Software Engineer (Early Career)

About the role

The Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI), a non-partisan non-profit that helps students and educators build skills in communication and collaboration, is looking for an early-career Software Engineer to build the technology behind its learning programs. You will work on Perspectives, the online learning platform, and its AI-powered dialogue practice experience, under the mentorship of a Senior Technical Lead and alongside the Product team. The position is remote, based in the U.S., full-time, with a target start date of 1 December 2026.

Key responsibilities

• Build and improve features for students, instructors and staff, such as learning activities, progress displays and course management tools
• Break product needs into tasks and deliver small, well-tested changes
• Use AI coding agents to implement features, investigate bugs and explore unfamiliar code, then read, question and test their output
• Diagnose problems by reproducing them, tracing application behavior and using logs and tests
• Write and maintain automated tests, check user-facing behavior and take part in code reviews focused on accessibility, reliability and learner data protection
• Help monitor production systems and move toward incident response
• Contribute to the tools and practices that make AI-assisted development effective at CDI
• Document what you learn, share progress and blockers, and ask for help early

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• At least one hands-on engineering project beyond coursework, such as an internship, co-op, job, freelance project or sustained open-source contribution, with code reviewed by others
• A working foundation in at least one programming language, with a project you can explain
• Understanding of web application basics, including how a UI communicates with an API and how data is stored and retrieved
• Ability to read and modify code, solve problems step by step and test changes
• Willingness to learn how to direct AI development tools and critically evaluate their output
• Clear communication, follow-through and motivation for CDI's mission

Required skills

• Preferred: web applications with JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Next.js or a similar framework, or exposure to Java, Spring Boot or Python
• Familiarity with automated testing or SQL is preferred
• Interest in accessible design or education technology is preferred

What we offer

• Compensation of $72,000 - $82,000
• Unlimited PTO plus 13 company holidays
• Health, vision and dental plans, with CDI contributing toward premiums
• 401(k) match of 100% up to 3% of pay
• Annual professional development budget
• Up to $500 for home office equipment and up to $50 per month for home internet or cell phone