About Us

Java Developer

What you’ll be doing:

Working on the Java backend which powers Last.fm, from streaming and recommendation, to data mining and scrobbling. You will delve into many of the Java services that power Last.fm, and ultimately adopt one or more areas as the primary maintainer.

Requirements:

• Excellent knowledge of J2SE 5.0, especially in a server-side context
• Independent problem solving skills, ability to write efficient code that scales well
• Flexibility: we are small company, but we move quickly

Pluses:

• Buzzword compliance: Spring, Hibernate, Servlets, ...
• Experience with Hadoop, Lucene, Nutch
• Experienced with test driven development / JUnit
• Subversion
• Linux CLI
• Experience with PostgreSQL / MySQL
• Experience developing distributed, scalable applications for high-volume sites
• Interest in fields of music, social networking, blogging and related technologies, recommendation systems, and data mining

We’re also looking for summer interns for this job.

^ How to Apply

Flash Developer

Last.fm is looking for an in-house Flash developer to join the team. The ideal candidate will be creative, enthusiastic, and good at “getting things done”. Chief responsibilities will include maintaining Last.fm's existing roster of Flash products (streaming players for both audio and video, Flash widgets for 3rd-party sites, scrobbling lib, etc), as well as building the next generation of Last.fm Flash applications for the website and beyond.

Requirements:

• Strong object-oriented Actionscript 2.0 skills
• Ability to build robust applications from the ground up
• Proven experience in interaction design and an eye for detail
• Comfortable dealing with web services and the inherent design issues
• Experience using Last.fm / Audioscrobbler

Pluses:

• Experience with Actionscript 3.0
• Experience with source control tools (SVN/CVS)
• Flex/Laszlo
• Experience with streaming applications
• Fluent in another (non ECMAScript compliant) programming language

^ How to Apply

PHP Developers

Last.fm is looking for developers with a combination of strong PHP / SQL, software design principles and HTML skills.

The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic and innovative, good at “getting things done”, and have experience using Last.fm / AS.

What you’ll be doing:

• Designing and implement new features on your own, as well as building on existing features of the website.
• From conception through to implementation, you’ll be writing code used by millions of people every day.
• Working well within the Last.fm team to help improve the product and take over the world.

Requirements:

• Excellent knowledge of object-oriented PHP & standards-compliant SQL.
• Sound knowledge of HTML.
• Independent problem solving skills, ability to write code that scales well.
• Understanding of how the web works, from low to high levels.
• Familiarity with a wide range of relevant technologies and web standards.
• Flexibility: we are small company, but we move quickly.

Pluses:

• Smarty templating system (smarty.php.net).
• Subversion.
• Web services and syndication.
• Linux CLI.
• Experience with PostgreSQL, MySQL.
• Experience developing scalable web applications for high-volume sites.
• Javascript, and when not to use it.
• Flash.
• Interest in fields of music, social networking, blogging and related technologies, recommendation systems, and data mining.
• A preference for vi over emacs

^ How to Apply

Senior C++ Developers

Last.fm is looking for a couple of Senior C++ developers capable of building world class desktop software.

The ideal candidate will be experienced in all aspects of software development, passionate about user experience, detail oriented and interested in cutting edge music applications.

What you’ll be doing:

• Helping architect the Last.fm desktop software and manage the development timeline
• Implementing features and maintaining existing code using Qt and C++
• Working with the rest of the software team to improve our development process
• Innovating in music management and discovery to help create the world's best music service

Requirements:

• Expert C++ knowledge and extensive experience with GUI frameworks
• 5+ years of professional development experience or significant open source achievement
• Proven expertise in application development on Windows and/or Mac platforms
• Strong academic background in CS or equivalent
• Excellent understanding of web client-server protocols such as HTTP, XML/RPC etc
• Familiarity with revision control systems (we use SVN)
• A thorough and organised way of working
• Excellent communication skills (fluent English is a must)

Pluses:

• Experience with Qt and multi-platform development
• Open source leadership
• Software testing experience
• Understanding of usability principles & interface design
• Interest in fields of music, social networking, recommendation systems and related technologies

^ How to Apply

Linux Sysadmin (varying levels)

Last.fm is looking for a system administrator to help support our growing infrastructure. The role is mainly focused on our server infrastructure, and also includes some desktop support in the office. A keen interest in Linux and networking is essential, as is a thirst for more knowledge in related areas. You will be working within our systems engineering team to maintain and expand the hardware and tools that keep Last.fm on the air.

