Staff Engineer

San Francisco, CA - USA

Yearly Salary: $ 150000 - 207000

Posted on: 30+ days ago

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

At Thorn our cause is our code. We are a nonprofit whose mission of defending children from sexual exploitation and abuse is deeply embedded within our corea shared code that drives us to do challenging work with resilience and determination.

Here youll work and grow among the best hearts and the best minds in tech data and business alongside our network of independent partners NGOs and law enforcement agencies. Together were focused on building technology that protects childrens futures. We are looking for dynamic problem solvers with the desire to help address some of todays toughest issues. Youll collaborate with a diverse group of peers in a remote environment centered on wellness care and compassion.

In 2019 we took the stage at TED and shared our audacious goal of eliminating child sexual abuse material from the internet. Come join us to help make this goal a reality and build a world where every child can be safe curious and happy.

About the Role

Safers Staff Software Engineers are responsible for delivering scalable systems to facilitate the detection removal and reporting of child sexual abuse material. They also work to strengthen our team by organizing and leading discussions proactively identifying opportunities for improvement and elevating others especially less senior engineers. This combination of technical expertise and team guidance is critical for guiding the Safer team towards innovative solutions to hard problems.

What Youll Do

Build and sustain complex systems. Collaborate with engineers across multiple domains to design and deliver scalable backend systems and client applications. Some Staff Software Engineers will have a stronger focus on frontend or backend while others will work across the stack.
Own large high-impact projects. Tackle ambitious initiatives from greenfield builds to projects with many unknowns. Youll gather team input break down problems and communicate progress/status to stakeholders technical or otherwise.
Collaborate with product and other engineers. Work closely with the product team and engineers to define product requirements and lead discussions on optimal engineering solutions in collaboration with the team.
Drive technical problem-solving for our partners. Formulate and articulate clear pragmatic solutions to problems faced by our industry partners. Youll explain your decisions transparently and iterate based on feedback.
Lead through code and collaboration. Write and review production-quality code ensuring robustness and maintainability. Youll play a critical role in debugging troubleshooting and improving system reliability.
Mentor and elevate others. Support and guide engineers across the team sharing expertise pairing on problems and stepping in wherever you can help. You model curiosity and clarity even in areas where you are less familiar.
Drive technical innovation. Champion best practices introduce new technologies thoughtfully and ensure the long-term health of our systems. Youll play a key role in defining technical direction and scaling our platform for impact.

What Were Looking For

Technical excellence and ownership. You have strong software development skills and experience building scaling and maintaining complex systems. You are able to own multiple domains within a product and can consider the impact of your changes within Safer and Thorn as a whole.
Project leadership. You have experience prototyping implementing testing and deploying code to production. You have led major initiatives from concept to production navigating ambiguity and aligning stakeholders to deliver reliable elegant solutions.
Clear collaborative communication. You communicate thoughtfully in code reviews documentation and async channels adapting for technical and non-technical audiences alike. Were a highly-distributed team so effective written communication is crucial.
Product-minded engineering. You care about usability design and real-world impact balancing user needs technical constraints and business goals.
Mentorship and teamwork. You are enthusiastic about teaching and eager to learn. You are able to use your expertise to elevate your teammates understanding while maintaining the humility required to learn from those same teammates even those less senior.
Adaptability and curiosity. You learn new technologies quickly stay calm amid shifting priorities and bring structure to open-ended problems. You are comfortable with a fast-paced fluid environment and can collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.
Mission-driven focus. You lead with empathy and keep Thorns mission of child safety and well-being at the center of everything you build.

Technologies We Use

Python 3
React / TypeScript
Node / Express /
Docker / Kubernetes
AWS / Terraform / Google Cloud
PostgreSQL / Elasticsearch
GraphQL / Prisma / Apollo

Compensation and Benefits

A reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role is$150000 - $207000/year. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to location; skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications.

Our remote-first work model is structured around working from home most of the time. But there will be times that employees are expected to travel. For example Thorn may host company-wide gatherings and smaller teams may hold in-person meetings and team-building events or require attendance at specific conferences.

At Thorn we know that great people make a great organization. We value our people and offer employees a broad range of more about what working at Thorn can mean for you.

Thorn is strengthened by the wide range of experiences and perspectives on our team. We value the diversity of our professional backgrounds subject matter expertise cultures and perspectives because they help us solve complex problems and serve our mission more effectively. We hire based on merit qualifications and organizational need and we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where all employees can thrive.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin disability or status as a protected veteran.

Thorn is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. We provide reasonable accommodations to ensure candidates and employees with disabilities can fully participate in the application process perform essential job functions and access all the benefits and privileges of employment. If you need an accommodation please contact us at

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Required Experience:

Staff IC