Founding Engineer

Company:  Primer
Location: San Francisco
Closing Date: 08/11/2024
Hours: Full Time
Type: Permanent
Job Requirements / Description
About Primer
Fixing our K-12 education system is a civilizationally-important problem. We believe that all of our problems - including the ones that dominate the headlines - are downstream of education.
We have a simple thesis on how to solve it: empower 1,000's of educators to launch microschools in their communities.
We believe the historical tradeoff between price (tuition) and quality is a false dichotomy.
PrimerOS automates and eliminates much of the costs of traditional schools. Microschools have a structural advantage - asset-light real estate - which means much lower capex and opex. You put it together, and you get something that's never existed before: a world-class education that's accessible to normal American families and can rapidly scale.
The software we build powers our Microschools end-to-end. From day one it helps teachers source real estate, recruit students, and provide an (actually) personalized education to every student. It offers rich insights to parents, enables virtual teachers to deliver exceptional experiences, and runs our back-office operations stack. We have a huge surface area to cover and a lot of hard work in front of us.
We're building a small team of exceptional, hands-on engineers to play a critical role in building Primer - and you'll be joining as the second member.
Role overview
We are seeking a talented Founding Full Stack Engineer to join our team. In this role, you will be responsible for helping redesign the school experience around modern technology. You will build features that teachers, students, and families will rely on every day, while solving real-world problems in education.
This role is based in San Francisco and is in office 5x per week.
What you'll do
  • Tech Stack : Work with TypeScript, NodeJS, GraphQL, Prisma, Postgres, NextJS, React, and Relay.
  • Collaborative Environment : You'll work daily with team members from engineering, product, design, and our academic program.
  • Ownership & Growth : Take full ownership of projects and expand your skills. You'll have the opportunity to lead initiatives that shape the entire product, with room to learn and grow along the way.
  • Engineering Culture : Play a key role in setting the foundation for our engineering culture as we grow the team.
  • Collaboration & Quality : While you'll have ownership, collaboration through code reviews is key. We set a high bar for quality, so expect to work hard to deliver excellence.
What we're looking for
  • Passion for Education: You have an unbridled passion for fixing the US education system. This work is incredibly hard. But if we succeed, it will be the most fulfilling work of our lives. On the days and weeks that it feels like we're chewing glass, tthere are only two things that will get you through: a deep passion for fixing this problem, and looking around and seeing a team that shares that passion. We can guarantee the latter, but only you can guarantee the former.
  • Thrives in the Unknown: The unknowns of the early-stage fuel you. You love rolling up your sleeves and figuring out what needs to happen.
  • Engineering Fundamentals: You have a strong grasp of engineering fundamentals and know how to apply them in real-world situations.
  • Pride in Craftsmanship: You take immense pride in your craft. Watching a session replay of a user having a bad experience with product you built makes you sick. Every detail matters.
  • Building from zero: You have experience and love owning a feature or product from idea to live in production with active users.

$130,000 - $160,000 per year plus equity
Benefits : Generous health, dental, vision, and retirement benefits included
If this sounds like you, fill out the application below with a bit about yourself and we'll take it from there! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email us at
Apply Now
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