Magpie Literacy

• Design and build platform capabilities that deliver reliable, high-value features with safety, precision, and user focus. • 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. • Take ownership across all phases of development, from design to production, and monitor system performance in live environments. • 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. • Contribute to architectural decisions and help define technical standards and best practices. • Stay up to date with emerging technologies and suggest improvements to enhance development processes.

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 design and build the core systems that power Magpie’s learning experiences, from scalable backend services to intuitive front-end interfaces and reliable data pipelines. You’ll help create 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. You think deeply about the systems behind learning, not just the code. You balance pragmatism with curiosity and build for the long term. The ideal candidate pairs strong technical execution with deep empathy for users, thrives in a collaborative startup environment, and is motivated by the opportunity to make reading joyful and accessible for all. What You’ll Do: - Design and build platform capabilities that deliver reliable, high-value features with safety, precision, and user focus. - 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. - Take ownership across all phases of development, from design to production, and monitor system performance in live environments. - 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. - Contribute to architectural decisions and help define technical standards and best practices. - 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. - 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. - Hands-on experience with event-driven architecture, system integrations, and content management platforms. - 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. Tech Stack - Infrastructure / Backend: Terraform, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), AWS, SQL/NoSQL (Postgres, Mongo, Timestream), Lambda - Software / Frontend: TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS, React What Success Looks Like - You consistently drive progress—enhancing our systems, sharing knowledge, and delivering meaningful results. - You take initiative, spot and solve problems early, and bring creative solutions to the table. - You elevate those around you through mentorship, collaboration, and communication. - You directly contribute to Magpie’s mission: making reading joyful, accessible, and transformative for every child. 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 Join Us 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.

• Design and build core gameplay architecture that is reliable, testable, and scalable (game states, core loop, progression, input, UI flow). • Build and iterate on novel game components and reusable systems (animation/state machines, interaction systems, dialogue/tutorial systems, level/puzzle frameworks). • Collaborate closely with product managers, learning designers, and fellow engineers to create new gameplay experiences and improve existing ones. • Integrate with backend / live game services for personalization and persistence (APIs, data flows, offline/online resilience). • Approach the games as products: understand learner and educator needs, identify friction, and take ownership of outcomes with metrics-informed decision making. • Take ownership across all phases of development, from design to production, and monitor performance in live environments (especially WebGL). • Implement a pragmatic automated testing strategy: unit tests + integration tests tied to game states, services, and core systems. • Drive playtesting loops: instrument builds for fast feedback, triage issues, ship fixes, and improve stability. • Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code following best practices. • Ensure application performance, quality, and responsiveness across platforms (Chromebook-friendly, web constraints). • Participate in code reviews, testing, and debugging to maintain high-quality deliverables. • Mentor other engineers and contribute to their growth. • Contribute to architectural decisions and help define technical standards and best practices. • Stay up to date with emerging technologies and suggest improvements to enhance development processes.

About Magpie At Magpie, we envision a world where every child, no matter their background, becomes a confident reader. Our nonprofit team combines research-backed instruction, joyful game design, and innovative technology to tackle America’s reading crisis head-on — with the goal of eradicating illiteracy through a digital-first, student-centered approach. Role Summary We’re seeking a pragmatic, mission-driven Senior Unity Developer to join our small, high-ownership team building Magpie’s next generation of learning games. You’ll wear many hats, work across boundaries, and lead two games from inception through alpha-ready delivery—shipping clear, consistent milestones along the way. In this role, you’ll design and deliver the core gameplay systems that power joyful, effective reading experiences for students. You’ll work cross-functionally with Product, Learning Design, and Engineering to turn learning specifications into engaging gameplay, and you’ll own quality and performance—especially for web delivery (Chromebook-friendly). You’re drawn to missions that matter. You think deeply about the systems behind learning, not just the visuals. You balance pragmatism with curiosity and build for the long term. The ideal candidate pairs strong technical execution with deep empathy for users, thrives in a collaborative startup environment, and is motivated by the opportunity to make reading joyful and accessible for all. What You’ll Do: - Design and build core gameplay architecture that is reliable, testable, and scalable (game states, core loop, progression, input, UI flow). - Build and iterate on novel game components and reusable systems (animation/state machines, interaction systems, dialogue/tutorial systems, level/puzzle frameworks). - Collaborate closely with product managers, learning designers, and fellow engineers to create new gameplay experiences and improve existing ones. - Integrate with backend / live game services for personalization and persistence (APIs, data flows, offline/online resilience). - Approach the games as products: understand learner and educator needs, identify friction, and take ownership of outcomes with metrics-informed decision making. - Take ownership across all phases of development, from design to production, and monitor performance in live environments (especially WebGL). - Implement a pragmatic automated testing strategy: unit tests + integration tests tied to game states, services, and core systems. - Drive playtesting loops: instrument builds for fast feedback, triage issues, ship fixes, and improve stability. - Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code following best practices. - Ensure application performance, quality, and responsiveness across platforms (Chromebook-friendly, web constraints). - Participate in code reviews, testing, and debugging to maintain high-quality deliverables. - Mentor other engineers and contribute to their growth. - Contribute to architectural decisions and help define technical standards and best practices. - Stay up to date with emerging technologies and suggest improvements to enhance development processes.