Software Engineer

Location

Chicago, IL | United States

Job description

Job Title: Software Engineer

Team: Systems

Location: In-Person in Chicago (IL)

Employment Type: Full-time

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Start Date: ASAP

About Braven

We believe that the next generation of leaders will emerge from everywhere. We empower promising college students with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact.

Learn more about Braven’s impact:

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Software Engineer who will focus on the user experience to have a real impact on students’ lives. We want students using our platform to feel empowered, connected, and engaged. To accomplish this, we aggressively prioritize which projects we work on, aiming to provide the most value in the simplest way possible. We constantly iterate to improve our services as we see what works and what doesn’t. We’re agile and we like to have fun!

You will play a crucial role in our mission: prototyping new features, helping peers grow through code reviews, and learning new technologies. Braven is entering an exciting growth phase in which we need to balance agility to develop new features against discipline to ensure we use software engineering best practices. 

This role is on the Systems team and reports directly to the Managing Director, Software Engineering.

What You’ll Do

• Focus on full-stack project initiatives (90%)
• Work primarily in Ruby on Rails or Python, demonstrating proficiency and an understanding of the framework.
• Innovate and solve problems creatively, enhancing technological capabilities.
• Take ownership of well-scoped tasks and reliably finish them at a high quality.
• Use knowledge of software engineering best practices to transform our processes, systems, and code to be more robust and maintainable
• Keep the end-user front and center in everything you do - elegant code is great, but real impact on students’ lives is better
• Innovate and solve problems creatively, enhancing technological capabilities.
• Improve the team via reviews, documentation, and cross-functional communication (10%)
• Provide feedback on colleagues’ code and architecture proposals
• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior engineers, fostering a culture of learning and growth.
• Document architectures, design decisions, and protocols, maintaining clear and accessible records for future reference.
• Actively participate in weekly scrum meetings and sprints.
• Stay informed about industry trends, security best practices, and compliance requirements, ensuring the team's work aligns with current standards.
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in related technical field or 3+ years of technical training
• 3+ years of software engineering experience 

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with web frameworks like React, ensuring versatility in full-stack development.
• Skilled in various software development areas, including backend, frontend and database design, with experience in technologies like BigQuery, PostgreSQL, and version control tools like Git.
• Proficient in project management, capable of prioritizing tasks effectively, paying attention to detail, and making informed decisions independently when needed.
• Adaptability is demonstrated through a willingness to engage in diverse tasks, maintaining a solutions-focused approach amidst changing priorities.
• Exceptional communication skills, capable of effectively managing stakeholders and bridging the gap between technical and non-technical teams.
• Strong mentoring skills, fostering a culture of learning and growth, with a focus on equity and inclusion.
• Personal attributes of emotional intelligence, autonomy, empathy, and the ability to maintain composure in challenging situations, emphasizing a proactive, forward-looking approach in software development.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion.
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values.
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population.

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in Chicago (IL) 3 days per week

• Travel 2-3 times per year

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof of such by the date of hire. Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons.

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Take Home & Interview with Hiring Manager
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Benefits

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this position, which depends on prior work experience and our assessment of your demonstrated fit for the role, will likely be between $83,000 - $103,000. Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking. You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Location

We gather in the office 3 days per week and work remotely 2 days per week. Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of Chicago. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

At Braven, we are committed to attracting, engaging, developing, and retaining a diverse team. Braven operates in the context of our American culture, against the backdrop of systemic racism and oppression of marginalized people since our country’s founding. We are committed to assembling leaders at our organization who have emerged from everywhere, with a particular emphasis on those who share the racial and income backgrounds of our Fellows, and creating an inclusive culture that allows all teammates, of all experiences and identities, to thrive.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor. We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.

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Salary