Senior full-stack product engineering
Splitting work across several freelancers creates handoff problems. Keeping it with one accountable engineer or small pod protects both quality and pace.
You talk directly to the people writing the code, which keeps architecture decisions close to the implementation.
If that sounds like your situation, Arcode is set up for companies hiring a proven software engineer. End-to-end ownership across React/Next.js, NestJS, databases, and cloud.
What you get
- Scalable web applications
- Clean architecture and APIs
- Performance and accessibility
- Remote-ready collaboration
- One studio accountable for the result
- Design and engineering on the same schedule
- Support available after launch
How engagement works
As your software engineer, we run a shared backlog, design reviews, and engineering sprints, and you keep one point of contact throughout.
- 01
Discover
Goals, constraints, data sources, and success metrics, all settled before we touch architecture or prompts. You see progress on the critical path every week.
- 02
Design
System design, AI/tool boundaries, interface direction, and interaction prototypes. Nothing here waits on a handover between separate teams.
- 03
Build
Modern stack, clean architecture, evaluated AI behavior, and iterative demos you can react to. On software engineering projects we favour practical architecture over trendy defaults.
- 04
Launch
Ship, monitor, harden, and keep improving models, tools, and product after go-live. The work for teams in Melbourne stays tied to the outcome you asked for.
How we build it, and why
The stack is chosen per project, not applied from a template. For software engineer work these are the defaults, and the reason each one is on the list.
- TypeScript
- types across the whole stack, which catches the class of bug that only shows up in production
- Next.js
- server rendering and static generation in one framework, so marketing pages stay fast and app routes stay dynamic
- NestJS
- structure and dependency injection on the backend, which keeps a growing API from turning into a pile of route handlers
- PostgreSQL
- relational integrity for data you cannot afford to get wrong
- AWS
- the services you grow into, once a managed platform stops being enough
What the first weeks look like
- Days 1-3
Context and constraints
Codebase, deploy path, and what "done" means for the software engineering. Short, because the useful version of this is specific.
- Week 1
First shipped slice
Something real goes out in the first week — scalable web applications rather than a setup ticket.
- Weeks 2-6
Build to the milestone
Pull requests, reviews, and weekly demos. You see the work as it happens rather than at a handover meeting.
- Handover
Documented and transferable
Runbooks, architecture notes, and a walkthrough, so the work does not depend on us still being here.
Weighing up your options
There are three realistic ways to get this built. Each is the right answer for someone.
A solo freelancer
Cheapest per hour and fine for a contained task. The risk on software engineering is breadth — one person covering design, backend, infrastructure, and launch usually means one of them is weak, and there is no cover when they are unavailable.
A local agency in Melbourne
Same timezone and a face to meet, which genuinely matters for some teams. You are also paying Melbourne scene needing polished websites and product engineering. rates for the whole team including the layers that never touch your software engineering, and a local shortlist is a small shortlist.
Arcode
A small senior team. The people who scope the software engineering write the code, you get weekly demos instead of status decks, and the engagement ends when the thing is live and handed over.
Work we have shipped
Brain Blog
Frontend · Gatsby · Strapi
Custom Gatsby blog with Strapi CMS, built for fast content publishing and a clean reading experience.
Freelance content product pairing Gatsby performance with Tailwind styling and a Strapi-powered editorial workflow.
- · Gatsby static generation
- · Strapi blog integration
- · Tailwind-driven layout
- · Fast content browsing
Gatsby · Tailwind · Strapi
Dumbiez
Frontend · NFT product
NFT comics platform for exploring and interacting with digital comic collectibles.
Independent Next.js product for browsing and engaging with NFT comics, styled with Tailwind and shipped on Vercel.
- · NFT comics browsing
- · Interactive collectible UX
- · Responsive Next.js UI
- · Vercel deployment
Next.js · React · Tailwind · Vercel
StudioX Localization
Frontend · i18n
UI polish and language translation pages for the StudioX product experience.
Contract contribution implementing UI fixes and localization pages with Next.js, React, and Tailwind to improve accessibility and multi-language use.
- · Language translation pages
- · UI accessibility fixes
- · Next.js page delivery
- · Clearer multi-language UX
Next.js · React · Tailwind
Working with teams in Melbourne
Melbourne scene needing polished websites and product engineering. We work with clients in Melbourne remotely and keep overlapping hours in AEST/AEDT. We usually collaborate in English.
How we work with Melbourne teams
Melbourne is five to six hours ahead of us, giving a real morning-to-afternoon overlap. Most Melbourne clients run a weekly call and rely on written updates in between.
What Melbourne clients usually need
Melbourne work is design-conscious: brand sites and product interfaces where the visual standard is high, alongside membership and subscription platforms for organisations that already have an audience.
Contracts, data, and compliance
We invoice in AUD or USD under Australian Privacy Act obligations. Where a build takes payments, the payment and refund flows get scoped against Australian Consumer Law up front.
