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The College Board · 1 day ago

Lead Engineer / Full-Stack & Backend

Reston, VA

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$165K/yr - $179K/yr

7+ years exp

The College Board is a mission-driven, not-for-profit organization dedicated to expanding educational and career opportunities. They are seeking a Lead Engineer to define the technical direction and mentor a team while building scalable solutions for the BigFuture platform.

Education Management

H1B Sponsor Likely

Responsibilities

Design and deliver high-quality software that is scalable, secure, and reusable—leveraging modern technologies, proven design patterns, and cloud-native practices to power BigFuture’s core tools

Collaborate with product owners, architects, and stakeholders to uphold the highest engineering standards and translate big ideas into impactful, student-facing solutions

Break down new product capabilities into actionable, verifiable technical changes that move quickly from concept to reality

Design and implement solutions to allow rapid testing of innovative concepts using the latest technologies, typically React web apps

Create sharable documentation, both technical and non-technical

Exercise discretion in prototyping: investing time to make sure the most important things work well, and working with the team to mock or minimize less important features

Maintain clean code and strong engineering standards such that when prototypes are greenlit for further development, the project is easy to build upon

Continuously develop the skills required to work with this rapidly developing technology

Participate in, or lead Agile SCRUM ceremonies (Sprint Planning, Grooming, Daily SCRUM, Demo) by contributing to team deliverables and driving alignment, focus, and momentum across sprints

Elevate team performance by giving and receiving thoughtful code reviews, mentoring peers, and helping solve complex technical challenges

Assist in resolving production issues with urgency and precision, ensuring a smooth and reliable user experience

Model discipline in adhering to development standards, security practices, and CI/CD principles while helping the team move fast without compromising quality

Continuously grow your skills and embrace a poly-skilled environment where everyone contributes beyond their specialty

Serve as an organizational Subject Matter Expert on implementing Generative AI applications

Work with our Enterprise Architecture team to review and/or establish implementation patterns involving Generative AI tools

Advise on, and where feasible, create tools and infrastructure that will enable teams to safely deploy Generative AI tools

Keep abreast of developments in GenAI capabilities and implementations

Share knowledge of new developments with the team via chats, meetings, and presentations when appropriate

Serve as an advisor to internal teams developing staff education around Generative AI

Qualification

AWSNode.jsGenerative AIReactTypeScriptAgile/ScrumNoSQL databasesRelational databasesMentoringProblem-solvingCommunicationDocumentation

Required

7+ years of professional experience designing, building, testing, and managing scalable web applications in AWS-hosted environments

3+ years' experience building back-end applications using Node(with TypeScript)

Experience with relational and NoSQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redshift, DynamoDB)

Experience building observability for your products: Set up CloudWatch, X-Ray, for logging, metrics, and alerts

Hands-on experience implementing Generative AI applications (e.g., RAG chatbots, model fine-tuning, or other LLM-powered tools)

Enthusiasm for learning new technologies, especially in the fast-moving GenAI space

Strong knowledge and hands-on experience with back-end technologies such as Node.js and/or Python

Experience with asynchronous programming and event-driven messaging patterns

Strong knowledge of AWS services (e.g., Lambda, SNS, SQS, S3, Step Functions, IAM, KMS, API Gateway, CloudWatch, DynamoDB)

Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments

Proven ability to mentor and coach less experienced teammates in new technologies

Strong analytical thinking, structured problem-solving, and practical decision-making skills

Effective communication and documentation skills

Proficiency in reviewing and improving code structure and architecture for testability, maintainability, and scalability, with hands-on experience in JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Node.js, Next.js, APIs, and AWS Serverless technologies (Lambdas, DynamoDB, S3, CloudWatch, etc.)

Leadership in the end-to-end design and implementation of user interfaces, from architectural planning and component strategy through to polished execution, including accessibility, performance optimization, and mentoring peers on building intuitive, scalable, and user-centric front-end solutions

Strong problem-solving skills, working collaboratively with team members to identify and resolve issues, and partnering with Product Owners to prioritize backlog

Proven ability to pitch new ideas and implement improved systems and processes, delivering excellent results

Effective communicator and team lead, able to provide actionable feedback, mentor team members, and participate in interviews to evaluate engineering talent

A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work

Authorization to work in the United States for any employer

Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and a comfort learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively

Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal

A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input

A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking

A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success

Preferred

Bachelor's degree in computer science, or related engineering fields preferred

Benefits

Annual bonuses and opportunities for merit-based raises and promotions

A mission-driven workplace where your impact matters

A team that invests in your development and success

Company

The College Board

Glassdoor3.7

College Board is a not-for-profit organization that clears a path for all students to own their future through the Advanced Placement Program, the SAT, Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy, BigFuture, and more.

Founded in 1900

New York, NY, US

1001-5000 employees

http://www.collegeboard.org

H1B Sponsorship

The College Board has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)

Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship

Represents job field similar to this job

Trends of Total Sponsorships

2025 (7)

2024 (9)

2023 (8)

2022 (12)

2021 (5)