Swiss VSHNeers working and living in Canada

To train the VSHNeers employed in Canada in the VSHN way and what it means to be VSHNary, we want to have VSHNeers from Switzerland working in Vancouver, Canada. This temporary work opportunity can last between 2 and 5 months. Furthermore, by having experienced engineers on-site allows us to efficiently handle maintenance tasks, incident management and customer support during Canadian office hours. The ultimate goal is to allow your co-workers to have a more relaxed life by taking over nighttime work.

Job and responsibilities

for Swiss VSHNeers in Canada:

  • Train local VSHNeers for operations and other tasks required by the teams

  • Handle maintenance, operations and support during VSHN Canada Office hours

  • Represent VSHN at meetups and other recruiting events

  • Participate in recruiting, especially 1st & 2nd meetings with potential new hires for VSHN Canada

  • Assist to improve processes and tools to work across multiple time zones

  • Actively collaborate with VSHNeers in Switzerland - Meetings can start as early as 7 AM.

Requirements

  • Experienced engineers (at least 1 year with VSHN) who can take over maintenance and troubleshooting without support from Switzerland

  • On-Call onboarding successfully completed

  • Commitment to mentor and teach VSHNeers

  • Team agreement

  • Willingness to take on additional tasks relevant to VSHN Canada

Transition to Working in Canada

To ensure a successful transition to working in Canada, several steps must be taken.

Apply to work in Canada

Follow this process to apply for work in Canada:

  1. Put your name down in the wiki and inform PeopleOps and VSHN Canada

  2. Approximately 3-6 months before the next available slot, VSHN Canada will organize an online meeting with all applicants and PeopleOps to discuss the timeline and applicants.

  3. Obtain approval from your team to be abroad during the planned timeframe.

Approximately 3 months prior to relocating to Canada:

  1. Reorganize your on-call shifts.

  2. Ensure your travel documents are valid and will not expire for at least 6 months beyond your planned stay.

  3. Ensure you have medical and accident coverage in Canada.

  4. Check with PeopleOps to get your intra company transfer work permit.

  5. If your stay is longer than 90 days, fill out and hand in the tax withholding exemption form. PeopleOps and VSHN Canada can help you here.

  6. Ensure you read your Worker Rights in Canada.

Before your departure to Canada:

  1. Make sure all the relevant meetings within your teams are scheduled so you are able to attend.

  2. Complete all the steps from Working from Abroad.

Expenses and travel

Working from Canada is an experience offered by VSHN. We pay for your travels within the limits of our rules for expenses.

TL;DR: You can book a flight and expense the following if not instructed otherwise by PeopleOps:

  • A return flight to Zurich Airport, direct or on a reasonably priced route to Vancouver Airport in economy class including seat reservations in exit rows. Upgrades to Premium Economy, business or higher have to be paid by the VSHNeers themself.

  • Travel from and to the Airport can be expensed under the following rules:

    • Use public transportation (except if the flight lands unplanned after the last or before the first train, then a taxi is ok)

    • From the airport to the office or an equal fare to another place

For each trip to or from Vancouver paid for by VSHN, the VSHNeer can record 8 hours of working time per way in his time sheet.

In addition, VSHN covers the cost of your accommodation while you are assigned to the Vancouver office. As a result of your temporary work location change, you will not be entitled to any additional compensation, such as lunch or overnight pay.

For VSHNeers not employed in Canada and providing OnCall as part of their daily job or while being still part of one of the Swiss rotations, costs for mobile internet can be expenses. We reimburse per 30 days up to 30 CHF (~44 CAD) for mobile internet in Canada. Before traveling to Canada, the VSHNeer has to inform PeopleOps in Switzerland and also get the agreement from VSHN Canada. As with all expenses, a receipt (for example phone bill) has to be handed in to be reimbursed.