Senior Software Engineer

Company Description

About the Organization 

KIPP Public Schools is a national network of tuition-free public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 278 schools, nearly 16,500 educators, and nearly 190,000 students and alumni.    

Our mission: Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world. 

Our vision: Every child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities. 

The KIPP Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports KIPP schools across the country. The KIPP Foundation trains and develops outstanding educators to lead KIPP public schools; provides tools, resources and training for excellent teaching and learning; promotes innovation; and facilitates the exchange of insights and ideas across KIPP and other public schools and organizations. 

About Our Values: 

Excellent Results for Students: We value results over effort and know that our work is not finished until all students thrive.  

Collective Impact: We are one team. We win together. 

Courageous Action: Our belief in what we can achieve is unwavering, fueling our optimism and commitment to overcome any challenge.

Job Description

About The Position 

As a Senior Software Engineer at KIPP, you will play a critical role within the Application Development team, which is responsible for the development and support of custom-built applications, as well as the integration of products and solutions developed by external vendors. You will be deeply involved in designing and developing applications that directly impact the education and success of thousands of students across the country, while overseeing the integration of systems to ensure seamless data flow across the organization. This role also comes with responsibility for application support, ensuring the ongoing functionality and stability of systems. 

In this position, you will collaborate closely with KIPP Foundation stakeholders and internal teams to deliver innovative technology solutions that power KIPP’s growth and enable smarter decision-making. You'll provide technical guidance and mentorship to team members, ensuring that projects meet KIPP’s high standards and align with its technology strategy. 

The Application Development team, part of Technology Team, thrives on collaboration, continuous learning, and innovation. Team members are committed to delivering excellent results while embracing a culture of resilience, curiosity, and shared success. The team works closely with various departments, focusing on creating technology solutions that enhance the journey of KIPP students. 

Responsibilities 

Application Design and Development 

• Work closely with key stakeholders to scope user requirements and align technical solutions with KIPP's mission of improving student outcomes. 

• Provide subject matter expertise in developing new features for existing applications and determining the appropriate platforms for new initiatives. 

• Propose a comprehensive architecture to solve business requirements, ensuring alignment with KIPP’s overall technology strategy and framework. 

• Design and develop information architecture and navigation layouts, prioritizing usability and user adoption to enhance the user experience. 

• Customize and enhance applications across multiple technology platforms to meet KIPP's operational needs. 

• Oversee and review technical designs and code produced by consultants, ensuring quality and alignment with KIPP’s standards. 

• Ensure comprehensive unit testing and participate in the user acceptance testing process to deliver high-quality applications. 

DevOps and Deployment 

• Oversee the deployment pipeline, ensuring smooth and reliable delivery of applications across development, staging, and production environments. 

• Collaborate with the development and operations teams to ensure seamless integration and delivery of code changes while maintaining system stability. 

• Manage and automate the release process, implementing practices to minimize downtime and reduce risk during deployments. 

• Ensure all environments (development, staging, production) are properly configured and optimized for performance, availability, and security. 

• Monitor the health and performance of applications and infrastructure, addressing issues proactively to ensure high availability and system integrity. 

• Implement backup, recovery, and disaster recovery procedures to safeguard data and application continuity. 

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to maintain version control, manage code repositories, and handle branching and merging strategies efficiently. 

• Work with the operations team to maintain servers and manage infrastructure scaling and optimization. 

Application Support and Infrastructure 

• Serve as Tier II support for unresolved application issues, working closely with the Helpdesk Technician to provide timely and efficient solutions. 

• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to other IT team members, fostering a collaborative and learning-focused environment. 

• Collaborate with the IT Operations team to ensure that applications are patched, upgraded, and fully operational during scheduled maintenance windows. 

• Develop processes, in collaboration with the IT Operations team, to ensure data security, high availability, and effective disaster recovery strategies. 

Documentation 

• Provide written design documents and regularly update documentation with as-built information for accuracy and continuity. 

