceptance criteria before sign-off.
- Verify that core workflows run reliably end-to-end so the company can begin sales and onboard users smoothly.
- Surface technical risks early and advise on technical decisions and trade-offs.
- Contribute to requirements definition, scope, deliverables, and acceptance criteria — including technical input on MSAs/SOWs where relevant.
- Establish lightweight delivery processes and governance to keep progress transparent, controlled, and on track.
Tech Stack
- Frontend: Angular
- Backend: Node.js
- Database / Infrastructure: PostgreSQL on AWS; Nginx
- Source / Docs: GitHub
- Integrations: ~5 third-party services covering payments, plagiarism checking, reviewer matching, and document handling
- Scope: ~14 major functional modules (manuscript submission, peer-review management, reviewer matching and workflows, payment processing, PDF/report generation, publication of review outcomes, notifications, and admin/management functions)
What We're Looking For
Must-Have
- Senior, hands-on engineer with a track record of leading software products into production.
- Strong command of the stack: Angular, Node.js, PostgreSQL, and AWS (Nginx-based setups a plus).
- Demonstrated experience with legacy system takeovers, audits, and stabilization of inherited codebases — comfortable navigating unfamiliar, imperfect code and making it reliable.
- Experience integrating and troubleshooting third-party services and APIs (payments, document handling, etc.).
- Ability to assess and prioritize technical risk, and to clearly distinguish critical blockers from nice-to-haves.
- Strong written communication: able to produce clear audit findings, work packages, and status updates that non-engineering stakeholders can act on.
Nice-to-Have
- Background as a Tech Lead.
- Experience working alongside external development or implementation vendors.
- Exposure to reviewing or drafting the technical portions of contracts (MSA/SOW): requirements, deliverables, milestones, and acceptance criteria.
- Familiarity with the domain: academic publishing, peer review, SaaS marketplaces, or document- and payment-heavy platforms.
Engagement Details - This is a part-time consulting engagement with a minimum commitment of 20 hours per month. The role offers flexible scheduling and can be performed fully remotely.