Staff Software Engineer (Remote)

Remote-US, Remote-CAN

The Company

Outschool's mission is to inspire kids to love learning. We achieve this by linking learning to kids’ interests, connecting them with other classmates who share their passions, and giving them the autonomy to pick their own paths. Our small group classes meet over live video chat with teachers who celebrate their unique strengths and empower all learners to develop confidence and a strong sense of self.

We're also focused on removing barriers for historically underserved learners who face systemic challenges to their success. Outschool.org is a nonprofit that partners with homeschooling co-ops, community-based organizations, and schools across the U.S. to provide marginalized communities with access to virtual and hybrid learning experiences.

We believe that diversity drives learning. To meet our mission, we encourage, support, and celebrate different ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds. As a fully distributed (remote) team, we challenge one another to find the most effective way to empower learners, teachers, and parents. Your name, race, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, and age are not barriers; they are why we want to work with you. We invite talented and creative candidates who value the importance of nurturing a child's boundless curiosity to join us on this journey.

The pandemic has been challenging for families all over the globe. We acted quickly and worked together to provide quality resources to learners, parents, and teachers in the past year. As communities worldwide rethink their approach to education, Outschool will continue to innovate and provide kids with unique opportunities to explore their passions.

Outschool has been named Fast Company’s most innovative EdTech company in the world, and one of the top ten best startups for women from Elpha. Outschool has also been one of BuiltIn’s Best Remote Places to Work for the last two years and has appeared on Y Combinator’s Top Companies list for the last three years. 

The Role

Join our dynamic Growth team at Outschool, where your role as an experienced engineer will be crucial in shaping the future of education. You'll have the unique opportunity to design and develop systems that are transformative, not just functional.

After our 15x scale-up during COVID-19, your expertise will be vital in steering Outschool’s continued growth. Our team thrived amidst unprecedented challenges, thanks to intentional development and scalable systems that effectively served learners. Now, as we move forward, your technical leadership will be essential in navigating and mastering new challenges.

Your role goes beyond overseeing technical aspects; it's about making a lasting impact. You'll engage in strategic decision-making while ensuring operational excellence and fostering a culture of technical consistency and clarity. This position is more than just a job; it's an opportunity to amplify your influence and propel the engineering organization to new heights.

As part of the Growth team, you'll lead the development of server-side rendering (SSR) and innovative experiments, directly enhancing the experience for parents and learners. We're not just building software; we're creating an ecosystem that offers the best possible learning experience.

This role is perfect for someone who has excelled as a staff engineer in a high-growth startup, it offers the chance to step into a leadership position that is both challenging and deeply rewarding. Join us in our mission to revolutionize learning and make a significant impact on future generations.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Evolution of our server side rendering stack built with Next.js to with an eye towards maintaining Outschool’s good SEO standing
• Develop, monitor, and assist in the analysis of experiments, ensuring effective iteration and optimization of processes and strategies
• Develop features focused on new user acquisition, creating innovative solutions and enhancements to attract and engage a broader audience
• Provide domain expertise around front end performance, stewarding of latency metrics
• Design of our CDN caching strategy for client and server side stack
• Provide domain expertise and engineering insight to guide designs, accelerate project decision making, and maintain oversight of technical execution
• Bring industry-wide perspective, knowledge of existing resources and tools, and ability to discover new ones as needed in order to make effective build/buy recommendations
• Mentor and guide junior and senior engineers, fostering their growth and development, and providing them with the necessary support and resources to excel in their roles

DESIRED EXPERIENCE & SKILLS:

• Over 10 years of experience building software applications at scale
• Strong communication skills both spoken and written, experience communicating with product managers and data scientists
• Has a deep expertise in some core aspects of our stack: modern JavaScript/TypeScript: React, Next.JS, GraphQL/Apollo, Node/Express backed by PostgreSQL
• Proven expertise in developing and managing server-side rendered applications, demonstrating a deep understanding of backend-to-frontend integration and optimization
• Experience in integrating and optimizing server-rendered React applications with usage of a CDN
• Strong background in utilizing A/B testing frameworks, with a focus on data-driven decision making and optimizing user experience through iterative testing and analysis
• Proven expertise in orchestrating and managing large-scale experiments, demonstrating a strong ability to design, implement, and oversee extensive experimental processes that yield impactful insights and drive significant outcomes
• Proficient in utilizing data tracking tools for capturing and analyzing user interactions, enabling data-informed strategies to enhance user engagement and product development
• Experience in working on new user acquisition through the development and optimization of landing pages, focusing on engaging design and targeted content to convert visitors into active users
• Demonstrated leadership in guiding and nurturing the professional growth of both junior and senior engineering teams, showcasing exceptional skills in mentorship, technical leadership, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation
• Experience in project management, including planning, execution, and delivery of complex engineering projects that have added tremendous business value

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

• Previous work at high-growth startups
• Experience in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, with a demonstrated ability to enhance website visibility, improve search rankings, and drive organic traffic through effective SEO practices
• Previous experience working on growth teams
• Experience evangelizing good performance practices via conferences or blog posts
• Previous work in Ed Tech companies

Outschool recruits across the US and Canada, and sets employee salaries to reflect local compensation and cost of living. For New York and California candidates, as well as candidates based in Seattle, WA the salary range for this role would be $185,000 - $245,000.

For Washington candidates outside of Seattle, as well as Colorado candidates, the salary range for this role would be $166,500 - $220,500.

#LI-Remote

#BI-Remote

OUTSCHOOL CARES:

At Outschool, we believe that taking care of one another enables us to do our best work. To us that means:

•Shared Financial Success: Competitive salaries, stock options, and investment plans that make saving for retirement easier.

•Health & Wellness: Comprehensive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance coverage options for employees and their families. Our medical benefits include fertility and family planning coverage. We also provide employees with online access to coaching and therapy sessions through our partner, ModernHealth. 

•PTO & Family Benefits: PTO and family leave enable our team to take the time that we need to recharge, relax, and spend time with family and friends. 

•Fully Distributed: With a team distributed across the US and Canada, we create a remote culture through expensable meals, virtual events, expensable home office setup, and internet allowance.

•Lifelong Learners: Annual budgets to self-direct our professional development as well as DEI learning. There’s also a budget for employees’ learners to take classes on Outschool! 

•Community Impact: Outschool matches employee donations to established charities and has committed to support Outschool.org’s non-profit programs.

Outschool is an equal opportunity employer. We view diversity as a moral imperative and competitive advantage. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We plan and structure our interviews to directly assess skills and experience. 

Outschool is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to neurodiverse individuals, applicants with physical and mental disabilities, and disabled veterans. For individuals who would like to request an accommodation, you may reach out to us at recruiting@outschool.com or through your Recruiting point of contact as you schedule your initial interview.

Benefits packages are included for full-time employees only.

Full-time employees must be a citizen or legal residents of the U.S. or Canada and reside in U.S. or Canada.

Once you submit your application, Outschool will process your personal data to evaluate your candidacy for employment. Unless specifically indicated otherwise, we hire employees only in the U.S. and Canada. Applicants else where should be aware that we may discard your application upon submission or we may ask if you would like us to retain it later should there be consideration (this is not typical at all). If you are selected for interviewing, your data will be shared with interviewers and personnel involved in that process. If not hired, your application will be retained for one year in case there is another suitable role. You may opt out of this at any time. Please see our Employee/Applicant Privacy Notice for more detailed information. If applicable, as you progress through the process, we will be clear about what information is being asked for and what happens with that information.