We have junior and more senior positions available.

Responsibilities:

• Configure new servers, including linux installs (debian/ubuntu) and network setup
• Assist in network management tool administration
• Sysadmin related development support
• Hardware installs and bringing new equipment online at our datacentres (this includes rackmount server installs)
• Hardware maintenance and troubleshooting (why is it broken, dead disks and what not)

Desired skills:

• Linux and sysadmin-fu
• Good LAN and WAN troubleshooting skills
• Windows Desktop Support; email / printing / network connectivity
• Desktop installation and setup of new office machines
• Scripting skills
• A preference for vi over emacs

^ How to Apply

DBA, PostgreSQL and MySQL

Last.fm is looking for an experienced SQL Database Administrator to act as DBA and co-Architect in the development and maintenance of our federated database environment (PostgreSQL and MySQL).

This position reports to the CTO and is part of our core engineering team.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage our existing PostgreSQL and MySQL databases
• Perform DB administration, maintenance, upgrades, and monitoring
• Plan and perform stress test and volume test on pre-production databases
• Work closely with developers to ensure availability and integrity
• Manage the expansion and scale up of our database environment as we continue to grow
• Document and update procedures and processes

Required Skills/Experience

• Minimum of 3 years as a PostgreSQL or MySQL DBA for large scale databases
• Experience in database performance tuning, clustering, replication, backup and recovery, system architecture and design
• Work experience on UNIX / Linux
• Ability to quickly identify and resolve performance problems
• Excellent communication and analytical skills
• Strong sense of ownership
• Computer Science degree or equivalent

^ How to Apply

Data Warehouse Developer

Last.fm is looking for a Data Warehouse Developer, equipped with experience in databases, software development, user interfaces, a knowledge of common data analysis methods and natural curiosity, to explore some of the largest data sets in the industry.

Job Description

• Java Developer with focus on implementing data warehouses
• Analysis and long-term monitoring of e.g. product feature success, ad revenue management, …
• Automation systems, web frontends, report generation
• You will develop and maintain all layers of your systems, from the database to the user interface

Requirements

• Excellent knowledge of Java 1.5
• Independent problem solving skills
• Good knowledge of SQL, experience in designing and maintaining large databases
• Experience in creating secure web interfaces for database-driven applications
• Experience in data warehouse design and implementation, ETL processes, …
• Experience with open source warehousing and analytics software
• Sound background in statistics

Pluses

• Open source BI software (Pentaho, BIRT, or others)
• Hibernate, Spring, ActiveMQ, …
• Subversion, Linux CLI
• PHP, Ruby on Rails
• Interest in fields of music, social networking, blogging and related technologies, recommendation systems, and data mining

^ How to Apply

QA Tester

Last.fm are looking for a smart and thorough software tester for its desktop application and web site.

What you’ll be doing

• Testing the Last.fm desktop application for bugs prior to release
• Keeping abreast of new releases of operating systems, devices and 3rd party player software
• Drawing up test plans in cooperation with the development team
• Implementing testing procedures and documenting them
• Ultimately improving the quality of the Last.fm software

Requirements

• An obsessive attention to detail
• Experienced Last.fm user
• Familiarity with different flavours of Windows and Mac OS X
• Familiarity with a wide range of desktop applications
• Excellent communication skills

Pluses

• Experience in software testing
• Familiarity with Linux
• Some coding skills

^ How to Apply

Legal Director

Last.fm is looking for a Legal Director to support and provide commercial legal advice to the Last.fm Team and the CBS Legal Department. The position will be based in London but will involve some limited travel.

