Contract: Lead Software Engineer - Newsela Writing Team

About This Role:

We are seeking a Lead Software Engineer for the Newsela Writing product engineering team. This is an IC-heavy technical leadership role (~50-70% coding) with no direct reports. The Lead Software Engineer owns technical direction, code quality standards, and day-to-day engineering coordination for the writing-app (Next.js, node.js, and Python backends). 

Why You'll Love This Role: 

• Own architecture decisions for the writing-app and evaluate technical trade-offs that balance speed, quality, and maintainability.
• Define and evolve the team's technical standards (coding patterns, testing expectations, dependency management) and drive technical debt reduction alongside feature work.
• Lead triage and technical coordination during incidents. Drive root cause analysis and propose preventive measures. Be the first responder when production issues arise for the writing product.
• Actively drive technical discussions in grooming, planning, standups, and retros. Ensure technical decisions are documented where appropriate.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Review significant PRs and provide substantive feedback, catch architectural issues before they merge, and ensure PRs are appropriately sized and scoped.
• Drive obstacle resolution during sprints - unblock engineers, make technical calls, escalate when needed. Identify and flag risks early.
• Translate between product requirements and technical implementation for the team. Communicate technical status, risks, and trade-offs clearly to the Engineering Manager and stakeholders.
• Leverage AI/LLM-powered workflows and code-generation tools (e.g., Claude Code, Copilot) to stay efficient and productive, with code reviews to ensure quality and security.

About You:

• 5+ years building modern web applications in a SaaS environment, with significant full-stack experience.
• Strong proficiency in React/Next.js (frontend) and Python (backend). Comfortable with database design, API architecture, and frontend state management.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, deployment processes, and monitoring (Datadog or similar).
• Experience with rich text editors, document collaboration, or ProseMirror/similar frameworks is a strong plus.
• Comfort using AI-assisted coding tools (Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor) responsibly with security and license awareness.
• Demonstrated ability to self-direct - picks up work, drives it to completion, and identifies what needs to be done without being told.
• Code review discipline - history of providing substantive, constructive feedback (not just approvals).
• Experience in making technical decisions under ambiguity and communicating the reasoning.
• Strong communication & collaboration skills: active in meetings, clear async writing in Slack/Jira/documentation, comfortable giving and receiving direct technical feedback.

Please note that given the nature of the contract, this role will not be eligible to participate in company-sponsored benefits

About Newsela:

Newsela is a leading education technology company dedicated to meaningful classroom learning for every student. We deliver integrated, AI-powered solutions designed to unlock student engagement, empower teachers, and drive meaningful learning outcomes. Our suite of products supports knowledge and skill development, writing practice, daily instruction, assessment, and data-informed decision-making across K–12 classrooms. Grounded in learning science research, Newsela’s solutions integrate content, assessment, and analytics to help educators track progress, understand student outcomes, and deliver high-impact instruction that supports every learner.

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