Software Product Generalist

About Cobalt

Cobalt is a growing software development company and Microsoft Dynamics 365 (formerly Microsoft Dynamics CRM) partner with a track record of providing quality custom software solutions to our clients. Cobalt focuses on building custom solutions on the Dynamics platform and specializes in guiding clients through the full software development project life cycle from project initiation, planning and kick-off, the implementation phase, and finally through the training and end user adoption and support process. Additionally, we recently launched Migration Dynamics, aimed at helping other Microsoft partners and clients migrate to Microsoft’s cloud offerings.

Cobalt hires talented, motivated people who like to see the results of their work, develop their own skills, and strive to grow the company. This is a full-time position averaging 45 hours per week, based at our headquarters in Crystal City (Arlington), Virginia, where employees are expected to work onsite in our office in order to help encourage teamwork and collaboration. Candidates should expect to travel up to 5%, mostly local.

The “Tour of Duty”

We currently have an opening for a Software Product Generalist- an exciting position that offers candidates a chance to immerse themselves in Cobalt’s Consulting, Support and Marketing departments. This is a two-year rotational “Tour of Duty”, which will be broken into 8-month segments in each of the three departments. The term “Tour of Duty” and its structure come from the book “The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age” by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh.

The ideal candidate would be new to the job market and interested in software but wants to figure out exactly where in a software development company they belong. The focus of this position is learning: learning about Cobalt, a small, high tech company, learning about software development, and learning about the candidate’s interests and strengths in the software industry.

Part 1: Project Management

The first part of the Tour will begin in our Consulting department working alongside our talented Project Managers on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Cobalt’s products and processes. Part 1 will begin with an intensive training course, in which the candidate will learn about software project implementation and the project management process.

Skills Gained from this Phase of the Tour:

• Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
• Agile software development and Scrum methodology
• Quality Assurance (QA) testing
• Software configuration

Part 2: Client Support

For the second part of their Tour the candidate will transition to our Support department. There they will work closely with our extremely knowledgeable Software Support Specialists, getting to know our clients, their businesses and how they use the different Cobalt products.

Skills Gained from this Phase of the Tour:

• Customer service
• End user support & training
• In-depth product knowledge

Part 3: Product Marketing

The third and final portion of the Tour will be within Cobalt’s Marketing department. After spending 16 months getting to know our products, processes and clients, the candidate will have gained the unique in-depth knowledge base to help market our products and services.

Skills Gained from this Phase of the Tour:

• Conducting product-specific webinars & video content
• Blog post creation
• Website content creation and management

After the “Tour of Duty”

After two years of mastering the different functions of each department, the candidate will have a good understanding of who we are as a company and what we do, as well as understanding their own personal interests as it pertains to their career path in software development. The end of this three-part “Tour of Duty” will mark the end of the candidate’s time in the position. Candidates will have the opportunity to either continue their career at Cobalt based on their interests, what they have learned about each department, and their performance in each of the three parts of their Tour, or continue their career elsewhere, taking the comprehensive training and knowledge they gained from Cobalt with them.

Required Qualifications

• An interest in technology, particularly software development
• A Bachelor’s Degree or higher
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Fluency in English
• Ability to work in the U.S. without sponsorship

Benefits & Compensation

Cobalt provides all employees with medical, vision, dental, life and disability insurance, a 401k plan with employer matching, and free parking. We host multiple events for our employees each year including quarterly events, a holiday party, and a company retreat.

Total annual compensation for this position:

• Year 1: $60,000
• Year 2: $65,000