R&D Developer for online school

bina is a fast-growing digital school and the systems and automation layer underneath it all needs an owner. If you're a software architect who thinks in distributed, event-driven systems, runs agentic workflows as a daily habit (not a curiosity), and treats long-term maintainability as part of the definition of "done" — read on. --- 🌟 What is bina? bina is a globally distributed, fully synchronous digital school serving families in 50+ countries. We operate tiny classrooms of up to 12 students, led by exceptional teachers, and go far beyond academics — integrating social-emotional learning, cultural awareness, adventures, and real-world, biome-inspired curricula. With Cambridge accreditation, ~87 NPS, and $2.9M cARR, growing 20%+ QoQ, bina is positioned to reach 10k+ students in the next 4–5 years. Our vision? To build the highest quality school to scale. We use researched, backed, and newly possible methodologies, to craft accessible play-based education to millions of students globally. We're re-imagining how school works. --- What does bina's R&D Developer do? You'll own architecture and end-to-end delivery for the systems that turn bina's growth strategy into operational reality — distributed, event-driven services and data-analytics workloads that power a globally distributed school. You'll work directly with Dima (R&D), drive work through a disciplined, agentic SDLC, and ship software that's still healthy a year after you wrote it. The actual code is increasingly written by AI. Your real job is defining problems precisely, orchestrating agents, and maintaining quality across parallel workflows. We hire for that — not for declared expertise. Key Responsibilities - Design and own distributed, event-driven systems and real-time, high-concurrency data workloads end-to-end — from requirements and architecture through implementation, QA, and deploy. - Build and operate the data layer (PostgreSQL, key-value stores, caching) that bina's growth depends on. - Design clean, versioned service boundaries and APIs; integrate third-party systems with deliberate attention to contracts, failure modes, idempotency, rate limits, and backward compatibility. - Drive delivery through structured agentic workflows — running 2–3 in parallel — across the full SDLC (requirements → architecture → task decomposition → implementation → QA → demo/deploy). - Uphold an explicit engineering quality bar: automated testing, code review, CI/CD, observability (logging, metrics, tracing), and security-by-default. - Own secure handling of sensitive data and lead incident response when needed. --- ✅ You'll be a great fit if you have… Must-haves - Architecture ownership — a proven track record as a software architect, or a strong senior engineer who independently owns end-to-end system design (architect-level preferred). - 6+ years of professional software engineering, or an equivalent demonstrable track record at architect/senior level. - Production-grade proficiency in Python and Go. - Distributed, event-driven systems experience — including real-time / high-concurrency domains — with the ability to talk specifics: scale, failure modes, trade-offs. - Strong data-layer fundamentals — PostgreSQL, key-value stores, and caching strategies. - Hands-on AI engineering — currently operates 2–3 parallel agentic workflows in practice; in-depth, up-to-date knowledge of LLMs and modern agent harnesses (consumer chatbot use alone doesn't qualify). - Structured (agentic) SDLC discipline — operates within a clear delivery process, not ad-hoc "vibe coding." - API and integration design — clean, versioned service boundaries with thoughtful handling of contracts, idempotency, and backward compatibility. - Delivery ownership — plans, drives, and ships work end-to-end; accountable for outcomes, not only code. - Engineering rigor and maintainability — automated testing, code review, CI/CD, observability, security-by-default; carries software through its full lifecycle. - Infrastructure literacy — comfortable operating and maintaining Linux-based infrastructure. - Security and data stewardship — owns secure handling of sensitive data and responds to incidents. - Autonomous async/remote collaboration — self-manages and communicates effectively in writing across a distributed CET/ET team with minimal oversight. - Analytical rigor — structured, evidence-based problem solving. - Clear, warm, professional communication in writing and conversation. - Organization — balances long-horizon projects against day-to-day urgencies without dropping either. Nice-to-haves - Rust and/or TypeScript proficiency (in addition to the required Python/Go). - Has built their own agent harness or internal tooling. - Works across multiple LLM providers; deeply engaged in workflow design and understands *how* workflows behave, not just how to call them. - Self-directed task decomposition — breaks ambiguous problems into a structured plan unprompted. - Management / ownership mindset. - Solid front-end capability. - OpenCV; audio/video processing. - Education-sector background. - Fast-paced / start-up environment experience. --- 🥑 What we offer - Compensation: $5000 USD per month - Fully remote role with a globally distributed team, built for deep work and high trust - True ownership and impact — you'll architect bina's systems and automation layer from the ground up - A position at the forefront of global education innovation - Direct collaboration with R&D leadership on the technical foundation of a fast-scaling school - Start date: as soon as possible --- Application - To apply, please reach out with your CV and answer the screening questions. - As a safeguarding measure, all applicants are required to complete a KYC check through iDenfy. This is a safeguarding measure as your work in bina involves personal data of minors. We are not collecting nor processing your personal data. - Process: shortlisted candidates will be invited to a 30 to 45-min live problem-solving session. If passed, a second call covering experience and fit. Bring whatever AI tooling you trust.