Software Engineer (Pedagogy)

Turn direct instruction into software: build the lessons and tutorials kids actually learn from. About us We are a well funded, early stage team building Playcademy, a gamified learning platform for K to 6 students that lets them earn real game time by doing their academic work. The role Every Playcademy game is a piece of software that teaches. This role sits exactly at the intersection of engineering and teaching. You are a software engineer who understands how learning works when it is delivered through software. You take lesson designs from our educators and learning scientists and turn them into interactive experiences in the UI. You implement tutorials, guided practice, feedback loops, and progression that respects how kids actually learn. You have shipped for the web, you drive AI coding tools daily, and you have spent enough time in edtech to know what separates software that teaches from software that merely quizzes. What you will do Implement lessons and tutorials as interactive UI: guided flows, worked examples, hints, feedback, and mastery checks Work directly with educators and learning scientists to translate pedagogy into product, and push back when a design will not survive contact with a six year old Build the frontend systems that lesson content runs on: reusable interaction patterns, progression logic, and state that tracks real understanding Drive coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, etc.) daily to ship learning experiences as working code Prototype fast, playtest with real kids and families, and iterate on what the data and the classroom tell you What we are looking for Real edtech experience, you have built learning software before Strong web development experience Frontend skills good enough to implement lessons and tutorials into polished, kid friendly UI Daily, fluent use of AI coding tools (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, etc.) An eye for the pedagogy and understanding of instructional design: scaffolding, feedback timing, cognitive load, and why they matter Genuine interest in the future of education Nice to have Experience with K to 6 products or products used by young children Background working alongside curriculum designers, teachers, or learning scientists Game development experience What we offer Up to $100/hr, full time, Austin TX preferred (remote possible) A funded, fast moving product with real users and ambitious long term vision A small, high impact team with fast decision making How to apply Take a look at our landing page and try our games, then tell us about your experience in edtech and games and how they relate to what we are building. Please also explain in depth your experience with agentic coding. Please send us an email with your resume, portfolio, and relevant materials.