Lead Engineer

College Board – Technology – Item Cloud Blue

Location: This is a fully remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office).

Type: This is a full-time position 

About the Team

The Item Cloud team is committed to building and driving innovation for internal-facing web applications that support College Board’s core products. Our team consists of 2 small squads, each of which owns a unique, data-intensive, high-impact, single-page web application that represents our internal content creation processes. We own the full stack, from the infrastructure in AWS to the front-end and back-end code deployed there. We build everything serverless, in the cloud, leveraging current technologies and novel techniques to be a force-multiplier for the programs we serve. We are remote, but close-knit. We are strong advocates of work/life balance and flexibility with schedules when needed. We often accomplish our work through paired or mob programming. We are proactive, passionate, and outcome-oriented, putting a premium on quality and efficiency. We use Agile scrum to manage our work and deliver value regularly following a DevOps model. The impact of our efforts as creative problem-solvers and idea-generators leads to innovations and dramatic improvements in College Board’s biggest program applications, serving millions of students to help them take ownership of their future.   

About the Opportunity

The Lead Engineer on our Item Cloud team offers a dynamic and collaborative environment where you'll lead design, implementation, and test high-performance, fault-tolerant serverless and container-based applications in the cloud. You'll be at the forefront of enhancing our search capabilities with OpenSearch, improving the content authoring experience, and advancing our CI/CD processes and documentation practices. The role is ideal for a communicative and approachable technologist who thrives on innovation and continuous learning, and is driven by the challenge of applying cutting-edge cloud-based solutions in an innovative and mission orientated Technology organization. 

In this role, you will: 

Design & Implementation (60%) 

• Design and implement high-quality software using the latest technologies with a focus on building component-based, cost-effective, scalable, and secure solutions using design patterns to improve collaboration with other microservices/apps and promoting code reuse 
• Maintain the highest engineering standards in collaboration with product owners, architects, and stakeholders, in support of our systems and services  
• Understand new product capabilities and decompose the implementation into specific functional changes for verification 
• Build solutions using the best practices of Agile, CI/CD, and DevOps. 

Team Operations & Success (20%) 

• Participate in, or lead Agile SCRUM ceremonies (Sprint Planning, Grooming, Daily SCRUM, Demo) and contribute to team deliverables. 
• Participate and lead peer reviews of software engineering artifacts 
• Assist in the resolution of production issues 
• Adhere to development standards and security policies and procedures  
• Adopt the continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) practice of rapidly implementing, testing, and delivering high-quality code based on the team’s DevOps model 
• Continuously develop the skills required to work as part of the Agile team in a poly-skilled development environment 

Software Solutioning & Design (20%) 

• Develop and maintain a thorough understanding of the customer’s business processes and operations 
• Work closely with Solutions Architect, Lead Engineer and Data Leads evaluating feature requests, providing level-of-effort estimates and contribute to sprint planning 
• Conduct and participates in peer code and design reviews 

About you, you have: 

• 5-8 years of production level software development experience managing the entire lifecycle of features, including design, development, documentation, and deployment, with a focus on clear and accurate interfaces and integrations. 
• Proficiency in reviewing and improving code structure and architecture for testability, maintainability, and scalability, with hands-on experience in JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Node.js, and AWS Serverless technologies. 
• Strong problem-solving skills, working collaboratively with team members to identify and resolve issues, and partnering with Product Owners to prioritize backlog. 
• Proven ability to pitch new ideas and implement improved systems and processes, delivering excellent results. 
• Effective communicator and team lead, able to provide actionable feedback, mentor team members, and participate in interviews to evaluate engineering talent. 
• Ability to travel 3-5 times a year to our NYC or Reston, VA office. 
• Authorization to work in the United States. 

About Our Process   

• Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled   
• While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise such as live coding or whiteboarding sessions, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.    

About Our Benefits and Compensation 

College Board offers a competitive benefits and compensation program that attracts top talent looking to make a difference in education. As a self-sustaining non-profit, we believe in compensating employees equitably in relation to each other, their qualifications, their impact, and the relevant market.  

The hiring range for a new employee in this position is $165,000 - $179,000  

College Board differentiates salaries by location so where you live will narrow the portion of this range in which you can expect a salary.  Your salary will be carefully determined based on your location, relevant experience, the external labor market, and the pay of College Board employees in similar roles. College Board strives to provide our best offer up front based on this criteria.  

Your salary is only one part of all that College Board offers, including but not limited to:    

• A comprehensive package designed to support the well-being of employees and their families and promote education. Our robust benefits package includes health, dental, and vision insurance, generous paid time off, paid parental leave, fertility benefits, pet insurance, tuition assistance, retirement benefits, and more 
• Recognition of exceptional performance through annual bonuses, salary growth over time through market increases, and opportunities for merit raises and promotions based on increased scope of responsibility 
• A job that matters, a team that cares, and a place to learn, innovate and thrive

You can expect to have transparent conversations about benefits and compensation with our recruiters throughout your application process. 

About Our Culture: 

• We are motivated to positively impact the educational and career trajectories of millions of students a year.  
• We prioritize building a diverse and inclusive team where every employee can thrive, and every voice is heard.  
• We value learning and growth; we offer formal and informal ways to lead through your superpowers, sharpen your strengths, and meet your development goals.  
• Our high-performing engineers work with the latest technologies, so you will be constantly learning and sharpening your skills, enabling you to be industry-forward instead of left behind technologically. 

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