Senior Software Engineer, Evaluators, Learning Commons

Learning Commons aims to scale proven teaching and learning practices to benefit every learner by building AI infrastructure that better connects the way students learn to the tools they learn with.

The Team

At Learning Commons, we operate at the intersection of technology, research, and philanthropy. We pair product development with grantmaking to scale proven teaching and learning practices for the benefit of every learner. We aim to bring learning science into the tools educators and students use every day.

Our work is grounded in a deep belief: when technology reflects the realities of classrooms and the science of how students learn, it can meaningfully strengthen teaching and unlock new possibilities for students. The rise of generative AI offers us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically accelerate the translation of research insights into practical, classroom-ready tools; tools that honor teachers’ expertise, adapt to students’ needs, and make effective learning practices easier to access, implement, and sustain.

In today’s fragmented edtech landscape, school districts are often left piecing together products that don’t always align with curricula or instructional needs. While AI holds enormous potential to support teachers and students, it can only deliver on that promise when grounded in research, high-quality educational data, and expert evaluation. That’s why we’re building open, public-purpose infrastructure — datasets, rubrics, and resources — that help raise the standard for educational tools and create more consistent, impactful learning experiences for all students and teachers.

The Opportunity

Learning Commons aims to scale proven learning science practices through AI-powered tools, datasets, and evaluation frameworks. As part of the Evaluators team, you will play a critical role in ensuring that AI and education products are grounded in rigorous, research-backed evaluation.

You will design and build core infrastructure that powers how educational tools are assessed, improved, and trusted. You will work at the intersection of AI, learning science, and product development to create evaluation systems and applications that are rigorous, scalable, and usable by educators and developers.

You will collaborate closely with product managers, data scientists, learning scientists, and external partners to define what “quality” means in educational technology—and build the systems that measure it.

What You'll Do

• Design and build scalable evaluation systems, pipelines, and services for edtech AI products 
• Develop frameworks for benchmarking, scoring, and analyzing learning outcomes and product performance
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners (product, data science, learning science, design) to translate research into production systems
• Improve developer workflows and tooling for running evaluations and experiments
• Contribute to architecture decisions, technical strategy, and best practices across the team
• Mentor engineers and contribute to a strong engineering culture

What You'll Bring

• 5+ years of software engineering experience building production systems
• Strong programming skills in Typescript, Python
• Experience using AI coding tools
• Experience building full-stack applications in cloud-based systems
• Demonstrated ability to adapt and deliver solutions in early-stage development environments
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams including product managers and data scientists
• Strong communication skills and ability to explain technical concepts clearly

Compensation

The Redwood City, CA base pay range for a new hire in this role is $190,000 - $238,000. New hires are typically hired into the lower portion of the range, enabling employee growth in the range over time. Actual placement in range is based on job-related skills and experience, as evaluated throughout the interview process. 

This position may be eligible to participate in our discretionary annual performance bonus program. Bonus eligibility and targets are determined in accordance with our total rewards philosophy and may vary by role.

Better Together

As we grow, we’re excited to strengthen in-person connections and cultivate a collaborative, team-oriented environment. This role is a hybrid position requiring you to be onsite for at least 60% of the working month, approximately 3 days a week, with specific in-office days determined by the team’s manager. The exact schedule will be at the hiring manager's discretion and communicated during the interview process.

Benefits for the Whole You 

We’re thankful to have an incredible team behind our work. To honor their commitment, we offer a wide range of benefits to support the people who make all we do possible. 

• Provides a generous employer match on employee 401(k) contributions to support planning for the future.
• Paid time off to volunteer at an organization of your choice. 
• Funding for select family-forming benefits. 
• Relocation support for employees who need assistance moving

If you’re interested in a role but your previous experience doesn’t perfectly align with each qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply as you may be the perfect fit for this or another role.

#LI-Hybrid