Staff Engineer at Thorn

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Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

06 Jan, 26

Salary

207000.0

Posted On

08 Oct, 25

Experience

5 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

Python, React, TypeScript, Node, Express, Next.js, Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Terraform, Google Cloud, PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, GraphQL, Prisma, Apollo

Industry

Non-profit Organizations

Description

At Thorn, our cause is our code. We are a nonprofit whose mission of defending children from sexual exploitation and abuse is deeply embedded within our core—a shared code that drives us to do challenging work with resilience and determination. Here, you’ll work and grow among the best hearts and the best minds in tech, data, and business alongside our network of independent partners, NGOs, and law enforcement agencies. Together, we’re focused on building technology that protects children’s futures. We are looking for dynamic problem solvers with the desire to help address some of today’s toughest issues. You'll collaborate with a diverse group of peers in a remote environment centered on wellness, care, and compassion. In 2019, we took the stage at TED and shared our audacious goal of eliminating child sexual abuse material from the internet. Come join us to help make this goal a reality and build a world where every child can be safe, curious, and happy. About the Role Safer’s Staff Software Engineers are responsible for delivering scalable systems to facilitate the detection, removal, and reporting of child sexual abuse material. They also work to strengthen our team by organizing and leading discussions, proactively identifying opportunities for improvement, and elevating others, especially less senior engineers. This combination of technical expertise and team guidance is critical for guiding the Safer team towards innovative solutions to hard problems. What You’ll Do Build and sustain complex systems. Collaborate with engineers across multiple domains to design and deliver scalable backend systems and client applications. Some Staff Software Engineers will have a stronger focus on frontend or backend, while others will work across the stack. Own large, high-impact projects. Tackle ambitious initiatives from greenfield builds to projects with many unknowns. You’ll gather team input, break down problems, and communicate progress/status to stakeholders, technical or otherwise. Collaborate with product and other engineers. Work closely with the product team and engineers to define product requirements and lead discussions on optimal engineering solutions, in collaboration with the team. Drive technical problem-solving for our partners. Formulate and articulate clear, pragmatic solutions to problems faced by our industry partners. You’ll explain your decisions transparently and iterate based on feedback. Lead through code and collaboration. Write and review production-quality code, ensuring robustness and maintainability. You’ll play a critical role in debugging, troubleshooting, and improving system reliability. Mentor and elevate others. Support and guide engineers across the team, sharing expertise, pairing on problems, and stepping in wherever you can help. You model curiosity and clarity, even in areas where you are less familiar. Drive technical innovation. Champion best practices, introduce new technologies thoughtfully, and ensure the long-term health of our systems. You’ll play a key role in defining technical direction and scaling our platform for impact. What We’re Looking For Technical excellence and ownership. You have strong software development skills and experience building, scaling, and maintaining complex systems. You are able to own multiple domains within a product and can consider the impact of your changes within Safer and Thorn as a whole. Project leadership. You have experience prototyping, implementing, testing, and deploying code to production. You have led major initiatives from concept to production, navigating ambiguity and aligning stakeholders to deliver reliable, elegant solutions. Clear, collaborative communication. You communicate thoughtfully in code reviews, documentation, and async channels, adapting for technical and non-technical audiences alike. We’re a highly-distributed team, so effective written communication is crucial. Product-minded engineering. You care about usability, design, and real-world impact, balancing user needs, technical constraints, and business goals. Mentorship and teamwork. You are enthusiastic about teaching and eager to learn. You are able to use your expertise to elevate your teammates’ understanding while maintaining the humility required to learn from those same teammates, even those less senior. Adaptability and curiosity. You learn new technologies quickly, stay calm amid shifting priorities, and bring structure to open-ended problems. You are comfortable with a fast-paced, fluid environment and can collaborate with internal and external stakeholders. Mission-driven focus. You lead with empathy and keep Thorn’s mission of child safety and well-being at the center of everything you build. Technologies We Use Python 3 React / TypeScript Node / Express / Next.js Docker / Kubernetes AWS / Terraform / Google Cloud PostgreSQL / Elasticsearch GraphQL / Prisma / Apollo Compensation and Benefits A reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role is $150,000 - $207,000/year. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to location; skill sets; experience and training; licensure, and certifications. Our remote-first work model is structured around working from home most of the time. But, there will be times that employees are expected to travel. For example, Thorn may host company-wide gatherings, and smaller teams may hold in-person meetings and team-building events, or require attendance at specific conferences. At Thorn, we know that great people make a great organization. We value our people and offer employees a broad range of benefits. Learn more about what working at Thorn can mean for you. Thorn is a strong and flexible team because of the diverse backgrounds of our staff. This includes professional background, subject matter expertise, culture, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, language, hobbies, etc. We strongly encourage women, minorities, and people from underrepresented backgrounds to apply. Your skills are needed here. Thorn is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. In keeping with our our commitment, Thorn will take the steps to assure that people with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. Accordingly, if reasonable accommodation is required to fully participate in the job application or interview process, to perform the essential functions of the position, and/or to receive all other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact our team at hiring@wearethorn.org All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. “EEO is the Law” Poster “EEO is the Law” Poster Supplement Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision

Responsibilities

Staff Software Engineers are responsible for delivering scalable systems to facilitate the detection, removal, and reporting of child sexual abuse material. They will also mentor less senior engineers and lead discussions to identify opportunities for improvement.