Tech Lead, Explore

You've built product surfaces from 0 to 1 before, and you know how to make smart architectural calls when the path forward isn't fully defined yet. You're comfortable operating with ambiguity, and you bring strong judgment to decisions that will have long-term consequences. You understand that speed and quality aren't opposites — you know how to move fast while laying foundations that hold.

The Explore product, end to end: Own the technical direction and evolution of the Explore product, from new capabilities for prospective and transfer students to the underlying systems that power them.

Multi-tenant architecture foundations: Establish the foundational patterns for Stellic's first multi-tenant system — defining how data is shared, isolated, and managed across institutions in a way that can scale.

Pragmatic architectural decisions in an evolving product space: Make clear, defensible calls in a fast-moving environment, balancing the speed of iteration with the need to build systems that hold up over time.

Clean, ergonomic APIs and reliable abstractions: Build and maintain the APIs and abstractions that handle complex business logic and data flows, keeping things simple for the engineers who build on top of them.

Engineering excellence: Drive engineering excellence by defining and mentoring on best practices, design patterns, and code quality across the team.

5+ years of backend or full stack engineering experience operating at scale, with a track record of leading complex implementations as a technical lead

Experience building and scaling 0→1 and 1→10 product surfaces — you know what it looks like to go from nothing to something real

Strong judgment in making architectural decisions in evolving and ambiguous domains

Experience introducing and shaping new system patterns (e.g., multi-tenant concepts, data sharing models)

Ability to balance speed, iteration, and long-term system design without sacrificing one for the other

Strong proficiency in SQL and database optimization (PostgreSQL a plus)

Clear and effective communication skills for collaborating with product, design, and customer-facing teams

Deep curiosity, customer empathy, and commitment to engineering as a craft

While we plan on introducing new technologies and capabilities, and potentially migrating away from current ones, here is the general shape of our current stack:

Languages: Python, SQL

Frameworks: Django, Angular, React, Remix

Databases: PostgreSQL, ElasticSearch, Redis

Version control: Git (GitHub)

Cloud: AWS

Deployment: AWS CodeDeploy

Observability & Analytics: Sentry, Grafana, Prometheus, PostHog, Metabase

Both single and multi-tenant architecture

Shape the future of higher education at a company leading the transformation of student success.

Work alongside an ambitious, mission-driven leadership team building something meaningful.

Own a piece of the journey with competitive salary, meaningful equity and a culture of excellence, speed and ownership.

Thrive in a flexible, outcome-driven culture built on trust and autonomy.

Exceptional benefits , including health insurance with Stellic covering 99% of your premium and 75% for dependents.

401(k), commuter benefits, and annual international retreats in incredible locations.

Our company values diversity and believes diverse teams make innovation possible. We encourage all qualified applicants from any race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or other characteristics to apply.