Staff Software Engineer (Next.js)

WHO WE ARE: MagicSchool is the premier generative AI platform for teachers. We're just over 2 years old, and more than 6 million teachers from all over the world have joined our platform. Join a top team at a fast growing company that is working towards real social impact. Make an account and try us out at our website and connect with our passionate community on our Wall of Love.

As a Staff Software Engineer, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the technical foundation of MagicSchool. This is a high-impact individual contributor (IC) role where you’ll take end-to-end ownership of complex features and systems, influence architecture decisions, and mentor engineers to raise the bar for technical excellence across the organization.

We are hiring a Staff Engineer to join different focus areas, including:

• Platform & APIs (core services, integrations, internal tooling)

• Product Engineering (teacher-facing experiences, new features)

• Data & Analytics (data infrastructure, performance, and insights)

If you are passionate about building resilient, scalable systems, leading projects from idea to production, and influencing engineering culture at scale, this role is for you.

• Technical Leadership – Lead complex projects and make high-leverage architectural decisions that balance speed, quality, and scalability.

• Next.js Standards & Team Enablement – Define Next.js best practices. Upskill team through code reviews and pairing on modern patterns and Vercel platform features.

• End-to-End Delivery – Own features or systems from design to deployment, ensuring they integrate cleanly with our architecture.

• Platform Development & Next.js Excellence – Build core APIs and services. Set Next.js architecture patterns and Vercel deployment standards. Drive adoption of App Router, Server Components, and edge optimization.

• Code Quality & Performance – Write clean, maintainable, well-tested code while driving best practices for reliability and performance.

• Mentorship & Collaboration – Coach engineers, share knowledge, and influence technical direction across teams.

• Cross-Functional Partnership – Work closely with product managers, designers, and other stakeholders to deliver the right solutions, the right way.

• Continuous Improvement – Help shape our engineering culture, improve processes, and identify opportunities to make development faster and safer.

• Proficiency in Our Stack – TypeScript, Node.js, PostgreSQL, React. Required: Expert-level Next.js and Vercel experience. Supabase a plus. Bonus: Python, BigQuery.

• Deep Technical Expertise – Strong experience in building scalable applications and APIs.

• Experience Level – 7+ years in software engineering (with at least 2+ years in a senior or staff role). Startup or high-growth experience is a plus.

• Architectural Thinking – Ability to design and evolve systems for long-term maintainability and growth.

• Leadership Without Authority – Track record of influencing technical direction and mentoring engineers.

• Bias for Impact – Comfortable balancing speed and quality to deliver user value quickly.

• Adaptability & Curiosity – Thrives in ambiguity, learns fast, and constantly seeks to improve.

• Strong Communication & Collaboration – Emotionally intelligent, clear communicator, and a team player.

• Experience with cloud-native architectures, distributed systems, or multi-tenant SaaS.

• Experience scaling Next.js on Vercel: build optimization, caching strategies, edge functions.

• Familiarity with observability practices (logging, monitoring, alerting) and secure development practices.

• Exposure to data engineering, analytics platforms, or ML/AI products.

Why Join Us?

• Work on cutting-edge AI technology that directly impacts educators and students.

• Join a mission-driven team passionate about making education more efficient and equitable.

• Flexibility of working from home, while fostering a unique culture built on relationships, trust, communication, and collaboration with our team - no matter where they live.

• For full time employees:

• Unlimited time off to empower our employees to manage their work-life balance. We work hard for our teachers and users, and encourage our employees to rest and take the time they need.

• Choice of employer-paid health insurance plans so that you can take care of yourself and your family. Dental and vision are also offered at very low premiums.

• Every employee is offered generous stock options, vested over 4 years.

• 401k match & monthly wellness stipend.

Our Values:

• Educators are Magic:  Educators are the most important ingredient in the educational process - they are the magic, not the AI. Trust them, empower them, and put them at the center of leading change in service of students and families.

• Joy and Magic: Bring joy and magic into every learning experience - push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI.

• Community:  Foster community that supports one another during a time of rapid technological change. Listen to them and serve their needs.

• Innovation:  The education system is outdated and in need of innovation and change - AI is an opportunity to bring equity, access, and serve the individual needs of students better than we ever have before.

• Responsibility: Put responsibility and safety at the forefront of the technological change that AI is bringing to education.

• Diversity: Diversity of thought, perspectives, and backgrounds helps us serve the wide audience of educators and students around the world.

• Excellence:  Educators and students deserve the best - and we strive for the highest quality in everything we do.