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Lifion is building a cloud platform for HR software (it's like Salesforce for HR)

You can find Lifion in their spacious Chelsea offices, where they're building the next big cloud platform. Lifion is a startup-like business unit within ADP. In case you don't know, ADP is the global giant that provides HR services to over 650,000+ companies worldwide including 80% of the Fortune 100.

About ADP

Originally founded in 1949 to provide outsourced payroll processing in Paterson, New Jersey, ADP has always been an early adopter of disruptive technology. Founder Henry Taub said, "As a company, we've had a knack of making a friend out of change, turning its uncertainty into opportunity." Some of the disruptive technologies ADP was early to adopt include mainframe computers, desktop computers, the internet, and even new business models like the Professional Employer Organization market for small businesses. With Lifion, ADP is embracing two new disruptive forces: startups and cloud software platforms.

A startup inside a global enterprise

Lifion operates like a startup with a modern office in New York's Chelsea neighborhood (also home to Google's NYC office). Their teams are responsible for microservices which allows for faster work on a 70+ person engineering team and they use agile development practices. Technologists at Lifion are seasoned veterans who enjoy the quick pace and flexibility of a modern tech-company environment.

The Open HCM platform

Lifion's cloud platform, Open Human Capital Management, aka Open HCM, is a huge opportunity for those interested in business applications. Clients have been live on the platform for under a year so those who work on the platform now will become the first experts in the next industry-standard cloud SAAS platform. Open HCM can easily reach thousands of client companies thanks to Lifion's relationship with parent company ADP.

The Open HCM platform has 3 layers: at the bottom is the infrastructure layer, above that is the core services layer for things like users, organizations, etc, then at the top are Open HCM applications which are configurations of the platform services tied to business rules and UI components. Each layer of the platform has engineering teams focused on different parts of that layer. In the applications layer teams are formed around a single application or a group of related applications.

Being a Lifion Developer

The Lifion Developer is responsible for building applications in the application layer of Open HCM. This is done using a web IDE which Lifion has built. There is no code writing in the IDE, everything is done using graphical elements, so if you need to type code to be happy, this isn't the job for you. But that doesn't mean building Lifion apps is easy. The main challenge of building these apps is designing data objects in a way that matches the domain problems the app fulfills and creating efficient business rules from the available options. See this video for a hands-on view of the Lifion Developer workflow.

Who should apply?

People who will be good Lifion Developers have previous experience designing data objects for business processes. Examples include Salesforce developers, Software Architects who don't want to code, and Business Analysts. While some programming experience is required, the main attribute Lifion is looking for is good data modeling skills. You will also be quizzed on some computer science fundamentals similar to any engineering role.