Full-stack Engineer Job Chicago area,Illinois USA,Software Development

About Ocra

Ocra is an AI-powered Revenue Management System (RMS) and Global Distribution System (GDS) built for parking assets. Parking owners and operators use Ocra to sell underutilized parking inventory through "parking OTAs" to prepaid reservation customers looking to park near airports, event venues and high-demand transient locations.
Ocra's team of parking revenue management experts drives revenue growth without adding labor or disrupting operations, helping assets increase net operating income (NOI).
Ocra partners with 50+ parking operators and 25+ hotel groups at over 600+ locations. The company has raised $10M, most recently an oversubscribed $5M round co-led by Trestle Partners and MCR Hotels.

We're looking for a mid-level full-stack engineer who is energized by working in a small, distributed team where autonomy, curiosity, and adaptability matter more than rigid processes (but we do work on our processes and ensuring it's not total chaos).

What You Will Be Doing

Design, build, and maintain full-stack features across our SaaS platform.
Develop and optimize APIs (client & server side), including working with messy or poorly documented partner integrations.
Write clean, well-tested, and well-documented code (unit and integration testing).
Collaborate with teammates on architecture, design reviews, and code reviews.
Contribute to shared resources like onboarding guides, runbooks, and documentation.
Identify and resolve performance issues, especially around SQL queries and scaling workloads in AWS.
Experiment with AI tools and approaches - both to accelerate development and to inform our proprietary AI-enabled product.

Core Skills & Experience

Languages:

Python (primary), JavaScript/Type Script (secondary).
Databases:
Postgres, Redis, and Dynamo

DB experience, including query optimization.
Testing:
Familiarity with unit testing, integration testing, and modern testing tools.
Cloud:
Hands-on experience with AWS (deployment, monitoring).
Building and consuming APIs; able to reverse engineer poorly documented systems.
Comfortable in a distributed, text-first communication environment (Slack, Git Hub, Notion, Linear, Google Docs).

Bonus points for any of the following:

Vue experience in building user interfaces and front-end experiences
Experience in parking, mobility, or adjacent industries (hotel, airline, shipping, storage, etc.).
Background in pricing optimization, revenue management, or omni-channel distribution systems.
Familiarity with serverless architectures and event-driven systems.
Interest or hands-on experience with AI development (LLMs, agents, or workflow automation).

Who You Are

Clear & Direct Communicator
- Communicates with clarity, precision, and honesty.
- Assumes good intent and avoids unnecessary fluff.
Adaptable Generalist
- Curious and eager to learn unfamiliar parts of the system.
- Comfortable wearing multiple hats (full-stack)
- Collaborative & Feedback-Friendly
Creative & Resourceful Hacker
- Enjoys solving problems that seem impossible - like automating brittle systems or bridging mismatched APIs.
- Sees constraints as opportunities for inventive solutions.
Pragmatic & Impact-Oriented
- Focuses on delivering value, not chasing perfection.
- Makes thoughtful tradeoffs between speed and quality.
Flexible & Proactive
- Raises issues early and steps outside their lane when needed.

Non-Negotiables

We value humility, curiosity, and outcomes over ego or rigid process.

Benefits

Competitive salary w/ ancillary earning opportunities
Comprehensive benefits: medical, dental, & vision
Flexible work-from-anywhere policy
Unlimited PTO that supports work-life balance
Stock option incentive plan
Company-sponsored 401k
Structured growth opportunities
Training and ongoing professional development