Founding Engineer

ABOUT US

Where a child is born determines the quality of their education, which, in turn, has a direct effect on long-term life opportunities. This just doesn’t feel fair. 

KaiPod Learning is on a mission to build a brand new learning model by blending high-quality online education with in-person support. We are creating a network of in-person microschools where students learn at their own pace using a digital curriculum, get in-person academic support from an educator, and socialize with their peers. 

Our students tell us KaiPods are fun and highly effective without the stresses of traditional school; parents tell us they love the chance to choose the right curriculum for their child and have greater visibility into their learning journey.

The name, KaiPod, comes from the Greek word kairos meaning “the right time to act.” After the pandemic, millions of parents are saying this is the right time for them to act and choose a better learning environment for their child. We are the fastest-growing national network of microschools with sites in Arizona, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. Learn more about our company here.

We are backed by YCombinator and several other top venture firms.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We grew 14x after our first year and are poised for even faster growth in the years to come. We plan to support tens of thousands of learners in the next 3-5 years. 

To enable all of that growth, we need to build the technology platform that supports students, parents, educators, and our central team. You will be the first technical hire we make to take us on this journey.

As the Founding Engineer, you will:

• Partner with the CEO and founding team to define the vision for our technology platform. The platform will span student learning, parent communication, customer experience, and company operations.

• Define the front- and back-end technology stack that KaiPod’s web and mobile apps will run on.

• Build end-to-end solutions for the product that will be used by four key personas: students, parents, educators, and the core team.

• Design and implement a flexible data architecture that scales to serve a variety of use cases.

• Create the foundation for a high functioning engineering team and SDLC utilizing modern techniques like CI/CD.

As we build out this functionality, KaiPod will accelerate our investment in technologies such as AI and machine learning to analyze student learning and develop recommendations on how best to impact student achievement.

Your work will directly help transform the lives of tens of thousands of students across our national network. We want you to feel motivated – and maybe even a bit daunted – by this mission and scope.

ABOUT YOU

This is a highly strategic role with a rapidly growing company. We are looking for someone who loves to grab the reins on new problems, thinks creatively about new strategies, and can’t wait to roll up their sleeves and build.

More specifically, we are looking for candidates with:

• 7+ years of experience working across full stack web development

• Experience with front end frameworks, such as React and Next.js

• Experience with modern SQL and NoSQL technologies

• Experienced across DevOps, including setting up and automating cloud providers

• Experience with current software development methods and tools (e.g., Jira)

• Deep understanding of secure code development principles and protecting PII (e.g., student information)

• Experience working with remote development teams

• Early to mid-stage startup experience.

Our team (along with our network of learning locations) is spread across the country. You can choose to live anywhere in the US.