Software Engineer, Full Stack at DonorsChoose Internal Applicants and Referrals

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.

Since 2000, more than 5 million people and partners have contributed $1 billion to support 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. Projects range from art supplies to build the set for a school musical, to books and puzzles that affirm students’ identities, to bird seed for an at-home science project. We proudly serve all US public schools, public charter schools, and Head Start centers, and we combat systemic inequity by driving a majority of donations to schools that have been historically underfunded due to economic and racial inequity.

DonorsChoose has been recognized as a best place to work by GOOD Magazine and the Nonprofit Times, while Fast Company named DonorsChoose one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World—the first time a charity has made this list. Our dedicated team works from across the United States to bring classroom dreams to life.

About the Product, Engineering, and Data team

The Product, Engineering, and Data team at DonorsChoose does important mission-driven work, helping to address educational inequity in US public schools, but we operate more like a fast-paced startup than a traditional nonprofit. The full stack engineer will join our team (13 Engineering, 6 Product, 4 Data) to build features for our user base of donors, public school teachers and our staff, directly impacting the educational outcomes for students across the US.

About the Role

What you'll do:

• Estimate and deliver on rapid implementation schedules—without compromising smart development goals and principles—to build web functionality that is functional, fast, and scalable.
• Design, implement, and maintain new functionality for the 900,000 active teachers and donors who depend on our site every year.
• Keep a high-volume, multi-faceted web system running by troubleshooting and fixing critical bugs.
• Work on features end-to-end including server-side, database, and front-end components.
• Clarify and produce technical specifications with nontechnical stakeholders, either by yourself or in collaboration with our product team.

Our ideal candidate is/has:

• A software engineer with at least 3+ years of development experience.
• Hands-on development experience using Java as the primary development language.
• Skilled in MVC framework, SQL, React and Javascript.
• A top-notch contributor who will be comfortable in our startup atmosphere and eager to play a key technical role on a small, dedicated team.
• A clear and friendly communicator.
• An excellent problem solver who is excited to take on diverse development challenges.
• Committed to taking ownership of their work and having an eye for detail throughout the web engineering lifecycle.
• Comfortable self-managing in a fast-paced environment.
• Passionate about delivering high-quality web functionality with attention to the health of the overall codebase.=
• Ability to work on all parts of the stack, from creating/modifying database tables to back-end server coding to front-end development.
• Experienced in building robust functionality for commercial websites and applications.
• Experienced in integrating 3rd-party web applications, services, and components.
• Nice to have:
  • Experience with O/R mapping tools like Hibernate.
  • Experience with Spring.
  • HTML, CSS.
  • Experience with AWS and Kubernetes

Compensation & Benefits

For this role, we are open to hiring either an Engineer II or Senior Engineer I. Our compensation philosophy ensures that we are both externally competitive with tech-forward nonprofits of a similar size and internally fair in our pay practices. The following ranges represent the target offer range given the scope and experience expectations for this role.

Engineer II: Ability to work on small-to-medium features from technical design through completion. Learns quickly and makes steady progress. Knows when to ask for help to get unblocked.

• The hiring salary range for this role at this level is $85,000 - $95,000
• We have a hiring salary range of $95,000- $105,000 for specific higher cost of labor locations, which include New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

Senior Engineer I: Takes initiative to solve tough problems, strong ability to handle more complex features, and works with minimal oversight.

• The hiring salary range for this role at this level is $100,000 - $113,000
• We have a hiring salary range of $110,000- $125,000 for specific higher cost of labor locations, which include New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

Once employees are hired, everyone at DonorsChoose is eligible to receive annual performance-based raises as they grow in their role. We are open to a variety of experiences, and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced or more senior than this job description as posted. If you don’t check every box listed here, or you know you’d bring additional experience to the table, we hope you’ll submit your application. 

In addition, we offer full-time staff 25 paid vacation days per year and 11 paid holidays, a rich employer-paid individual and family health plan, a matching 401(k) plan (up to 5% of base salary), annual professional development stipend, and casual and flexible work environment. To learn more about what it is like to work for DonorsChoose, visit our careers page.

Hybrid Workplace and Other Details

In this role, you’ll have the option to work a flexible hybrid schedule in our NYC office, or to work fully remotely from CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, ME, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, WI.

Candidates who are not in the NYC area should expect to travel to our NYC office on an as-needed basis, about 4-6 times per year. All work-related travel expenses will be covered by the organization.

DonorsChoose participates in E-Verify. We will provide the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. 

DonorsChoose Core Values

EQUITY
Combating systemic inequity is crucial to a brighter future for all. This reality fuels our ambitions and drives us to persevere.

INGENUITY
Complex problems require innovative solutions. We dream big, get creative, roll up our sleeves, and take action. We believe the best products can change the world.

HUMANITY 
People are the heart of our team and the communities we serve. Our compassion informs our goals and how we work together to achieve them. 

INTEGRITY
We strive to do right. We’re up-front about the facts. We boldly learn and grow from mistakes.

LEARNING
Education is the beating heart of our organization, inside and out. We’re curious. We listen. We know we don’t know everything. 

GRATITUDE
We begin and end with thanks. We take joy in our mission, our communities, and each other.

To Apply

Please submit your resume and answer the application questions online. Since we’re trying to get to know you through our hiring process, we ask that you please refrain from using AI writing tools to craft your response to our application questions. A cover letter is optional and may be addressed to Tommy Walker, VP of Engineering.

A Final Note

The DonorsChoose team works toward a nation where students in every community have the resources needed for an excellent education. To do this we hire and support a diverse team of the best and the brightest talent available.

We are an organization increasingly representative of the varied races and ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, religious and political beliefs, and abilities that comprise our nation. DonorsChoose focuses on attracting, retaining, and advancing diverse talent because it makes us more effective, high-performing, creative, and resilient.  

If you are passionate about our mission, highly skilled in your field, and looking for a place where you can bring all of yourself to work, we want you.