Role Description This is a chance to have a direct hand in building the future of BigFuture, the most widely used college and career planning platform for students. As a Lead Engineer on this team, you are a leader, collaborator, and innovator. - Own the technical direction: Define, document, and communicate the architecture and design patterns for the system or product area. - Work closely with product owners, architects, and designers to translate ideas into solutions. - Raise the bar on code quality, documentation, and sustainable practices including operational readiness and monitoring. - Coach teammates, influence technical decisions, and help simplify complex problems. - Elevate engineering practices, explore emerging technologies like AI, and grow into a trusted technical leader. - Own all phases of prototyping including requirements definition and analysis, application design, coding, reviewing, testing, deploying, and support. - Lead by example through peer collaboration, coaching, and mentoring. Qualifications - 7+ years of professional experience designing, building, testing, and managing scalable web applications in AWS-hosted environments. - 3+ years’ experience building back-end applications using Node (with TypeScript). - Experience with relational and NoSQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redshift, DynamoDB). - Experience building observability for your products (e.g., CloudWatch, X-Ray). - Hands-on experience implementing Generative AI applications (e.g., RAG chatbots, model fine-tuning, or other LLM-powered tools). - Strong knowledge and hands-on experience with back-end technologies such as Node.js. - Experience with asynchronous programming and event-driven messaging patterns. - Strong knowledge of AWS services (e.g., Lambda, SNS, SQS, S3, Step Functions, IAM, KMS, API Gateway, CloudWatch, DynamoDB). - Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments. - Proven ability to mentor and coach less experienced teammates in new technologies. - Strong analytical thinking, structured problem-solving, and practical decision-making skills. - Effective communication and documentation skills. - Proficiency in reviewing and improving code structure and architecture for testability, maintainability, and scalability. - Leadership in the end-to-end design and implementation of user interfaces. - Strong problem-solving skills, working collaboratively with team members. - Proven ability to pitch new ideas and implement improved systems and processes. - Effective communicator and team lead, able to provide actionable feedback. - Bachelor's degree in computer science, or related engineering fields preferred. Requirements - Pay Rate Range: $165k - $175k (Depending on Experience) Benefits - Healthcare Benefits including Medical, Prescription, Vision & Dental Coverage | United Healthcare - Voluntary STD & LTD | New York Life - 401(k) Retirement Planning | Fidelity - Discount Program - *You are Eligible to participate in the benefits program if you are considered a full-time employee of nextSource, working at least 30 hours per week on a consistent basis. Your coverage will be effective on the 1st of the month following 60 days of employment. Company Description nextSource is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, parental status, cultural background, organizational level, work styles, tenure, and life experiences or for any other reason. nextSource is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at talent@nextSource.com.