Product Engineer (Remote - US CT/ET)

📋 Description

• • As a Product Engineer at Zen Educate, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of education staffing by leveraging engineering excellence to solve real-world problems.
• • This position offers a unique opportunity to make an outsized impact within a small, dynamic team, contributing directly to the company's rapid growth in the US market.
• • You will be instrumental in building and iterating on a platform that connects educators with schools, facilitating efficient and effective staffing solutions.
• • The role emphasizes product thinking, encouraging you to start with the problem, ship solutions quickly, and iterate based on feedback and outcomes.
• • You will collaborate closely with Product Managers and Designers, acting as a partner in problem-solving rather than a passive ticket-taker.
• • A key aspect of this role involves taking ownership of problems end-to-end, from conception and development to deployment and iteration.
• • You will contribute to a culture of daily shipping, helping to refine processes for faster and smaller iterations.
• • Engineers are encouraged to propose and lead "Missions" that align with business objectives, fostering a proactive and entrepreneurial spirit.
• • The role requires a strong focus on real-world outcomes and shared learning, valuing collective success and continuous improvement over individual heroics.
• • You will be part of a distributed engineering team, requiring strong communication skills and proficiency in asynchronous collaboration habits.
• • Zen Educate's platform currently supports internal operations, educators seeking roles via a mobile app, and schools looking for both short-term and long-term educators.
• • The company has a proven track record, having facilitated over $65 million globally for educators and classrooms since 2017.
• • You will contribute to the next phase of platform development, essential for supporting the company's phenomenal growth in the US.
• • The role involves working with a modern tech stack, including Ruby on Rails and React, with opportunities for experimentation in areas like AI and machine learning.
• • Engineers are empowered to "shape problems" rather than just "take tickets," actively contributing to product strategy and direction.
• • You will experience a "choose your own career path" approach, where growth is defined by impact and learning rather than rigid titles or competency grids.
• • Managers act as partners, providing guidance and perspective to foster individual growth and ownership.
• • The company utilizes "Levels" instead of traditional titles (e.g., Senior, Staff) to signify continuous growth and mastery within a role.
• • Compensation changes are directly tied to demonstrated growth and sustained high performance at a given level, reflecting an investment in future contributions.
• • The role requires adaptability and proactiveness, as the company operates in a dynamic environment where "what got us here, won't get us there."
• • You will be encouraged to build relationships quickly and potentially help grow a team around you, especially given the US expansion.
• • The company values curiosity, adaptability, and a problem-solving mindset above specific tool experience.
• • You will be part of a culture that prioritizes balanced, sustainable work, viewing long hours as an indicator of inefficiency rather than a badge of honor.
• • Engineers are encouraged to share their opinions and engage in constructive debate, fostering a diverse and intellectually stimulating environment.
• • The role involves working on a "Mission-based setup," where teams form around specific outcomes, allowing for cross-functional collaboration based on strengths and interests.
• • You will contribute to improving the efficiency of the education staffing process, ultimately leading to more resources for educators and classrooms.
• • The company is committed to "daily shipping" and continuous improvement in its deployment processes.
• • You will have the opportunity to work on diverse projects, from AI-driven initiatives to core platform enhancements and developer experience improvements.
• • The role requires a mindset of "investment over reward," focusing on sustainable great work and its impact.
• • You will be part of a company that values directness, authenticity, and transparency in its communication and hiring practices.
• • The company is actively seeking multiple engineers to support its US expansion, indicating significant opportunities for growth and influence.
• • You will be encouraged to leverage your experience to create leverage and solve complex problems, rather than simply applying existing knowledge.
• • The role is remote within the US CT/ET timezones, facilitating collaboration with teams across different regions.
• • You will contribute to a platform that has already made a substantial financial impact on educators and classrooms globally.
• • The company fosters a culture where engineers are empowered to drive initiatives and influence the product roadmap.
• • You will be part of a team that values measurable outcomes and shared learning, ensuring that work has a tangible impact.
• • The role offers a unique chance to be an early Product Engineer in a rapidly growing US market for the company.
• • You will be expected to take ownership of your own progress and proactively seek unblocking, aligning with the manager's role as a partner rather than a supervisor.
• • The company's approach to hiring is fast-paced, aiming for a quick turnaround from application to offer, followed by robust onboarding.
• • You will be encouraged to "dig through an ambiguous past problem in our codebase" during the technical interview, showcasing problem-solving skills.
• • The interview process includes a "Product thinking" chat, emphasizing the importance of a product-oriented mindset.
• • The final "Role chat" with the CTO and Senior Engineering Manager focuses on your approach to the role and engineering excellence.
• • The company is transparent about its compensation strategy, which is based on market competitiveness and internal equity.
• • You will be part of a team that values "real talk," encouraging open and authentic communication about challenges and successes.
• • The role offers the chance to influence how Zen Educate builds its platform to support future growth.
• • You will be encouraged to "have a point of view, maybe debate a little," contributing to a culture of diverse opinions and respectful discussion.
• • The company is open to hiring great people even if the timing isn't perfect, believing in the power of serendipity.
• • You will be involved in improving developer experience (DevEx) metrics, such as CI pass rates and deployment frequency.
• • The role may involve addressing security vulnerabilities identified through regular red-teaming exercises.
• • You will contribute to the development and maintenance of internal tools, such as database cloning utilities.
• • The company actively evaluates new technologies and approaches, such as AI-powered knowledge bases and matching systems.
• • You will be part of a team that values collaboration and mutual support, aiming for team success and sustainability.
• • The role provides opportunities to work on both backend and frontend aspects of the product, as well as mobile applications.
• • You will contribute to enhancing user interaction tracking through tools like MixPanel to inform product improvements.
• • The company prioritizes keeping its technology stack up-to-date, as demonstrated by efforts to upgrade frameworks like React Native.
• • You will be involved in projects that improve the core functionality and scalability of the Zen Educate platform.
• • The role requires a proactive approach to identifying and solving problems, often with loosely defined initial scopes.
• • You will contribute to building foundational configurations that enhance developer productivity and AI utilization.
• • The company values engineers who can align with Product and Operations to clarify problem statements and shape solutions.
• • You will be part of a team that iterates on solutions to test value quickly and adapt to changing needs.
• • The role involves working on significant system overhauls, such as permissions systems, to enhance security and manageability.
• • You will contribute to building administrative UIs to empower non-technical users.
• • The company emphasizes the importance of audit logging for traceability and security.
• • You will be involved in projects that move the company towards more granular and scoped access controls.
• • The role requires a focus on shipping iterative improvements that deliver value incrementally.
• • You will be part of a team that resets direction when momentum dips, demonstrating resilience and adaptability.
• • The company values engineers who can help shape the initial approach to loosely defined projects.
• • You will contribute to projects that have a direct impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the education staffing market.
• • The role offers a chance to work on a product that has a significant positive social impact by improving education outcomes.
• • You will be part of a company that is well-established in the UK and experiencing rapid growth in the US.
• • The role is ideal for someone who wants to "make an impact on the real world problem of education staffing."