cv-2026/tailored/hostinger-horizons-backend/notes.md

5.7 KiB

Hostinger — Backend Software Engineer | Node.js | Remote

Posting

Contacts

  • Engineering Manager: Tadas Paplauskas
  • Recruiter: unknown
  • Hiring manager: Tadas Paplauskas (per posting)
  • Referral: none

Why this role

  • Horizons = PrimeUI in scope and spirit. Both are AI-native platforms for AI-assisted website generation. Direct domain match — strongest possible signal for the hiring team.
  • AI/LLM nice-to-have is Oleg's daily practice. Multi-model orchestration, MCP server, prompt caching at 73%, custom AI tooling open-sourced.
  • Production scale story (Tipico 75M req/mo) maps to "API performance, DB optimization, scalability" in the day-to-day.
  • 9+ yrs vs 4+ required — overmatch by years, but the role is positioned mid → senior growth, so we need to argue for senior placement.

Match score

~6.5/10 — strong on AI/Node.js/scale, weak on infra stack the posting names explicitly.

Must-have coverage

Requirement Status
4+ yrs Node.js + TS + PG/MySQL Overmatch (9+ yrs)
REST APIs in production Overmatch (Tipico 75M/mo, PrimeUI public API)
Message queues (RabbitMQ / BullMQ / GCP PubSub) No production experience
Kubernetes + Docker + containerization ⚠️ Docker / docker-compose yes; no K8s
Observability tools (Grafana or similar) No experience
Testing (Jest / Mocha, unit + integration) ⚠️ Have it but not visible on CV
SQL + ORM (Sequelize / TypeORM / Prisma) + Redis ⚠️ Drizzle ORM , Redis no production
Git proficiency
Self-starter / ownership (Tech Lead, ~70% ownership)
Communicator / documentation (technical writing, mentoring)

Nice-to-have

Requirement Status
Microservices architecture ⚠️ Implicit (PrimeUI multi-surface)
Performance monitoring / optimization ⚠️ Implicit (caching, scale)
CI/CD ⚠️ Yes but not in CV explicitly
AI tools + LLM providers Major overmatch
Terraform

Open questions / risks

  1. Location: posting says Poland; Oleg is GMT+7 / Deel contractor. Needs explicit confirmation from recruiter before any deep investment.
  2. Compensation: not listed for this role. Comparable Poland Full-Stack listing is 5600-7600 EUR gross/mo. Oleg's floor is 6K EUR net.
    • UoP at top of range (~7600 gross) ≈ ~5400 net — below floor.
    • B2B / contractor at top of range (~7600 gross) ≈ ~7000 net — meets floor.
    • Mid-level entry at bottom (~5600 gross) — below floor in both cases.
  3. Role level: posting frames the role as mid → senior growth track. Argue for senior placement in cover letter using PrimeUI tech lead context.

Tailoring decisions

vs. base base/oleg_proskurin_fullstack_techlead_cv.md:

  • Title line: changed from "Senior Full-Stack Engineer & Tech Lead" to "Senior Node.js Backend Engineer & Tech Lead" — leads with what the posting screens for.
  • Summary: reframed around Node.js / TS backend + AI orchestration as a backend concern. Removed mention of Frontend / Serverless / eCommerce as primary buckets. Kept the consumer-scale number (75M+) prominent.
  • Skills: restructured into 4 categories with new order:
    1. Backend & APIs (was buried inside "Data & Infrastructure")
    2. AI Engineering (kept, slight rewording to frame as a backend concern)
    3. Infrastructure & Delivery (Docker / docker-compose explicit — no K8s)
    4. Full-Stack adjacent (compressed Web & CMS / eCommerce together to keep density, since they are not the focus)
  • PrimeUI bullets: reordered to lead with AI generation layer (Node.js backend) and public API + code-export pipeline. Added explicit "Owned the Node.js server runtime end-to-end" bullet that names WebSocket streaming, schema validation, retry/recovery, third-party API integrations — direct mapping to the day-to-day.
  • FocusReactive / Tipico bullet: rewritten to lead with the scale number (75M+ req/month) — Hostinger explicitly looks for "production-level engineering from real challenges at scale".
  • Honest gaps: NOT padded. Did NOT add Kubernetes, RabbitMQ/BullMQ/PubSub, Redis production, or Grafana — Oleg has only docker-compose level on K8s and exploratory contact with queues/Redis. Will address in cover letter as "willing to ramp on".

Cover letter — points to hit

  1. Open with: "I'm currently Tech Lead on PrimeUI, which is structurally and product-wise the same shape as the Horizons platform — AI-native, multi-surface, Node.js backend with multi-model orchestration. The day-to-day in this posting describes my current job."
  2. Address location upfront: "I work remotely from GMT+7 as a Deel contractor with W-8BEN; is this role open to candidates outside Poland, or is Polish residency / EU work authorization required?"
  3. Address compensation upfront if comfortable: "Could you share the compensation range and contract type (UoP vs B2B)?"
  4. Address gaps honestly: "I'm strong on Node.js / TypeScript / PostgreSQL and on AI/LLM orchestration. I have Docker + docker-compose in production but no Kubernetes; I'm familiar with queue systems and Redis but have not run them at scale. Happy to ramp on those during the first months."
  5. Production scale story: Tipico 75M req/month is the anchor.

Timeline

  • 2026-05-30 — CV tailored, location & comp questions open
  • 2026-MM-DD — applied