Software Engineer

Overview

Khan Academy is looking for passionate software developers to help change education – join us on our mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

We’re fun, quirky people that come from a variety of backgrounds. Our team includes people from Google, Apple, Facebook, Mozilla, Microsoft, Pixar, Fog Creek, and tiny startups. Khan Academy attracts talent from some of the top organizations in the Bay Area; our team includes individuals who attended private universities and community colleges, as well as folks who didn’t graduate from college. Together, we’re a small but strong team, deeply invested in your future.

What you’ll build: 

Our developers take on world-changing challenges – some of which have never been solved before. Examples of things we’ve worked on include:

• Building innovative new ways to teach computer science
• Designing a machine learning model to optimize a student’s learning path
• Running A/B tests to make sure all our changes help people learn (not just increase page views)
• Designing tools to help us (and others) build accessible software
• Experimenting with new technologies to improve site performance

Our tools: 

• Python, JavaScript (React, Redux), Google App Engine, Swift, Objective-C, and we adopt new technologies when they’ll help us better achieve our goals
• We’re not dedicated to using a specific technology – we’re dedicated to providing an incredible experience for Khan Academy learners

You need:

• Excitement about helping Khan Academy bring a free, world-class education to the world.
• Eagerness to learn, educate, write code, and build products used by millions of learners and teachers.
• Experience writing code. You’ll join us in writing clean, maintainable software that solves hard problems. You’ll push the team and the mission forward with your contributions. We look for people who are strong communicators, who are thoughtful about their work, and who enjoy giving and receiving feedback.
• Empathy for learners around the world. You love learning and are excited about helping others learn to love learning. You’re motivated to learn new things and share what you learn with the world.

You don’t need: 

• 15 years’ experience with React/Redux. Actually, we don’t require experience in any particular technology. Our commitment to on-boarding and mentorship means you won’t be left in the dark as you learn new technologies.

We offer the following benefits:

We may be a non-profit, but we reward our team well!

• The opportunity to improve real lives, solve hard problems, and change the world.
• Competitive salaries and annual bonuses.
• Ample paid time off as needed. We’ll support you in maintaining a healthy life-work balance.
• Delicious catered lunch every day, plus tons of snacks and beverages.
• An inclusive, excited, and friendly team that trusts you and gives you the freedom to be brilliant.
• A great location – we’re only 0.5 miles from the Caltrain and downtown Mountain View. We also pay for remote employees to fly out a few times a year, and our San Francisco dwellers are encouraged to work from home a few days a week to save the commute time.
• Awesome team events and weekly board game nights.
• Oh, and we offer all those other typical benefits as well: 401(k) + 4% matching & comprehensive insurance including medical, dental, vision, and life.

How to apply:

• Attach your resume below
• Address the following prompt in the space provided below: At Khan Academy, we believe that reaching all learners requires an engineering team that is diverse in every respect, and we are looking for individuals who will help us fulfill our mission by adding to the diversity of our team’s experiences, perspectives, and mindsets. With that in mind, tell us briefly how your experiences and perspectives— whether personal, professional, academic, or otherwise— could contribute to the diversity of our team.

Optional:

• Links to projects (we really like these, but they are not a requirement). We especially like living, breathing projects, demos, or commentaries on your work. Please don’t just send code – show or tell us why you wrote it, what it’s for, what you like about it, how it helps someone, etc. No project is too small if it’s something you care about. If you’re feeling especially creative feel free to include a link to a project that you’ve built on our programming platform.
• If you’d like to provide a more traditional cover letter addressing your interest in KA (in addition to the diversity-based response), please feel free to attach that below.

To learn more about our work:

• Data Science team blog
• Sal’s TED talk
• KA Engineering team blog
• Former lead engineering manager Ben Kamens’s blog
• Our team
• What our learners have to say about Khan Academy

As an organization and as individuals, we are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, pregnancy, medical conditions, genetic information, disability, or Veteran status. We strongly encourage all candidates to complete the EEOC questions below so that we can continue to monitor our processes and ensure we are creating an environment that allows candidates to feel comfortable and display their best selves across many lines of difference.

Finally, if you feel under-qualified, remember that we’ve all been there too. Here are some great posts on building up the courage and skills to apply for your dream job, from awesome people who have worked at KA:

• Courage
• Skills