Principal Software Engineer

About Us

Positive Action, Inc. is a U.S.-based education and technology company that produces the Positive Action program, a market leader for effective Social and Emotional Learning for more than 40 years. Our programs have earned prestigious accolades from numerous institutions, including the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Harvard University. The Company has recently released a major software product, Pasela (www.pasela.com), and is executing a dynamic growth strategy as it transitions to a SaaS business model.

We build compelling products designed to reach the hearts and minds of students. The success of our products depends upon teamwork and collaboration. With a unique approach to participatory management, we create a workplace environment where every team member is empowered to make informed decisions. These collective decisions affect students and educators around the world. We recruit professionals who believe in our responsibility to create products and services that are effective and pursue those objectives with dedication and foresight.

Our Approach

With a long tradition of providing the scheduling flexibility and resources necessary to maintain a healthy work-life balance, a career with Positive Action provides the purpose and meaning that we all seek in our professional lives. We understand that the value that we create for our customers is proportional to the commitment of our employees.

Unless specified otherwise, all advertised positions are for permanent, full-time, long-term careers and are not intended for short-term, gig, side-hustle, or moonlighting arrangements.

The Company offers two types of career opportunities: Hybrid and In-Office. Hybrid to us means working remotely most of the time with either quarterly or semi-annual conferences where we come together to review our strategy and objectives in person. In-Office opportunities are exclusively available in Madison, Wisconsin. We will provide generous relocation assistance packages for high-priority positions.

Our Process

We uphold rigorous standards in our candidate selection process, which relies on a systematic approach to evaluating applicants. Upon selection for an initial interview, candidates will have the opportunity to engage directly with a current employee through a Zoom meeting, rather than with an HR Coordinator. Based on the initial discussion, we will compile a shortlist of candidates who will then proceed to two additional interview rounds conducted over Zoom. For senior management roles, an additional in-person interview will be conducted. Should a candidate be chosen for the position, a comprehensive background check will precede any official job offer.

Job Description

The Company is currently recruiting for a Principal Software Engineer who will assume full leadership responsibility for the design and development of a new student assessment product. This survey-like product will be integrated into an existing app that delivers instructional content to teachers. The assessment service is designed to quickly and efficiently facilitate the testing of students in three grade bands: elementary, middle school and high school. Each band has a different UI/UX objective given the differences in student maturity.

The tests are presented in varying Likert-scale formats and are scored across a key that corresponds to the customer’s learning objectives. The resulting data is displayed in graphs at the individual and aggregate level. The data must also be available for quick export for use in other analytical platforms such as SPSS. User identity is provided by federation with an SSO provider, ClassLink.

This initial product satisfies an immediate contract obligation and provides essential experience for building future products. This position would later transition and lead a team to develop the next iteration that enables adaptive learning with a pathway to ai-enabled learning products.

The engineer will lead an existing team of developers with a range of skills from senior to mid-level. The team is multinational, with developers from Europe and Asia.

Work Model

This is a Hybrid position with an opportunity to transition to In Office position but is not mandatory. A 10% salary increase is available for a transition to In Office.

The Company conducts Developer Conferences on a semi-annual basis, or more frequently when necessary. The next Conference is scheduled for April and will be hosted in Istanbul, Turkey. The length of travel is expected to be 10 days.

Tech

Our app is built on a microservices architecture with NestJS. The front end is built on NextJS. Other technical information will be made available after the initial interview.

Salary

The starting range is $230-$250K depending on relevant experience.

Eligibility

This position is available to U.S. Citizens only. Green card or visa holders are not eligible.