Application Guide

How to Apply for Software Engineers

at Verna

🏢 About Verna

Verna is at the forefront of nature recovery, building the software platform that enables organizations to plan, deliver, and assure ecological restoration. Joining Verna means working on a mission-driven product where your code directly contributes to environmental impact, all within a remote-first, small team environment.

About This Role

As a Software Engineer at Verna, you'll build rich, interactive user-facing features using Elixir and Phoenix LiveView, shaping the data model to keep applications fast and secure. Your work will directly help users drive nature recovery, making this role both technically challenging and environmentally meaningful.

💡 A Day in the Life

Your day might start with a stand-up with the small team, discussing progress on a new interactive map feature for planning nature recovery sites. You'll spend the morning pairing on a Phoenix LiveView component to visualize ecological data, and the afternoon refining the data model for scalability, with time for focused coding and a review of a colleague's pull request.

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🎯 Who Verna Is Looking For

  • Proficient in Elixir and Phoenix LiveView, or a strong willingness to learn and ramp up quickly.
  • Experienced in full-stack development with a focus on building user-facing features that are accessible and interactive.
  • Comfortable working autonomously in a small team, taking ownership of features from conception to deployment.
  • Passionate about environmental impact and eager to apply software engineering to solve real-world ecological challenges.

📝 Tips for Applying to Verna

1

Highlight any experience with Elixir/Phoenix or functional programming; if you're willing to learn, mention specific steps you've taken (e.g., tutorials, side projects).

2

Emphasize your ability to build user-facing features with accessibility in mind—mention specific examples of accessible UI work.

3

Showcase your experience in small, autonomous teams by describing a project where you had end-to-end ownership.

4

Tailor your cover letter to connect your technical skills to Verna's mission of nature recovery—mention any environmental interests or relevant projects.

5

Include a link to a GitHub repo or portfolio that demonstrates your full-stack capabilities, especially any Elixir or LiveView work.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your enthusiasm for combining software engineering with environmental impact, specifically nature recovery.', "Your proficiency or strong willingness to learn Elixir and Phoenix LiveView, with examples of how you've quickly picked up new technologies.", 'Your experience building user-facing features that are both interactive and accessible, with concrete examples.', 'Your ability to work autonomously in a small team, taking ownership and delivering high-quality code.']

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Read Verna's blog or case studies to understand their platform's impact on nature recovery projects.
  • → Familiarize yourself with the UK's biodiversity net gain regulations, as Verna's software likely supports compliance.
  • → Explore the Elixir and Phoenix LiveView ecosystem—look at community best practices and common patterns.
  • → Check out Verna's team page or LinkedIn to understand the company culture and current team members.

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 How would you design a real-time dashboard for tracking nature recovery projects using Phoenix LiveView?
2 Describe a time you had to make a trade-off between performance and feature complexity in a web application.
3 How do you ensure accessibility in interactive web features? Give an example of a challenging accessibility problem you solved.
4 Explain how you would structure the data model for a system that tracks ecological metrics over time.
5 How do you approach learning a new technology like Elixir? Share a specific learning strategy or resource you use.
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Don't submit a generic application—failing to mention Verna's mission or Elixir will show lack of interest.
  • Avoid overemphasizing backend work without showing user-facing feature experience; the role is full-stack.
  • Don't claim Elixir expertise if you have none without expressing a concrete plan to learn—honesty and enthusiasm are key.

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Verna!

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