• Maintain thorough documentation of the Application Development infrastructure, including server and database inventories, application licenses, and related technical resources.

Qualifications

Skills  

Mission & Student Focus: Demonstrated commitment to education equity; a passion for KIPP’s mission; desire and ability to uphold KIPP’s values (Focus on Excellent Results, Courageous Action, and Resilient Solutions Focus) 

Cultural Competence & Commitment to Equity: A proactive cultural leader and team player who thrives on collaboration and learning; can effectively collaborate with teammates across lines of difference. 

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving: Gathers information from multiple relevant sources and stakeholders when problem-solving; analyzes, reflects upon, synthesizes, and contextualizes information; weighs pros and cons of multiple options to solve complex problems; anticipates and identifies problems in a timely manner  

Impact & Influence: Stimulates others to take action and accomplish goals, even when no direct reporting relationship exists; builds coalitions to garner support by aligning proposals/ideas with the needs and priorities of others; adapts personal leadership style/approach to influence others 

Stakeholder Management: Seeks opportunities to work with a wide range of individuals and organizations to achieve common goals and better outcomes; gains the truth of key stakeholders by active listening and seeking to understand their views and needs; consistently demonstrates respect and appreciation for others by empathizing, valuing their time and contributions, being available and responsive to their needs 

Planning & Execution: Methodically backward plans to achieve short- and long-term goals; manages time and resources effectively, prioritizing efforts to organizational goals; regularly compares actual progress to planned milestones and adjusts plans accordingly, holding themselves and others accountable for achieving intended outcomes 

Experience and Qualifications 

• A minimum of 5 years of relevant technical experience in software development is mandatory, with a strong emphasis on hands-on development, architecture, integration projects, delivering complex solutions, and proven technical leadership. 

• Expertise in building and enhancing applications within Salesforce, including APEX, Flows, Lightning Components, Visualforce, and SOQL. 

• Strong proficiency in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) languages such as C#, along with front-end technologies like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. 

• Experience with database management, including SQL Server, BigQuery, and data modeling, as well as integration through API endpoints (OAuth2). 

• Familiarity with DevOps practices, including CI/CD, version control, and automated deployments. 

• Experience working in cloud environments (Azure) and managing application infrastructure for high availability. 

• Hands-on experience with CMS platforms (WordPress), marketing tools (HubSpot), system integration tools (SSIS), and identity management with OneLogin. 

• Proficient in project management and collaboration tools like Jira, Smartsheet, Microsoft Office 365, and Teams. 

Technologies and Tools: 

• Platforms & Systems: CRM (Salesforce), Azure, SQL Server, BigQuery, WordPress, OneLogin 

• Languages & Frameworks: C#, .NET Framework, .NET Core, APEX, PHP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, SQL, SOQL 

• DevOps & Integration: CI/CD, Bitbucket, Git, SSIS, API (OAuth2) 

• Tools: VS Code, Jira, Smartsheet, Microsoft Office 365, Teams, HubSpot 

Additional Information

Work Conditions 

• Travel requirements: 2-4 work trips of 2-4 days to attend team stepbacks and all staff retreats

• Full time, Exempt role 

Location 

It is preferred, but not mandatory for this role to be based out of a KIPP Foundation office. This role also has the option of working from a remote office full-time. KIPP Foundation offices are in NYC and Chicago. 

Compensation and Benefits 

In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, and relevant experience.  The salary range for this position is $130,000 to $160,000. In addition, KIPP Foundation provides a variety of benefits to employees, including:  

• 26 holidays for + 18 days additional flexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to 23 days for years 3 and 4 and to 28 days for years 5+). 

• 100% paid parental leave 

• 100% coverage of the premium for employee and 75% for employee + family’s medical/dental/vision plans. 

• Wellness benefits such as fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to theme parks/attractions, backup care support for children and adults/elders, and our employee assistance program 

• Finance Security benefits include such as a 401K retirement plan with 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts 

KIPP Foundation embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the students and communities with whom we work and the world that around them. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.