Let us introduce ourselves
Epcotec is a senior software engineering studio and applied R&D practice, founded in Edmonton, Alberta in 2011 and operating remote-first across Australia and Canada. Our 57 specialists across 11 departments have delivered more than 734 engagements, and every senior engineer among them learned the craft somewhere. This program is how we pass it on.
The Graduate Program turns early-career software engineers and applied-research graduates into the next generation of senior contributors. It is a two-year program of structured technical training, real client work and mentoring, designed so that by the end of it you are not just able to code, but able to scope, own and deliver work the way a senior engineer does.
Our values
We hire and grow people against six values:
- Excellence: senior-grade craft, from your first commit.
- Integrity: honesty and candour; if something isn't right, we say so.
- Ownership: we own delivery; our clients own their code.
- Courage: challenge assumptions and ask hard questions, even as a graduate.
- Collaboration: one team, working directly with the people who build.
- Care: for our people, our clients, our communities and the environment.
Our workplace
We are remote-first, with working overlap across Australia and Canada time zones. You will work directly with senior engineers: there are no account managers between you and the people who build, and no "graduate corner" where you sit apart from the real work. You get real tasks, real responsibility, and a manager who meets with you one-on-one and reviews your work.
We are a diverse, inclusive workplace. Read more in Diversity & Inclusion.
What you'll learn
The program maps to our practice areas, so your training follows real work:
- Product engineering: TypeScript, React and Node, building software our clients run their
business on.
- Platform: Go, Python and Kubernetes, building the infrastructure that carries that software.
- Data & MLOps: data pipelines, model operations and the discipline of shipping data reliably.
- Security & compliance: secure development, ISO 27001-aligned and Essential Eight practice.
- Applied R&D: optics, beam shaping, optical trapping and discharge physics, raising
technology through TRL programs.
Across all of these you will also learn the consulting and delivery skills that make a senior engineer: how to scope work, how to estimate honestly, how to demo weekly, and how to hand over code a client fully owns.
Rewards and benefits
- Study support: time and financial support for approved education and certifications.
- Mentoring: a named mentor from our senior team, plus direct access to our engineering leads:
Michael Lean (Product & AI), Glen Pryce (Platform, Data & Security), and Gene Pratt and Ottie Pratt (Applied R&D).
- A personalised development plan: set with you, reviewed regularly, and updated as you grow.
- Networking with senior leads: you will meet and work with the people who scope our
engagements.
- Flexible, remote-first work: across Australia and Canada time zones.
- A competitive salary, reviewed annually: informed by your role, your performance and the
market.
- Employee Assistance Program: free, confidential counselling for you and your family.
- Referral bonus: refer someone who fits our culture and receive a bonus when they join.
What graduates do here
There is no generic "graduate role" at Epcotec. From your first month you are attached to a real practice and a real engagement, and your responsibility grows as your judgment does.
A graduate on the product engineering path might pair with a senior engineer on a client feature, ship it behind review, and demo it to the client in the weekly call. A graduate on the applied R&D path might contribute to a literature review, run an experiment under supervision, and help write up results for a grant or a client. A graduate on the platform path might harden a deployment pipeline, fix an incident under guidance, and learn why the runbook exists before they are asked to write one.
Here is a sample 24-month development timeline:
- Months 0-3: onboarding, tooling and security baseline; paired work with a mentor; first
small contributions shipped.
- Months 3-6: first independently-owned tasks; weekly one-on-ones; a certification or course
started from your learning budget.
- Months 6-12: end-to-end ownership of a defined piece of work; demos to clients; progress
review against your development plan.
- Months 12-18: deeper specialisation in your practice; begin mentoring or onboarding others;
contribute to scoping and estimation.
- Months 18-24: own a meaningful deliverable from scope to handover; final review and a clear
path to your next role with us.
How to apply
We recruit in small cohorts when we have the work and the mentors to support you properly. To apply, email [careers@epcotec.com](mailto:careers@epcotec.com) with your CV, a short note on which practice area interests you, and anything you have built: a project, a paper, or code you are proud of.
We read every application. We will tell you honestly where you stand, and if we are not the right next step for you right now, we will say so.
Approved: Eugene Pivnev, Founder & Managing Director, Epcotec
Version 1.2, 2 October 2026