[Hiring] Software Engineer @Straight Arrow

Role Description

We're looking for a Mid-Level Web Software Engineer who brings solid technical chops and a genuine desire to keep growing. This role sits at the intersection of front-end craft, back-end integration, and DevOps awareness. The work is very public-facing - the code you write will be seen by SAN's audience every day, so we care as much about the experience you ship as the systems you help maintain. You’ll be expected to own features end-to-end—from implementation through deployment and monitoring—while contributing to overall system reliability and engineering quality.

If you have a growth mindset, love owning problems end-to-end, and want to work somewhere your contributions actually matter, read on.

What You'll Do

• Build and maintain the SAN.com web ecosystem: You'll work across the full web stack — implementing front-end features, making style and UX improvements, tackling more structural projects, and building API integrations. You'll help ensure the site stays fast, polished, and reliable.
• Strengthen the codebase with testing and CI/CD improvements: You'll help raise the quality floor — writing tests, identifying gaps in coverage, and making improvements to our continuous integration and delivery pipelines. We believe good DevOps habits are part of being a good engineer, and you'll lean into that.
• Collaborate across the engineering team: You'll work with engineers across disciplines to develop cross-platform solutions to shared problems. We're a small team, which means your ideas reach the table quickly and your work doesn't get lost in a queue.
• Delight our users through thoughtful product work: You'll partner with user management initiatives and take on new projects aimed squarely at improving the customer experience. We're customer-obsessed here, and we want you to be too.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience building and shipping customer-facing products
• 3-5 years of experience building websites with WordPress, including theme and plugin development
• 3-5 years of experience expanding site functionality with React
• 2+ years of experience building APIs to power mobile or cross-platform applications

Requirements

• Experience with web performance optimization
• Experience working with user subscription / management systems (such as piano)
• Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG) and compliance practices
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or similar) and CDN configuration
• Experience implementing analytics, feature flags, or experimentation frameworks

Benefits

• End-to-end ownership - you’re invested in your code all the way from local setup to production
• A mission that matters: building technology in service of better journalism
• A small team where bureaucracy is minimal, your work is visible, and your voice carries
• Room to grow — into DevOps, into platform work, into wherever your curiosity takes you