Software Engineer

At CourseStorm, we’re hiring an Engineer, not a coder.

Writing code is no longer the hard part. AI can code faster than any human ever will, and pretending otherwise is a waste of your precious time. Coding is not a scarce skill. Good judgment is. Clear thinking is. Knowing what not to build is. And at CourseStorm we lean into that hard. Your job here is not to prove you can grind out implementations — it’s to design and review architecture, make tradeoffs, and use AI to turn those decisions into reliable, delightful software.

What you’ll actually do

On this Engineering team of 5, everyone works across the entire stack, because a small team with real ownership requires it:

• Design backend logic and APIs
• Configure and maintain servers, background jobs, and databases
• Build and refine front-end experiences that real people love to use daily
• Deploy, monitor, debug, and clean up
• Use AI constantly — to generate code, explore approaches, refactor aggressively, and delete more than you add

There are no lanes to stay in and no handoffs to hide behind. If something feels confusing to a customer, that’s an engineering problem. If a system is brittle or overbuilt, that’s an engineering problem. If AI-generated code is messy, that’s also an engineering problem—and fixing it usually means stepping back and simplifying the design, not adding more.

Our engineering principles

• Start with an oversimplification and work your way toward complexity based only on hard evidence
• Default to precedent, lean on the built-in learning and consistency that provides
• Collaborate early and often when designing new solutions when you recognize that precedent has fallen short
• Limit your technological footprint and invest deeply in the areas where we provide unique value
• Iterate your way there and develop an allergy to "projects with a capital P"
• Be explicit vs. implicit and your future self will thank you
• There are no silver bullets, only lots and lots of lead bullets. The only silver bullet is iteration.

We care far more about your ability to reason clearly, ask good questions, work as a team, and improve systems over time than about your familiarity with a specific framework or tool.

Who tends to thrive here

• Engineers who like working collaboratively within a small, tight-knit team
• People who enjoy working across infrastructure, backend, and UI
• Folks who are comfortable saying “this is too complicated” and working with others to fix it
• Engineers who are excited to build leverage through AI instead of fearing it
• People who want to continually learn and grow
• Those who are responsive and invested in teammates' successes

Who probably won’t

• Specialists
• People who equate craftsmanship with writing lots of bespoke code
• Anyone uncomfortable with responsibility or ambiguity
• Folks who need lots of planning to feel safe
• Engineers who prefer to work alone

We’re looking for an Engineer with several years of professional experience, but who isn’t tied down to a “certain way of doing things”. In this age of AI, the profession is changing rapidly and we’re all adapting to it.

You should have:

• Deep experience working across the stack (backend, frontend, databases, automated testing, and some infrastructure)
• Several years of professional software engineering experience
• An incredibly strong Engineering mindset
• Adaptability and flexibility
• Demonstrated clear thinking and communication
• A passion for eliminating manual work
• An open mind to explore new tools and processes combined with an allergy to incessant pivoting

Nice to have (not required):

• Experience with small teams or startups where responsibility is shared and ambiguity is normal
• Familiarity with web applications that handle payments, user data, or operational workflows
• Experience refactoring or modernizing an existing codebase without breaking the customer experience

CourseStorm provides a competitive benefits package that includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• A healthy and thriving company culture -- you get to work with an amazing team of people who nurture true work+life fit
• Flexible remote position
• Health Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Short-Term Disability Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Retirement Plan
• Paid holidays
• Paid time off -- "Take What You Need", Unlimited Paid Time Off
• Paid professional development
• $1,200 home office budget
• $1,000 / year personal learning stipend: use it to buy books, classes with a friend, videos, etc -- just learn something new!
• Market rate salaries (US)

About CourseStorm

We build e-commerce software for organizations that educate their communities outside of traditional school whether through arts & culture, afterschool camps & classes, or with adults learning new skills.

We’re small (< 20 people total), focused, and intentional. You’ll have room to think and to improve things, but you’ll also be expected to grow and care deeply about the quality and simplicity of what you ship.

We believe that everyone is needed to build a better world through education and we are actively working to hire a diverse staff. The unique experiences, perspectives, and talents of our team members aren’t accessories – they are instrumental to our success and the impact we make. We welcome anyone with an open mind and an open heart to join us on this journey.

CourseStorm is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or national origin.