Software Engineering Expert - Remote Contract
Listing checked September 22, 2026 · pay as published by AfterQuery
Overview
AfterQuery, an early-stage Y Combinator-backed company, seeks software engineers for a remote contract that runs 2 to 3 weeks. You will handle project-based assignments across software development, debugging, code review, and technical implementation while working in varied stacks. The schedule stays asynchronous, and you commit about 10 hours each week, with pay from $50 to $100 per hour. Projects arrive one at a time, so you choose the work you accept and build a portfolio from real engineering problems.
What You'll Do5
- 1Build and ship clean, tested code across different projects and technology stacks.
- 2Debug and refactor existing codebases for better performance, maintainability, and scalability.
- 3Review code from other engineers, give technical feedback, and apply feedback to your own work.
- 4Work with the team in an asynchronous setup on technical specs, architecture choices, and implementation plans.
- 5Write clear docs for code, APIs, and technical approaches so others can reproduce results.
Requirements9
- 11 to 3 years of professional software engineering experience in a full-time or equivalent role.
- 2Strong command of at least one modern programming language and its ecosystem.
- 3Proven ability to scope, build, and deliver features or fixes on your own.
- 4Solid grasp of data structures, algorithms, and system design.
- 5Bachelor's degree or higher in computer science, software engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 6Experience across frontend, backend, APIs, or infrastructure.
- 7Familiarity with version control, CI/CD pipelines, and collaborative development practices such as Git and GitHub Actions.
- 8Exposure to cloud platforms and deployment environments such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
- 9Open source contributions or independent software projects.
Who Should Apply
The right candidate has 1 to 3 years of professional engineering experience and can point to features or fixes they scoped, built, and shipped without close supervision. You should know one modern language well and handle data structures, algorithms, and system design questions in an interview. The role fits someone who wants project-based work for 2 to 3 weeks, can commit around 10 hours each week, and enjoys asynchronous collaboration through code reviews and written specs. Candidates who need steady long-term employment, daily standups, or a single fixed tech stack may find the setup less suitable. Applications often score lower when a GitHub profile is missing or when the candidate lists languages without showing actual projects, contributions, or CI/CD familiarity.
Salary Insight
Pay ranges from $50 to $100 per hour for a contract that asks about 10 hours each week. That range sits above many entry-level remote contract rates and lines up with engineers who have 1 to 3 years of professional experience and can work across more than one layer of a stack. The top half of the range tends to go to people who show cloud deployment and CI/CD work in their portfolio.
Pay and demand for Software Engineering roles
AggregatedTypical pay
$70/hour
This role
$50–$100/hr
Most Software Engineering roles pay $45–$90 per hour. This role's pay falls inside that range.
Based on 441 similar roles that publish pay · 129 publish only a top rate; those count at the rate they gave
Rates shown per hour. Yearly and monthly pay converted; one-time fees and non-USD pay are not included.
- Live similar roles
- 508
- Listed in last 30 days
- 297
- Remote
- 93%
Hiring most right now: micro1 (168) · SME Careers (118) · Mercor (60)
Most requested skills · share of roles
- llm evaluation19%
- ai training18%
- python17%
- trainer feedback16%
Figures from Software Engineering roles live on NearSkill when this page loaded. A role can close before you apply, so check the listing itself.
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Compensation
$50–100/hr
Required Skills
Application Tip
Include a GitHub link and list the programming languages you used on each project. Reviewers look for evidence you can scope, implement, debug, and document code, so pin two or three repos with clear READMEs, tests, and setup steps rather than a long list of unused languages.
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