Company Overview
ExcelSystems Software Development, Inc. (ESDI) has steadily grown from a 1-man operation headquartered in a dining room to filling two offices in beautiful downtown Sidney, BC. We have flourished for more than 20 years by staying true to our core principles of technical curiosity, innovation, hard work and conscientiously applying the golden rule to all our relationships.
Alexandra Drew
From our roots building application generators for the IBM AS/400 we have evolved into web development specialists, creating both web development software and web applications for our customers. Our software products have won numerous industry awards and are licensed by over 2000 companies worldwide, including many Fortune 500 companies. Our partnership with Chicago-based BCD Software and our international dealer network have enabled ESDI to become a leader in the IBM midrange marketplace.
With us you'll work (and play!) with other bright people in an informal environment that helps you develop technically and personally. You'll get paid competitively and enjoy our healthy perspective on balancing work with the rest of our lives. Most of our people stick with us for the long haul; when you get to know us, you'll see why!
Remuneration and Benefits
We believe in rewarding effort and initiative. You'll already be living in one of the most desirable areas of Canada, but we don't take that for granted - we review all salaries annually to make sure we're paying at or better than the market rate. Corporate success is always a reflection of contributions from every staff member, and in the fat years you'll share profits with bonuses across the board.
At ESDI we particularly value employees who stay with us as we grow, and after you've been with us 2 years you can start participating in our generous RRSP contribution matching.
Finally, we've also made sure we have a strong benefits package for you and your family (more on this below).
Opportunities for Growth
ESDI is a loosely structured, low management organization led by techies. Most of us have pretty fluid job descriptions. We love new technology and are always exploring ways to turn new ideas into products and features that people can use. Of course, not all our ideas pan out... but our long track record of success has helped us build a robust product suite and large body of loyal customers who sustain our ongoing growth as we build next great thing!
We believe it's important to keep our employees intellectually engaged in the things that interest them most. If you have particular strengths and aptitudes we want to see you exercise those. If you want to grow in a particular area we'll steer you in that direction, helping you find courses to get jump started and projects to cut your teeth on. And if there are areas where you're struggling we'll work together to help you overcome them. As you succeed in the project you take on, we will give you increasingly challenging tasks. We always reward outstanding work with more work!
When you work with us you will learn that "our employees are our most important asset" is no cliché phrase. We make a tremendous investment in everyone we hire and do everything we can to keep the people who share our vibe. We will give you systematic and comprehensive training when you first start, and in our highly collaborative work environment you will find all your peers happy to help you keep learning each and every day.
Our Teams
We have three teams critical to our success: Product Development, Developer Support and Professional Services (web application development). We are a highly competent bunch with a very diverse skill set. Most of our staff have worked on at least two of the teams, if not all three, and we have strong internal communication between all groups.
But our three teams are also different:
- Product Development. Our product developers tend to work with Visual Studio on larger, more long-term projects adding features to our software.
- Developer Support. Our developer support team works with customers by phone and email. Our support reps are themselves software developers who particularly enjoy the technical challenge of troubleshooting complex problems and the human interaction of working with customers. When not working with customers, they tackle a wide range of other projects.
- Professional Services. Web developers generally work on more discrete web development tasks on customer sites. We normally have a dozen or so projects on the go at any given time, so there's never a dull moment and your web development skills will be constantly extended!
Most of our employees have started with the company through the support team as it gives you the broadest perspective on what we do, our software and our customers' needs. They say that techies can't communicate - not so! You'll develop some stellar communication skills with this team, skills that will serve you well regardless of your ultimate career direction.
Enjoying Your Work
You're here to work - but it's important that you enjoy it (at least most of the time!). To create an environment where work is fun we start by hiring people who think like us: creative, hard-working, and considerate of others. We keep internal structures to a bare minimum and have very open lines of communication. Our customers also reflect this ethic and are almost invariably respectful, gracious and extremely appreciative of the work we do for them.
It's also good to get out with your work mates every now and again. We play soccer in the spring, throw groups together for Ride to Work week, subsidize squash courts at the Panorama Rec Center, destroy foosball tables in the basement, go bowling at the lanes around the corner, periodically book some time at the climbing wall, and get together for golf. In the spring we're hoping to line up a few evening of trap shooting, and as the ping pong table seems to be getting much more use than the old board room tables, we'll probably be keeping it, especially now that we have an expert coming in to give us lessons!
