Staff Forward Deployed Engineer

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.

Learning Commons is building shared infrastructure for education that enables organizations to better connect, understand, evaluate, and improve learning experiences. Our products—including our Knowledge Graph, Evaluators, and future AI-powered offerings—help partners unlock value from educational data, content, and learning experiences at scale.

We work closely with EdTech companies and other ecosystem partners to bring these capabilities into real-world products and workflows while continuously learning from deployments to improve our platform.

The Opportunity

As a Staff Forward Deployed Engineer, you will help partners successfully adopt and integrate Learning Commons products while shaping the future of the platform itself.

You will work directly with partner engineering, data, and product teams to identify opportunities, define solutions, build prototypes, develop production integrations, and drive successful deployments. Along the way, you will translate real-world learnings into reusable capabilities, deployment patterns, and product improvements that benefit the broader ecosystem.

This role will drive impact in software engineering, product development, data, and partner collaboration. It is ideal for someone who enjoys building new products, working closely with customers, and operating in ambiguous environments.

Every partner deployment helps shape the future of Learning Commons. As a Staff Forward Deployed Engineer, you will play a critical role in bringing our products into the ecosystem while helping define what we build next.

This is an opportunity to work at the intersection of engineering, AI, data, and learning science while helping create foundational infrastructure for the future of learning.

What You'll Do

• Design and implement integrations using Learning Commons products, APIs, and datasets.
• Build prototypes, proofs of concept, and production-ready solutions.
• Collaborate directly with partner engineering, data, and product teams to solve complex technical challenges.
• Lead technical discovery, architecture discussions, implementation planning, and deployment efforts.
• Support data integration and alignment between partner systems and Learning Commons datasets.
• Identify patterns across deployments and contribute reusable solutions back to the Learning Commons platform.
• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to influence roadmap priorities based on field experience.
• Establish best practices, deployment frameworks, and implementation patterns that accelerate adoption across partners.

What You'll Bring

• 8+ years of software engineering experience.
• Experience building and launching net-new products, platforms, or technical capabilities.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience working directly with customers, partners, or external organizations to solve technical problems and deliver solutions.
• Demonstrated proficiency using agentic software engineering tools (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, or similar) as part of modern software development workflows.
• Strong proficiency in TypeScript and Python. Experience contributing to codebases built with other popular programming languages.
• Ability to operate independently and turn loosely defined problems into practical solutions.

Compensation

The Redwood City, CA base pay range for a new hire in this role is $214,000 - $268,000. 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 #LI-Onsite