[Hiring] Senior Software Engineer, Infrastructure @Magpie Literacy

Role Description

We’re seeking an experienced Full Stack - Senior Software Engineer to join our small, mission-driven Platform team. You’ll wear many hats, work across boundaries, and help us build a platform that scales impact—not just traffic.

In this role, you’ll work across the full software development lifecycle, building backend services and frontend experiences that meet every child where they are in their learning journey, while unlocking actionable insights for educators and families.

You’re drawn to missions that matter and think deeply about how the software you build runs in production. You balance pragmatism with curiosity and build for the long term.

The ideal candidate is comfortable moving between application code and infrastructure, whether that means building a new service, defining its AWS resources in Terraform, or troubleshooting an issue in production, with a strong sense of ownership from development through deployment.

What You’ll Do:

• Design and build platform capabilities that deliver reliable, high-value features with safety, precision, and user focus across the frontend, backend, and supporting infrastructure.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and fellow engineers to create new features and improve existing ones.
• Approach the platform as a product: maintain a clear understanding of customer needs, identify friction points, and take ownership of outcomes with metrics-driven decision making (KPIs, OKRs, and North Star metrics).
• Use data to inform decisions, measure impact, and drive improvements through empirical evidence.
• Own features and services across the full lifecycle, from design and implementation through deployment, monitoring, infrastructure, and production support.
• Continuously improve the flow of work from idea to production, using data to identify and remove friction.
• Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code following best practices.
• Build and maintain APIs, and integrate with third-party services.
• Ensure application performance, quality, and responsiveness across platforms.
• Participate in code reviews, testing, and debugging to maintain high-quality deliverables.
• Mentor other engineers and contribute to their growth.
• Participate in architectural decisions and help define technical standards, best practices, and address application and infrastructure concerns.
• Stay up to date with emerging technologies and suggest improvements to enhance development processes.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of full-stack engineering experience, with a track record of building systems, driving engineering standards, and setting technical direction.
• Hands-on experience with AWS and cloud infrastructure, with an understanding of how applications are deployed, secured, monitored, and operated in production.
• Experience with Terraform or another Infrastructure as Code tool as well as understanding of cloud concepts including IAM, compute, storage, and service to service communication.
• Experience building for both internal stakeholders and external users, including complex systems such as authentication, onboarding, or enablement features.
• Experience writing automated tests (unit, integration, and/or end-to-end) as part of normal delivery workflow, with an understanding of how testing supports confident, frequent deployment.
• You’ve led the design or delivery of meaningful systems that improved outcomes for users or teams.
• Startup or early-stage company experience, ideally as a founding engineer, with a strong sense of ownership over what you build.
• A pragmatic approach to tools and technologies, with the ability to explore alternatives and make recommendations to improve systems and processes.

Requirements

• Infrastructure / Backend: Terraform, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), AWS, SQL/NoSQL (Postgres, Mongo, Timestream), Lambda
• Software / Frontend: TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS, React

Benefits

• Salary range of $145,000 - $160,000 per annum
• Competitive medical, dental, vision benefits
• Opportunity to work remotely for a mission-driven company full of change-makers
• Enjoy the freedom of flexible time off to balance work and personal life, ensuring you stay refreshed and productive.
• 401k with 4% guaranteed match
• Work environment that values balance and harmony with a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Opportunity to travel and meet your team members in-person 2x per year

Company Description

At Magpie, your work will directly unlock the great reader in every child. If you’re ready to lead with purpose, build with urgency, and partner with a mission-driven team to solve one of America’s biggest educational challenges — we want to hear from you.

We’re happy to make reasonable accommodations to support accessibility throughout the interview process. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if there’s anything we can do to make your interview more accessible.