What you’ll be doing:

• Support the team in drafting, structuring, negotiating and documenting in all critical areas, including:
  1. Content acquisition and licensing with major music labels, independents, publishers, collecting societies and other content rights holders
  2. Revenue generating contracts (advertising, affiliates, etc.)
  3. Online business management (terms of use, UGC, community management, IP, data protection, etc.)
  4. General commercial (HR, vendor, and distribution arrangements, technology deals and other general business deals).
• Stay apprised of legal changes impacting online businesses, online communities, music and content rights.
• Develop and manage outside counsel and legal budgets
• Bear responsibility for communication and collaboration with the CBS Legal Department.
• Participate the CBS Legal Department meetings and Last.fm senior staff meetings.

Profile

• Law Degree from an Accredited Law School
• 3-5 years of legal experience at a prominent law firm, or legal department of a major online music operation, or online community website or entertainment company or equivalent organization. Preference for music rights experience.
• Proven track record of negotiating, documenting, drafting and closing complex commercial agreements, such as licensing, Internet-related and complex technology/technology services agreements.
• Sophisticated and strategic understanding of the laws that govern online and music businesses, including music rights, intellectual property, and privacy.
• Excellent organizational skills, in particular the ability to prioritize project manage
• First class communications skills, both written and verbal, plus ability to build relationships and collaborate with a variety of personalities and styles
• Sense of humor, commitment to teamwork and something that passes for musical taste

^ How to Apply

Lead Copywriter

You are a technically-minded person with an understanding of Last.fm's honest, transparent tone and ready to nurture this into a strong brand identity and messaging. You're a responsible leader and work well in a fast-paced, changing environment.

What you’ll be doing:

• Writing and managing copy for the Last.fm interface informed by use-cases and SEO
• Maintaining a consistent message and vocabulary across various products within the Last.fm service working closely with the design and product teams.
• Writing for marketing and promotion while maintaining the honest transparent tone indicative of Last.fm product integrity
• Writing FAQs and working with the customer support team achieve clear communication and a tone indicative of the Last.fm brand
• Working closely with the Technical Writer and Head of PR to maintain consistent tone and message.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• 5+ years copywriting experience
• Fluent English speaker
• Basic HTML, ability to use a text-editor a plus
• Quickly develop rapport with engineers, designers and translators

^ How to Apply

Head of Financial Planning and Analysis

Last.fm is seeing a Head of Financial Planning and Analysis to lead the development of a function that will provide the analytical horsepower supporting important business decisions facing the company. Reporting directly to the CFO, this position will directly support the entire business, driving both top and bottom line success. The company is building a finance function whose role is to be both business partners as well as leaders who challenge the business to maximize controllership and return on investment. This position will have a tremendous range of responsibilities and expectations for success.

Qualifications

This position will work closely with the product and executive teams to ensure that the business is maximizing is goals of growth, involvement, and monetization. A very important part of the role’s reasonability is in providing robust analytical modelling and analysis. The second key requirement will be to maintain strict controllership over the business so that we can forecast and report accurate financials. Lastly, our expectation is that this position will be critical in continuing to emphasize a culture of data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

We are now seeking a Head of Financial Planning to help grow our business by:

• Providing financial analysis to prioritize and lead business decision-making
• Designing & maintaining metrics models
• Analyzing new business ideas and making an analytical judgment on the quality of the idea.
• Collecting and analyzing quantitative data
• Designing and maintaining reports based on collected data
• Challenging the business on performance and assumptions
• Maintaining data and financial integrity
• Formulation of strategic & corporate plans to operating profit
• Leadership of ad hoc projects
• Interrogating data using excel (pivot tables/v-lookups) and access
• Driving process improvements

Suitable candidates will have a strong work ethic, strong analytical and commercial judgment, interpersonal skills, and effective communication skills. The successful candidate will have 2-4 years of relevant experience, be comfortable with ambiguity, making assumptions with imperfect data and presenting findings to senior management. Bachelor’s degree required, MBA preferred.

Location: London, GB

^ How to Apply

Accounts Receivable Analyst

Last.fm is seeking an accounts receivable analyst with experience working in a similar role supporting a small organization. The role will be one of the early members of Last.fm’s finance team, and as such will be expected to take an active role in developing sustainable and scalable processes with regards to our financial administration.

The Role

The successful candidate's daily duties are likely to include the following: day to day input of financial information, preparation and reconciliation of invoices, preparation and analysis of reports, and working closely with our sales teams on collection of outstanding amounts.

