Full-time; Remote (US-based)

About Cortico

Cortico is a non-profit committed to fostering deep conversations and raising up under-heard voices. We don’t think we can solve these difficult problems with technology, but we do think we can make them easier to tackle.

Our Fora platform brings people together in recorded small-group conversations. Through a powerful combination of AI and human listening, this platform enables organizations to make sense of the conversations they collect, and surfaces community voices into public dialogue and decision making.

Communities have used our platform to lift up voices and perspectives in the selection of Madison, WI’s police chief and the election of Boston’s mayor. Local newsrooms have used our Fora platform to understand citizen agendas and include underheard voices directly in their reporting. Global nonprofits are using our Fora platform to elevate conversations on climate from around the world. Local non-profits have used our Fora platform to surface experiences of people in the margins and amplify their voices through artist collaborations.

Our platform continues to grow as we leverage new technology to better understand conversations with less work. We also want to better meet people where they are, whether that be in person, on their laptops, or on their phones as we build out a mobile app.

Cortico’s unique human/machine system is the product of an effort led by Cortico in cooperation with MIT’s Center for Constructive Communication (MIT CCC).

About this role

Cortico is looking for a frontend-focused software engineer to join our small engineering team. You’ll be working on both our web application and React Native-based mobile app. The annual compensation range for this role is $110,000 – $120,000 and we have competitive benefits which can be found here.

Unfortunately, we are unable to sponsor visas at this time. Our team members must be based in the U.S.

About our culture

Cortico’s team is kind, collaborative, inquisitive and inclusive. We have high standards for quality and ethics, and help each other learn in order to reach our objectives. We think technology is best built by teams with a diversity of background, thought and experience. Every team member is a human first, and we strive to create a culture and environment that supports your career goals and respects all of the hats you wear in life, not just the ones that earn you a paycheck.

About you

• You’ve read about our mission and values and they strongly align with yours.
• You’re passionate about the problems we’re working on.
• You value sharing knowledge and learning from both technical and non-technical team members.
• You value accountability, equity and transparency in your work style and seek to design these values into the products you build.

Minimum qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in a software engineering role, mostly in a frontend role.
• Strong foundation in JavaScript, particularly with React and its ecosystem.
• Experience adapting designs and implementing for varying screen sizes.
• A respect for testing, from unit tests to end to end integration tests.
• Familiarity with REST APIs and working concurrently with both a backend team and a designer.
  
  Nice to Haves
• Familiarity with TypeScript, React Native, Redux, GraphQL, and/or Recoil.
• Familiarity with iOS and Android native development.
• Familiarity with web accessibility best practices.
• A passion for user experience and design justice.
• Experience working in the civic tech space.
• Experience in data visualization.
• Understanding of web performance across a variety of internet speeds.
• Experience in internationalization.
• Experience creating interfaces for results derived from machine learning.
• Familiarity with iterating on prototypes.
• An interest in audio data.
• Interest in web backend or operations.
  
  Our Stack
  Frontend
• Languages: TypeScript, JavaScript, SCSS
• Frameworks: React + Redux, React Native, Apollo+GraphQL
• Testing: Cypress, React Testing Library
• Visualizations: D3, deck.gl/Mapbox
  
  Backend
• Python: Django, Flask, Falcon
• PostgreSQL
  
  Operations
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• Terraform
  
  Check out these resources by Cortico engineers to get a sense of the kind of work we do:
• Evaluating OpenAI’s Whisper on Community Conversations
• Increasing the reach of our embeds
• Building a transcript editor for the web
• Topics-based insights for conversations

Next steps

Please apply here and include the following information:

• A little about you and your interest in the role. Please share with us why this role excites you and how you see yourself in this work.
• A resumé / cv

This is an early career level position. If you are unsure if you are qualified, please consider applying anyway.

The process

We aim to review and respond to all applicants within three weeks of submission. We continue to evolve and improve our interview process, but here is how it currently stands:

1. Short phone call with hiring manager to set expectations and make sure we’re all on the same page about the role and your qualifications.
2. Time bound (2-4 hours) React take-home assignment. Our goal is to collect a standardized code sample from candidates as humanely as we can. You’ll be given a three day window to do that work during and it will be anonymized and reviewed by members of the Cortico engineering team.
3. “On-site” via Zoom (with breaks!)
   1. A frontend design/architecture problem. You are encouraged to use a virtual whiteboard for this and we’ll help you get that set up ahead of time.
   2. 10-15 minute technical talk on any topic of interest to you, followed by answering questions from the Cortico team (both technical and non-technical team members). This presentation is intended for us to understand your communication style, not your technical skill.
   3. Conversation with a senior engineer and a member of our product team to discuss previous work experiences.
4. Reference checks.

Through all of these sessions we make sure that you have plenty of time to ask questions of Cortico team members. If this process changes we’ll make sure to let you know early on. 

Cortico maintains a strong policy of equal opportunity in employment. It is our objective to recruit, hire, and retain the most qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation or identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic or status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Our equal employment philosophy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, compensation, benefits, training, promotions, transfers, job benefits, and terminations.