Founding Senior Software Engineer, Developer Experience team

About the role

At ClassDojo, our mission is to education for children around the globe by fostering better communication among teachers, students, and their families. As a Senior Software Engineer on the Developer Experience team, you will play a role in developing tools and workflows that significantly enhance the productivity of our engineering teams. This position provides a unique opportunity to shape the developer experience from its inception, working collaboratively with various teams to optimize software delivery processes.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Architect and implement internal platforms and tools that streamline the software development lifecycle, including stages like testing, code review, deployment, and application operation.
• Analyze and identify critical areas for investment in platform development that can enhance overall productivity for the engineering team while minimizing development friction.
• Design AI-driven workflows that assist engineers in efficiently writing, reviewing, and deploying code, all while maintaining high standards of security and quality.
• Collaborate closely with product engineering, infrastructure, and security teams to understand their challenges and prioritize solutions that effectively address their needs.
• Create reusable tools and comprehensive documentation that support intuitive and reliable engineering practices across the organization.
• Monitor and evaluate metrics and feedback to continuously improve the developer experience, focusing on delivering meaningful outcomes.
• Contribute to the foundational elements of the Developer Experience Engineering team, helping to shape its technical direction and establish best practices.
• Foster a culture of collaboration and trust, ensuring that the team operates effectively and efficiently in a supportive environment.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of experience in developing production software within contemporary engineering environments.
• A problem-solving mindset that focuses on broad engineering challenges rather than solely product-specific issues.
• Strong understanding of product engineering principles, even when engaged in internal platform development.
• Demonstrated technical judgment in determining when to create new solutions versus leveraging existing ones.
• Comfort with ambiguity and a proactive approach to establishing a new engineering team.
• Ability to cultivate trust through collaboration rather than relying solely on authority.
• A commitment to engineering excellence, maintainability, and the long-term sustainability of platforms.
• A practical approach to utilizing AI as a tool to enhance engineering effectiveness.
• A focus on measuring success based on the positive impact of your contributions on fellow engineers and the overall team.

Nice to have

• Previous experience with Developer Experience or Platform Engineering teams.
• Background in creating internal platforms or initiatives aimed at boosting engineering productivity.
• Familiarity with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD), release engineering, or software delivery systems.
• Knowledge of AI-assisted software development practices or developer tooling.
• Understanding of frameworks for measuring engineering productivity, such as DORA or SPACE.
• Experience in fast-paced engineering environments where platform improvements had a significant impact on productivity.

Skills & tools

• Proficiency in modern programming languages and frameworks commonly used in software development.
• Familiarity with cloud services and infrastructure management tools.
• Experience with version control systems, particularly Git.
• Knowledge of software testing methodologies and tools.
• Understanding of security best practices in software development.
• Familiarity with Agile methodologies and project management tools.

Practical notes

ClassDojo is dedicated to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals, regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or veteran status. We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. We are also open to accommodating disabilities or special needs. As a distributed company, we welcome applicants from diverse locations, provided they can work significant hours that overlap with one of the Americas time zones.

Compensation for this role is determined based on various factors, including location, experience, and skill set.