But in the end, if your only new friend here is our Starbucks machine HAL, dispensing his limitless bounty of fresh, free hot coffee, that might be enough in itself.
Working in Sidney
ESDI is in beautiful Sidney, BC. One of our offices is right on the main street (Beacon Avenue) and the other is just a block away. On your breaks you can walk a few hundred yards down to a great waterfront with paths, piers and parks. On your lunch break you can quickly step out and do your banking, browse one of our many local bookstores, spend some time at the new Ocean Discovery Centre or stroll the marina to visualize your next yacht.
You can lunch at a different place every day of the month (with almost that many ethnic food options!) and there are myriad bustling coffee shops to choose from if you get tired of the fresh, hot coffee that HAL brews up in the lunch room [Note: HAL doesn't do decaf, so when our heart rate gets a little erratic a quick walk out for a decaf kills two birds with one stone... fitness AND company!].
Many of us do live in Victoria and enjoy a casual commute against the flow of traffic. Current staff members are sprinkled around various areas of town and there are several car pools you can participate in.
Balancing Work and the Rest of your Life
We work standard 8-hour days with no evening and weekend shifts. And even though most of our customers are on the East Coast, we continue to operate on a West Coast schedule because it's what works best for our staff.
You'll be spending about a third of your week here so your time in the office with us so our first priority is that your time here with us be personally meaningful and fulfilling. But we also realize that you have lots of other things going on, and we do our best to be as flexible as possible with everyone's needs. Have a doctor's appointment? Just give your team a heads up that you'll be out for a bit. Perfect evening for a hike? No worries, if you don't have any critical deadlines, just let your team know you're heading out early. Saw a cheap fare to Moab? Check in quickly with your manager and run home to grab your bike! Has your child care schedule changed, or your provider gotten married and move away? We'll find a way to make it work with your team.
We realize that the best way for you to be fully engaged at work is to be secure in the feeling that the other critical areas of your life are taken care of, and that if anything unexpected comes up, you'll have our trust and the flexibility to respond as you need to.
Benefits for You and Your Family
Here is a brief summary of some of the additional benefits provided by ESDI to our employees.
Annual Bonus Program
In addition to a competitive salary and the benefits described below, ESDI rewards the hard work and dedication of our employees with an annual bonus program. This program is based in part on the overall fiscal performance of the organization and the individual performance of staff members.
Planning for your Retirement
After 2 years with ESDI you will be entitled to participate in a RSP matching plan to help you plan for your retirement. This is a graduated plan that initially contributes 75% of your contribution and increases every 3 years to a maximum of 150% of your RSP contribution based on your earnings with ESDI.
Personal and Family Health Days
ExcelSystems offers annual health days to provide our you with time off if you are sick or if you need to care for a family member. Unused health days can be accumulated from year to year to help offset the impact of an extended illness or unforeseen family circumstance.
Maternity Benefit Top-up
For new mothers, ESDI provides a benefit that tops-up your government EI benefits to 95% of your current salary during your maternity benefit period.
Extended Health Benefits
Our extended health benefit package includes these features (among many others):
- Comprehensive coverage including a wide variety of professional services such as massage therapy, chiropractor, naturopath and more.
- Vision care coverage for prescription glasses and contact lenses
- Prescription Drugs - 100% coverage of prescription drugs
- Out of Canada - unlimited out of Canada extended health and emergency medical coverage
- Dental Coverage: 100% coverage of all basic coverage including regularly scheduled dental checkups, cleanings, fillings; 50% coverage of all major dentistry such as crowns and bridges and a $1500 life time coverage for Orthodontics.
- Life insurance, AD&D, Long Term Disability, Critical Illness coverage and Dependent Life Insurance
Interested applicants can request a comprehensive list of benefits & details of coverage.
Community Involvement
ESDI is an active contributor to our local community, most recently participating in the construction of our local soccer association's new club house, the Sidney Pier and the Research Centre at the BC Cancer Agency. Among these and other programs, every year on your hiring anniversary we will donate funds to the charity of your choice.
Come Work with Us!
We are currently hiring for multiple positions. If you like what you've been reading, check out our current job openings!
If you don't want to submit a resume right now, but are just interested in exploring your options or have questions about the positions or our company, drop an email to Kevin Hunter about any other role you might be interested in.
We'll look forward to hearing from you!