However, please be aware that the duties outlined above are in no way exhaustive and are subject to amendment from time to time

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will have exceptional communication and presentation skills along with the ability to provide excellent levels of customer services. Personal qualities should include a professional approach to work, comfort with ambiguity, strong organizational skills, and a sense of humour.

Relevant experience with Oracle and Excel is preferred.

Location: London, GB

^ How to Apply

Senior Advertising Executive (Germany)

Last.fm is looking for a Senior Advertising Executive to help grow and manage a unique, innovative line of online advertising products. World-class agencies and brands are beginning to leverage the rich profile information on Last.fm to find the right audience and spread the word about their products in a new way.

What you'll be doing

• Devising and executing sales strategies
• Interfacing w/ key German clients and partners (ad-agencies, media buyers, brands etc.)
• Working closely with internal design and development teams, clients and advertising agencies to develop new advertising and promotional concepts
• Helping drive the creation of tools and metrics to run the German business
• Meeting monthly and quarterly sales targets, and reporting these to the executive team.

Requirements

• Minimum 3 years postgraduate experience
• An outstanding track record of sales is essential
• Previous experience in advertising sales within another highly successful German online business would be highly desirable

This position is ideally based in Germany, with regular trips to London.

^ How to Apply

Community Manager - Japan

The Community Manager is responsible for the good functioning of the local community, translating the site, handling email customer service enquiries, updating the Last.fm team on important developments with the local site or local community and promoting Last.fm within the local community.

The role is part-time position working in Last.fm’s London office. Salary is to be determined, based on experience. In addition to your CV, please submit a 500 word essay about Last.fm (about what you like about Last.fm) in Japanese. Please send your application to jobs [at] last.fm.

What you’ll be doing:

• Handle all aspects of customer support
• Assist with translation needs and site testing in local language
• Moderate user generated content, including events and wikis in local language
• Update relevant Last.fm parties on technical failures within local site and keep track of repair status
• Moderate local site support forum and transmit suggestions, feedback and complaints from users to relevant Last.fm parties
• Assist other community managers with these primary responsibilities

• Research local Internet, ecommerce, label, PR and competitive landscapes and provide regular updates to relevant Last.fm parties
• Participate in grassroots activities as planned by Last.fm
• Manage local public relations: communicate with appropriate parties, including bloggers, newspapers, magazines, developers’ forums etc and connect with Last.fm parties whenever necessary
• Identify key ecommerce partners and assist relevant Last.fm parties with partnership negotiations
• Research local labels and assist relevant Last.fm parties with partnership negotiations

Requirements:

• University degree or equivalent academic qualifications
• Strong written skills and intimate knowledge of the local language, culture and business landscape in Japan
• Computing knowledge
• Previous experience in the Internet sector
• Applicant must be willing to relocate to London
• Enjoys working in a fast-paced, startup environment

Pluses:

• User of Last.fm
• Sense of humour

^ How to Apply

Community Manager - France

We are looking for an individual to help manage our French site. As a Community Manager you will be responsible for ensuring the good functioning of the local community, this will be done via handling customer service enquiries received from users of the local site, moderating local content generated by the user community, as well as as assisting with the French translation and quality assessment of upcoming site features and software releases. You'll be working with our international support team in our London office.

The role is a full-time or part-time position, depending on your availability. Salary is to be determined, based on experience. In addition to your CV, please submit a 500 word essay about Last.fm (about what you like about Last.fm) in French, and please let us know what your Last.fm username is. Please send your application in English to jobs [at] last.fm.

What you’ll be doing:

• Handle all aspects of customer service and relay suggestions, feedback and complaints from users to relevant Last.fm parties
• Resolve issues related to our products and escalate these to our second line of technical support if necessary
• Update relevant Last.fm parties on technical failures within the local site and keep track of repair status
• Moderate local site support forums and user generated content, including events and wikis in local language
• Assist with any translation needs and product testing in the local language
• Assist other team members with customer service and support related responsibilities

Requirements:

• User of Last.fm with a very good knowledge of our products
• Strong French and English communicative skills both verbal and written
• Excellent inter-personal skills and a good team player
• Good computer skills
• A positive customer service attitude
• Previous customer service or IT support experience is an advantage
• Available for a 3-month internship
• A passion for Last.fm and music :)

The position is initially a 3 month placement, however, the possibility of this being extended is available based upon work performance.

