Calling All Upstarters!

SUGARCRM SPECIALIST WANTED!

We are Upstart 13. We are humble, hungry, and competent people who are radically changing the expectations and experience of outsourcing for all participants by challenging barriers that create inequality and by bringing down borders in technology for people everywhere. We’re all about delivering value and doing big things. We have become a game-changer for teams around the world who look to Upstart’s services as a differentiator.

Job Description: 

We are seeking a Senior SugarCRM Engineer located in Latin America to act as the technical subject matter expert for SugarCRM environments. This role covers application customization, performance optimization, environment administration, and version/data migrations from legacy on-prem to SugarCloud. You will work across two business-critical domains: Adoptions & case management (core operational system of record) and donor management (fundraising, events, and donations). 

You’ll own both proactive development (new features, upgrades) and reactive support (troubleshooting, Sugar support liaison), ensuring SugarCRM runs optimally, securely, and upgrade-safe.

Responsibilities:   

SugarCRM Customization & Development:

• Build and maintain upgrade-safe customizations (modules, logic hooks, dashlets, REST APIs, custom views).
• Configure via Studio, Module Builder, and Metadata framework, adhering to Sugar best practices.
• Apply PHP and JavaScript skills within the Sugar framework (not just generic web dev).

Upgrades & Migrations:

• Lead legacy-to-SugarCloud migrations (v9 → v14+), including code remediation, module compatibility, and regression testing.
• Perform data migrations in collaboration with data engineers, ensuring schema understanding and data integrity.
• Design and execute migration strategies when the standard upgrade path is not viable.

Support & SME Duties:

• Serve as SugarCRM technical SME for Gladney teams and partner developers.
• Troubleshoot and resolve escalations via SugarCRM Support.
• Guide on best practices for customization efficiency and upgrade readiness.

Qualifications

Technical skills: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of SugarCRM core development and customization experience.
• Deep knowledge of Module Loader, Logic Hooks, Beans, Sugar Studio / Metadata framework, REST/API, Upgrade-Safe patterns.
• Well-versed in PHP 8.x, HTML/CSS/JS/Bootstrap.
• Experience with Elasticsearch.
• Skilled in database optimization (MySQL), REST API integrations, and ETL collaboration.
• Knowledge of secure software development best practices in SugarCRM.
• Comfortable with Linux environments, Docker, Git, and CI/CD.

Soft skills:

• Excellent analytical, communication, and English documentation skills.
  
• Able to work through ambiguity in a fast-paced, dynamically changing business environment with minimal supervision.
• Excellent collaboration skills with a desire to learn and teach.
• Excellent understanding of development processes and agile methodologies.
• Enthusiastic, highly motivated, and able to learn quickly.
• A willingness to get your hands dirty - you enjoy a scrappy, entrepreneurial environment where everyone pitches in to get the job done.

Bonus skills: 

• Prior experience moving on-prem SugarCRM to SugarCloud managed hosting, including data and custom code.
• SugarCRM Certified Developer Specialist or Solutions Architect.
• Experience managing environment tuning (web server, PHP, Elasticsearch, MySQL).
• Experience interpreting PHP Info, performance logs, and query explain plans to identify bottlenecks.
• Experience recommending and implementing scaling strategies (multi-web-server setups, database optimization).

Why Upstart13?

• We put people first at Upstart 13! We believe the world is filled with amazing people and we are willing to go to great lengths to seek out others who share our values to join our cause of bringing down borders in technology for people everywhere.
• We develop leaders at Upstart 13, we focus on what matters to do meaningful work, we own our shit, we stay curious, and we understand responsibility leads to
  giving. We do big things together!

Perks:

• Job type: a long-term, full-time job.
• Fully remote.
• USD competitive salary.
• 20+ Paid time off days.

Are you ready to join our cause? Be sure to ask, “Why 13?”