KIPP Public Schools is a national network of public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 270 schools, nearly 10,000 educators, and more than 160,000 students and alumni.

Our mission: Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Our vision: Every child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities.

The KIPP Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports KIPP schools across the country. The KIPP Foundation trains and develops outstanding educators to lead KIPP public schools; provides tools, resources and training for excellent teaching and learning; promotes innovation; and facilitates the exchange of insights and ideas across KIPP and other public schools and organizations.

Position Overview

Technology solutions play a critical role in powering KIPP’s continued growth and equipping our network to better support our students on their journeys to pursue their path in life – college, career and beyond.  Technology brings together our thousands of KIPP teammates nationwide, helping us work smarter, share ideas and resources, track performance and leverage data to make the right decisions. 

The Application Development team at KIPP is responsible for development and support of custom-built applications, as well as integration of products/solutions developed by external vendors.  The Senior Software Engineer is a key resource in these efforts.  This individual will be responsible for developing and maintaining new applications on a variety of technology platforms currently used at KIPP, primarily Salesforce, as well as WordPress, .NET, and other Microsoft Technologies.  In addition, they will architect processes and tools to facilitate integration and data flow between disparate systems.  The Senior Software Engineer will also provide technical guidance and mentorship to other members of the IT Team and colleagues on other teams with technical responsibilities.

Examples of past projects include:

• Development of a national Talent Data Application on Salesforce
• Updates to existing external facing WordPress websites with new features
• Leveraging API to update students’ college application

The Senior Software Engineer will work closely with the rest of the IT team, as well as KIPP Foundation stakeholders who serve as the business owners for many of these projects. 

Key Responsibilities and Duties

Application Design and Development

• Work closely with key stakeholders to scope user requirements.
• Provide subject matter expertise and insight into developing new features on existing applications as well as determining the appropriate platforms for new initiatives.
• Propose a comprehensive architecture to solve business requirements, while considering compatibility with the overall technology strategy and framework at KIPP.
• Design and develop information architecture and navigation layout, taking into consideration usability and user adoption.
• Design and develop customizations and enhancements to applications built on a variety of technology platforms.
• Oversee and review technical designs and code developed by consultants.
• Take responsibility for comprehensive unit testing and participate in the user acceptance testing process.

Application Support and Infrastructure

• Serve as Tier II support on application issues not resolved by the Helpdesk Help Desk Technician.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to other members of the IT Team.
• Work with the IT Operations team to ensure applications are patched and upgraded during maintenance windows.
• In collaboration with the IT Operations team, develop processes to ensure security of data, high availability of applications and an appropriate disaster recovery strategy.

Documentation

• Provide written design documents and updated documentation with as-built information.
• Maintain documentation of Application Development infrastructure such as server and database inventory, application licenses, etc.

Qualifications

• Passion for education equity and KIPP’s mission and values (sense of purpose, results, respect, constant learning & humility, and diversity & inclusivity)
• A proactive cultural leader and team player who thrives on collaboration and learning
• Cultural competence in collaborating with teammates across lines of difference
• Excellent relationship management skills and the ability to motivate and educate both internal and external resources
• Strong work ethic and commitment to high standards of excellence coupled with an enthusiastic and passionate approach to one’s work.
• Ability to convert business requirements into technical design specifications and technical documentation skills.
• Rigorous attention to detail with an ability to move from big picture to the minutia of execution with ease and composure.
• Strong oral and written communication with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Excellent project and time management skills needed to balance multiple priorities and ensure timely delivery of high-quality products; exceptional ability to backwards plan and contingency plan
• Self-directed and results-oriented, demonstrating initiative and follow-through and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.  Resourceful.
• Willingness to seek feedback, adapt practices and continuously learn and evolve.

Experience

• Proven experience in the architecture, design and development of complex solutions using KIPP’s technology platforms.
• Proven ability to provide hands-on technical leadership to development and integration projects with internal and external/vendor teams.
• Hands-on experience designing and developing user-friendly applications based on multiple technology platforms.  
• Experience developing custom applications within Salesforce platform strongly preferred, including writing APEX triggers/classes/test code, and working with Salesforce Flows.
• Familiarity with the OOP (Java, C#, etc.), HTML, JavaScript, CSS, DHTML, SQL, LDAP and XML.
• Experience leveraging API endpoints to integrate disparate systems.  OAuth2 protocol experience preferred.
• Strong database skills, including data modeling and standard data retrieval, insertion and updates required.
• Experience with .NET and/or WordPress preferred.
   

Work Conditions

• COVID-19 considerations: Vaccinations and masks required in shared workspaces and job-related travel.  

• Minimal travel required

• Full-time, exempt role 

Location 

It is preferred, but not mandatory for this role to be based out of a KIPP Foundation office.  This role also has the option of working from a remote office full time.  KIPP Foundation office is in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington DC.   

Compensation and Benefits

KIPP offers competitive salary commensurate with experience. A comprehensive benefits package, generous vacation and PTO, 401k retirement plan with both pre- and post-tax options, as well as gym reimbursement, flexible spending account (FSA), and cell phone reimbursement are also offered by KIPP.