You are joining an elite team.
That is not a figure of speech: selection is rigorous, the work is remote, and everyone has a view of the whole project, with the autonomy and responsibility that come with it.
What you do is visible — which is also why it is worth understanding upfront whether this is the way you want to work.
Three things you will not find here
This is not a list of shortcomings: these are consequences of the way we work. If one of them is what you are looking for, it is better to know now than after three interviews.
The hierarchy and long timelines of a large company
A role where you do your part and nothing else concerns you
How we work
Nobody tells you when to turn on your computer.
There are no fixed hours or fixed days. We work by task: what matters is the result, not clocked hours. Always busy at five on Friday? Take that hour and make it up when it suits you — there is a time bank for exactly this, and credited hours are recorded rather than lost.
Fully remote all year round, by choice rather than as a fallback. A few times a year we may meet at a client's office or an event: these are rare, organised, paid occasions, not unspoken expectations.
And then there are the moments meant for getting the whole team together: in-person team events and, every year, the trade fairs and tech events we attend as a team.
There is time to do things properly.
Every week includes R&D hours for your own ideas: building internal products and tools that actually get used, trying new technologies, or challenging the way we work today and proposing a better one. This is not leftover time; it is planned time, and the outcome is shared at the monthly meetup.
What the contract includes
A permanent contract from the start, where possible.
The probation period confirms what we saw during selection; it does not postpone the decision. We do not play games with temporary contracts: unless there is misconduct or something goes seriously wrong, the people who join us stay.
What comes on top of gross salary.
Welfare, based on category and seniority. Healthcare, transport, education costs, travel, and gym membership. The longer you stay, the more you benefit.
Supplementary health insurance, activated with the contract.
€10 meal vouchers, including for fully remote and part-time staff.
An annual training budget for courses and events, plus an initial tech budget to equip your home workstation: desk, chair, and headphones.
A MacBook Pro, not the cheapest corporate laptop.
Interest-free internal loans, if you need liquidity and would rather not go through a bank.
Fringe benefits that top up your salary on occasions that are not fixed in time: birthdays and holidays, but also company milestones, such as landing an important client or releasing a product.
How salary grows.
It grows with experience and the responsibility you take on, and we discuss it openly. If at any point — from your application to your tenth year — salary becomes a problem, ask us to talk about it before deciding to leave.
Salary bands
| Level | Contract gross salary | Gross salary incl. benefits* |
|---|---|---|
| Junior Software Engineer | €24,000 – €35,000 | €32,000 – €43,000 |
| Software Engineer | €35,000 – €50,000 | €43,000 – €56,000 |
* The gross salary incl. benefits is an estimate of the gross annual salary needed to obtain the same net pay as the contract salary plus the benefits currently provided (meal vouchers, fringe benefits, welfare plan). It can help compare our offer with other offers that include different benefits or none at all: it is an indicative figure with no contractual value and does not change the contract salary.
The gross salary incl. benefits may vary depending on personal circumstances, such as region of residence and dependent family members. Bonus, budget and similar amounts may change from year to year and should not be considered fixed. The tax and social security treatment of benefits depends on the regulations in force at the time they are provided.
These are ranges, not figures to negotiate downwards: your position within the band depends on experience and responsibility, and we define it together during the interview.
How to join
The first person to answer you is an engineer.
From the very first contact you talk to a developer: the person running the selection does the same job you do, and technical topics come up from the first interview.
01
Application
02
Introductory call
Fifteen or twenty minutes by phone or video call.
03
Practical test
A small change to a real project, not a textbook exercise.
04
Final interview
Thirty minutes to an hour with all three founders: a deeper technical discussion, a review of the test, and answers to your final questions.
05
Decision
An offer, or a clear no with the reason why.
We stay with you throughout the process: whatever doubt or question you have, there is always someone you can write to.
We do not hire just to staff a project.
If we hired someone simply because work had arrived, six months later we would be an organisation like any other. We look at talent and the drive to grow, not just years on a CV: one person joined us at nineteen and grew by working on real projects from day one.
Astrorei · When software matters
There is no job post you need to wait for.
There are open positions, and there is an unsolicited application for everything else. In both cases, what you write is read by one of us, not by a filter.