Staff Software Engineer $200,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Description
We operate platforms that serve thousands of students and teams at scale:
- TimeBack: An educational platform that drives Alpha School's 2-hour learning model (achieving 99th percentile test scores).
- Incept: A content generation platform producing all personalized educational materials for multiple learning applications deployed at Alpha School.
- Crossover: An AI-driven hiring platform that processes tens of thousands of applicants monthly, staffing schools and organizations worldwide.
You will take ownership of one of these platforms and dedicate most of your time to building the most complex components of the codebase with a small team (3-5 experienced engineers, no junior developers). The architectural choices you make will determine whether other teams can build new applications quickly, integrate seamlessly, and deliver value to students. Correct decisions unlock massive leverage. Poor decisions create integration failures and slow down multiple teams.
You design, build, and operate what you create. You set the quality standards and establish patterns for your platform. We follow a spec-driven approach: design precedes implementation, planning comes before building. High autonomy is standard, with no committees or review boards. You work in a small, cohesive team where you are accountable for what you deliver.
What you will be doing
- Technical Leadership: Define strategic architectural decisions and set technical patterns for the team to adopt.
- AI Leadership: Champion the adoption of emerging AI workflows and develop high-impact playbooks.
- Implementation: Construct the complex, mission-critical portions of the codebase working alongside your team.
- Quality Reviews: Verify that your team adheres to established patterns and upholds quality standards.
What you will NOT be doing
- Acting as an architect without writing code
- Spending time in endless meetings
- Managing people (this role focuses on technical leadership, not personnel management)
- Maintaining legacy systems or internal IT infrastructure
Candidate requirements
- At least 5 years of professional software development experience building software products
- At least 3 years serving as either a lead engineer (reviewing others' work) or architect (making key technical decisions)
- Experience developing platform-level products where other teams consumed your APIs
- Deep engagement with AI tools, actively experimenting and pushing boundaries
Meet the hiring manager
Applying for a role? Here’s what to expect.
Crossover's skill assessment process combines innovative AI power with decades of human research, to take the guesswork, human bias, and pointless filters out of recruiting high-performing teams.
Chat-style
screening interview.
Cognitive 
aptitude test.
Prove real-world 
job skills.
Interview with the hiring manager.
Accept job offer.
Pass
proctored test.
Frequently asked questions
About the role
Reviews
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The Olympics of work
It’s super hard to qualify—extreme quality standards ensure every single team member is at the top of their game.
Premium pay for premium talent
Over 50% of new hires double or triple their previous pay. Why? Because that’s what the best person in the world is worth.
Shortlist by skills, not bias
We don’t care where you went to school, what color your hair is, or whether we can pronounce your name. Just prove you’ve got the skills.
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