Distributed Systems Engineer (UTC+1)

Location: Remote (UTC+1) Schedule: Friday, Sunday, Tuesday (6hr active shifts 06:00 - 12:00 UTC) | Rest days for synthesis Stack: TypeScript, Node 20+, PostgreSQL, Railway, Zod, Vitest, GitHub Actions About the Role We're building a vertical SaaS factory that configures and deploys dedicated customer instances autonomously. Our engineering runs as a continuous 24-hour relay across 4 global hubs on active days (Fri/Sun/Tue), with deep rest and architectural thinking on the days between. You'll own a 6-hour shift: 3 hours of uninterrupted solo building, followed by 3 hours of live handoff with the incoming engineer. Your code ships as verified PRs with structured Brick Reports. CI validates. Agents orchestrate. You stay in code. What You'll Do -Build platform infrastructure in TypeScript (strict types, Zod schemas, Express routes, PostgreSQL) -Own bricks end-to-end: read the spec, build it, verify it (typecheck + tests + CI), open the PR -Execute Blind Trust handoffs: pull the current state fresh, form your own understanding, then sync with the outgoing engineer -Post Strategic Anchors at shift-end: crystallize the deep architectural question your work surfaced -Work within a spec-driven process (/populus:start routes your scope, engineering standards are auto-loaded) What You Are -TypeScript-native: You don't write any. You think in Zod schemas and strict interfaces. Types are documentation. -Autonomous: You don't need a manager to unblock you. You read specs, build, and verify without hand-holding. -Async-first: You communicate through code quality, PR descriptions, and structured brick reports, not Slack threads. -UTC-comfortable: You schedule your work life around a UTC anchor, not your local wall clock. -Infrastructure-fluent: Railway, PostgreSQL, GitHub Actions, 1Password (op://), Cloudflare are your daily tools. What We Offer -Deep work, not meetings. 3 hours of uninterrupted solo time every active day. -3 active days per week. The rest is for thinking, reading, and living. -A system that doesn't depend on you being available 24/7. The relay means you log off clean. -Claude Code as your pair programmer. AI-augmented engineering is the default. -A real product with real customers. Not a research project.