DonorsChoose.org liberates every public school teacher to be a change maker, and enables any citizen to be a philanthropist. At this not-for-profit website, public school teachers submit their best ideas for materials and experiences that their students need to learn—everything from a classroom library, to basketballs, to a field trip to the zoo.
Individuals can search by areas of interest, learn about classroom needs, and choose to fund the projects that they find most compelling. All donors then hear back from the classrooms they chose to help. At DonorsChoose.org, someone giving $10 enjoys the same choice, impact, and vivid feedback that—until now—have been reserved for millionaire benefactors.
DonorsChoose.org was founded in 2000 by a social studies teacher in the Bronx. Since its inception, citizen philanthropists from all 50 states and 10 countries have funded more than 33,000 classroom projects at DonorsChoose.org, channeling over $14.5 million of resources to students in low-income communities. Recognition of DonorsChoose.org includes the Nonprofit Innovation Award given by Stanford Business School and Amazon.com; the Fast Company Social Capitalist Award; a Global Technology Laureate from the TECH Museum of Innovation; and selection by Ashoka. Major supporters include eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, Yahoo! co-founder David Filo, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, and Netflix founder Reed Hastings.
ABOUT THE POSITION
DonorsChoose.org is seeking an energetic, team-oriented, and self-motivated Software Engineer to further develop the technology that powers this unique web-based philanthropic marketplace. This position will report directly to DonorsChoose.org’s CTO and will play a central role in an agile organization that is serious about technology.
The right candidate is a top-notch contributor with a proven track record of success, who will be comfortable in DonorsChoose.org’s start-up atmosphere and ready to play a key role on a small, dedicated technical team. A passion for delivering high-quality web applications on aggressive schedules is crucial. This Software Engineer will be joining a non-profit organization with deep private-sector management experience. The DonorsChoose.org team is young, committed, and passionate, and the work environment is informal, fast-paced, and fun.
HE OR SHE MUST:
• Design, implement, test, rollout, and maintain new functionality for use by teachers, donors, and staff.
• Estimate and deliver on rapid implementation schedules–without compromising smart development goals and principles–to build technical solutions that are functional, performant, scalable, and reliable.
• Keep a high-volume transaction-driven web system running by performing code-level troubleshooting of service anomalies and fixing critical bugs.
CANDIDATES MUST POSSESS:
• BA/BS in Computer Science or equivalent.
• 3+ years experience building robust commercial web applications or software products.
• Excellent Java skills, and experience with J2EE and Spring framework.
• Exceptional problem-solving expertise, analytical skills, and enthusiasm for tackling diverse technical challenges.
• Strong sense of ownership throughout the software development life cycle including debugging, unit and system testing, rollout, and maintenance.
• Superb self-management skills and ability to work in a fast-paced environment with little supervision.
• Experience integrating external 3rd-party applications, services, and components.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong SQL skills, experience with O/R mapping tools like Hibernate a plus.
• Experience with Apache, HTTP, or Tomcat a plus.
• Experience with HTML, JavaScript, CSS, browser layout, cross-browser development practices, and browser degradation strategies a plus.
DonorsChoose.org is based in New York City. Full benefits offered. Salary commensurate with experience.
Interested? Please email resume and cover letter to jobs@donorschoose.org. Include "Software Engineer" in the subject line and indicate how you heard about the position. We will only be responding to those who we believe are most qualified for the position.