^ How to Apply

Community Manager - Sweden

We are looking for an individual to help manage our Swedish site. As a Community Manager you will be responsible for ensuring the good functioning of the local community, this will be done via handling customer service enquiries received from users of the local site, moderating local content generated by the user community, as well as as assisting with the Swedish translation and quality assessment of upcoming site features and software releases. You'll be working with our international support team in our London office.

The role is a full-time or part-time position, depending on your availability. Salary is to be determined, based on experience. In addition to your CV, please submit a 500 word essay about Last.fm (about what you like about Last.fm) in Swedish, and please let us know what your Last.fm username is. Please send your application in English to jobs [at] last.fm.

What you’ll be doing:

• Handle all aspects of customer service and relay suggestions, feedback and complaints from users to relevant Last.fm parties
• Resolve issues related to our products and escalate these to our second line of technical support if necessary
• Update relevant Last.fm parties on technical failures within the local site and keep track of repair status
• Moderate local site support forums and user generated content, including events and wikis in local language
• Assist with any translation needs and product testing in the local language
• Assist other team members with customer service and support related responsibilities

Requirements:

• User of Last.fm with a very good knowledge of our products
• Strong Swedish and English communicative skills both verbal and written
• Excellent inter-personal skills and a good team player
• Good computer skills
• A positive customer service attitude
• Previous customer service or IT support experience is an advantage
• Available for a 3-month internship
• A passion for Last.fm and music :)

The position is initially a 3 month placement, however, the possibility of this being extended is available based upon work performance.

^ How to Apply

Community Manager - Russia

We are looking for an individual to help manage our Russian site. As a Community Manager you will be responsible for ensuring the good functioning of the local community, this will be done via handling customer service enquiries received from users of the local site, moderating local content generated by the user community, as well as as assisting with the Russian translation and quality assessment of upcoming site features and software releases. You'll be working with our international support team in our London office.

The role is a full-time or part-time position, depending on your availability. Salary is to be determined, based on experience. In addition to your CV, please submit a 500 word essay about Last.fm (about what you like about Last.fm) in Russian, and please let us know what your Last.fm username is. Please send your application in English to jobs [at] last.fm.

What you’ll be doing:

• Handle all aspects of customer service and relay suggestions, feedback and complaints from users to relevant Last.fm parties
• Resolve issues related to our products and escalate these to our second line of technical support if necessary
• Update relevant Last.fm parties on technical failures within the local site and keep track of repair status
• Moderate local site support forums and user generated content, including events and wikis in local language
• Assist with any translation needs and product testing in the local language
• Assist other team members with customer service and support related responsibilities

Requirements:

• User of Last.fm with a very good knowledge of our products
• Strong Russian and English communicative skills both verbal and written
• Excellent inter-personal skills and a good team player
• Good computer skills
• A positive customer service attitude
• Previous customer service or IT support experience is an advantage
• Available for a 3-month internship
• A passion for Last.fm and music :)

The position is initially a 3 month placement, however, the possibility of this being extended is available based upon work performance.

^ How to Apply

Events Assistant / Production Runner

The events/marketing team is looking for an intern to assist them 3 days a week with promoting Last.fm gigs online as well as helping with events production in London, UK.

Responsibilities

• Look after online promotion outside of Last.fm to involve researching websites, sending out PRs, chasing news pieces etc.
• Monitoring all online ads to ensure they’re being tracked and performing properly
• Handling offline promotion from postering & flyering bars and venues, onsite branding i.e. handing out badges, flyers, and any other promo materials at all of our events
• Documenting events online: posting/uploading the content to social networking sites

Requirements

• 1-2 Experience in the events/promotion environment
• Strong project management/planning skill
• Adobe CS
• Basic CSS/HTML (Enough to edit/update pages)
• Extensive experience with social networks
• EU passport/work visa
• Excellent communication skills (fluent in English)
• UK/International drivers license

Plusses

• Sense of humour
• High energy
• Something that passes for music taste

^ How to Apply