Back to jobs

Staff Software Engineer

Coursera was launched in 2012 by two Stanford Computer Science professors, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. It is now one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with 148 million registered learners as of March 31, 2024.

Coursera partners with over 325 leading university and industry partners to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, Guided Projects, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Institutions around the world use Coursera to upskill and reskill their employees, citizens, and students in fields such as data science, technology, and business. Coursera became a B Corp in February 2021.

Join us in our mission to create a world where anyone, anywhere can transform their life through access to education. We're seeking talented individuals who share our passion and drive to revolutionize the way the world learns.

We at Coursera are committed to building a globally diverse team and are thrilled to extend employment opportunities to individuals in any country where we have a legal entity. We require candidates to possess eligible working rights and have a compatible timezone overlap with their team to facilitate seamless collaboration. As a remote-first company, our interviews and onboarding are entirely virtual, providing a smooth and efficient experience for our candidates.

Job Overview:

Coursera is an engineering-first company. Our teams are responsible for maintaining a scalable and reliable platform, in addition to building interactive products for the worldwide learner community. We are made up of teams ranging from Development Infrastructure, Growth, Learner/Consumer Experience, Content Platform, and SDET Engineering. Every day, Engineering teams collaborate with cross-functional partners, including other engineers, data scientists, and product managers. We employ continuous delivery to deploy multiple times a day and move quickly as an organization

The Opportunity & The Team

As a Backend Staff Engineer on the Learner Success team, you'll be at the forefront of revolutionizing online learning by building the future of AI-powered, personalized education. Our team is responsible for developing and supporting a core area of Coursera's platform, directly impacting the learning journeys of millions worldwide. We're deeply invested in leveraging cutting-edge technologies, including generative AI and advanced data analytics, to create a truly personalized learning experience for every individual.

This is a high-impact role within a team that thrives on collaboration, innovation, data-driven decision-making and working closely with learners to help them transform their lives. You will have the opportunity to:

  • Personalize the Learning Journey: Design, build, and scale core components that leverage generative AI and rich learner data to tailor learning experiences to individual needs, goals, and learning styles.
  • Be a Pioneer: Work on cutting-edge technology, pushing the boundaries of what's possible with technology in education. You'll balance rapid industry evolution with building scalable and impactful personalized learning systems for the long term.
  • Drive Impact at Scale: Create systems and features used by millions of learners daily, directly influencing their educational journeys and helping them reach their full potential through personalized learning pathways.

Be a Technical Leader: Provide technical leadership, mentor junior engineers, and contribute to the growth of the entire team, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence in personalized learning experiences.

Responsibilities:

  • Collaborate closely with product managers, data scientists, and other engineers to define and build scalable, secure, and personalized learning experiences.
  • Design, develop, and deploy core backend services and APIs that leverage learner data and generative AI to power personalized learning features and recommendations.
  • Champion and implement best practices with a focus on safety, bias mitigation, ethical considerations, and a learner-centric approach to personalization.
  • Analyze learner data to understand the impact of AI-powered personalization on learning outcomes, iterating on solutions to drive continuous improvement.
  • Proactively identify opportunities to improve system architecture, scalability, and performance, ensuring our personalized learning platform can grow to meet the needs of millions of learners.
  • Contribute to the technical roadmap and strategy of the Learner Success team, shaping the future of personalized learning at Coursera.
  • Mentor and guide junior engineers, fostering their growth and development, and building a world-class team passionate about personalized learning experiences.

Qualifications:

  • You are passionate about building high-quality software that makes a real difference in people's lives, particularly within the education space.
  • You have extensive experience building and scaling complex backend systems, with a strong foundation in software design principles, data structures, and algorithms.
  • You are proficient in at least one backend programming language (e.g., Python, Java, Go) and are comfortable working with relational databases and distributed systems.
  • You are enthusiastic about exploring the potential of generative AI and data-driven insights to personalize education.
  • You have a strong understanding of data analytics and are passionate about using data to inform decisions and drive product improvement, particularly as it relates to personalization.
  • You are a strong communicator, collaborator, and problem solver. You excel in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and are eager to contribute to a highly collaborative team.
  • You have experience mentoring and guiding other engineers and are passionate about fostering a positive and supportive team culture.
  • Experience with building and scaling microservices, cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP), AI, monitoring, and optimization.

If this opportunity interests you, you might like these courses on Coursera:

Compensation:

Coursera offers competitive pay and equitable compensation practices. Our job titles may span more than one career level. The targeted hiring base salary range for this role is between $178,200 to $203,800 for all Canada candidates. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, including but not limited to prior work experiences, training/education, transferable skills, business needs, and geographical location. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role may also be eligible for variable pay, equity, and benefits.

 

 

#PL-1

Coursera is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and considers all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected class.
 
If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, please contact us at accommodations@coursera.org.
 
For California Candidates, please review our CCPA Applicant Notice here.
For our Global Candidates, please review our GDPR Recruitment Notice here.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf


Select...
Select...
Select...
COURSERA IS A U.S. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR AND WE ARE REQUIRED TO INQUIRE ABOUT CONFLICTS BEFORE WE CAN RECRUIT CURRENT OR FORMER GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES. IF THIS APPLIES TO YOU, WE REQUEST A LETTER FROM YOUR SUPERVISOR THAT THEY HAVE BEEN INFORMED ABOUT YOUR CONTACT WITH COURSERA (OR AS A FORMER EMPLOYEE, A LETTER STATING AN ETHICS OPINION WHICH IDENTIFIES ANY LIMITATIONS WHICH APPLY TO YOUR WORK IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR). THE LETTER SHOULD IDENTIFY ANY CONFLICTS OR POTENTIAL CONFLICTS, IF ANY EXIST.

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Coursera Sourcing’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.