Founding Software Engineer

Company Overview:

Mentee is a dynamic startup dedicated to helping teenagers discover and build long-lasting life habits. We connect high school students with peer coaches at top schools who provide personalized guidance and act as academic assistants for their mentees. Through community and mentorship, our mission is to empower students to navigate high school and beyond with confidence, fostering habits that will serve them well into the future. We aim to make the journey more enriching and supportive, helping students thrive in all aspects of their lives.

Location: Remote (Philadelphia, NYC, Seattle/Bellevue WA areas preferred)
Hours: Mostly asynchronous. Expect evening availability for team meetings for east coast applicants.

Expect at least 25 hours of work per week Pay: Combination of equity, monthly base stipend, and milestone bonuses

Note: Please do not apply if you must be paid a full salary immediately. Expect that this role will entail of a $500 base monthly stipend + future equity as payment until another round is raised.

Position Overview: As a Software Engineer (Mobile App Development) at Mentee, you will be a key player in building a mobile experience that empowers students and parents through peer coaching. Using SwiftUI or Flutter, you’ll create a seamless, intuitive app while ensuring smooth front-end and back-end integration. If you have experience in Python for backend development, that’s a bonus. Your role will involve collaborating with the product and design team to build features from the ground up, playing a crucial role in Mentee’s growth and success.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical Expertise: Proficient in SwiftUI or Flutter for app development. Experience with Python for backend development is a plus, particularly in handling API integrations, database interactions, and server-side logic.

UI/UX Development: Work closely with design teams to implement intuitive, visually engaging, and responsive user interfaces that resonate with students and parents. Balance design aesthetics with practical functionality and performance.

Full App Lifecycle Management: Take ownership of the full development cycle, from concept and design to implementation, testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance. Ensure code is maintainable, scalable, and documented.

API Integration: Integrate third-party APIs, such as payment gateways or analytics tools, ensuring smooth communication between front-end and backend systems.

Performance Optimization: Optimize app performance for speed, efficiency, and reliability. Troubleshoot performance issues, debug errors, and implement best practices to enhance the user experience.

Agile Development: Participate in sprint planning, retrospectives, and daily stand-ups. Be adaptable in working on evolving requirements and prioritize features based on company goals.

User Feedback Implementation: Collaborate with customer support and product team to gather user feedback, troubleshoot issues, and implement changes based on real-world usage.

Our Values:

1. Open Debate

• Value: We believe in speaking our minds and challenging ideas respectfully. Debate is essential for finding the best solutions.
• Example: Encouraging team members to voice concerns with a “red flag” system, where anyone can question or challenge a decision if they believe it’s not the right path.

2. Revolutionizing Teenage Motivation

• Value: Our motivation is driven by the mission of Mentee: Helping teenagers discover and build long-lasting life habits through psychology, technology, and near-peer mentorship. If we focus on our ultimate goal, personal growth and gain will come with it.
• Example: Joining Mentee means being passionate about the problems we are trying to solve. How can we ease student stress and healthily build excellent productivity habits?

3. Relentless Curiosity

• Value: Constant evolution and a willingness to tackle different challenges head-on are key to success here. Curiosity drives us to grow and innovate.
• Example: Team members take on various roles, from product design to product management, with a determined and open-minded approach to every new challenge.

4. Ambitious Vision, Realistic Execution

• Value: We aim to create a billion-dollar company while recognizing and adapting to our current realities. We must confront the hard realities and think critically about our solution — is this the problem/solution fit that will take us to a billion-dollar company?
• Example: We strive to build a unicorn but understand that iterating and improving our current solutions is necessary to reach that long-term goal.

5. Support

• Value: We value honesty and transparency in all interactions and believe in supporting each other as friends, not just colleagues.
• Example: We encourage you to give honest feedback, even when it’s tough, and to seek support; it’s important to know that all of us at Mentee are here to support you because there is no Mentee without an excellent team.

Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, App Development, or related field. 2+ years of experience in software engineering or app/website development with a repository that showcases your ability to engage diverse audiences. A passion for storytelling and a creative mindset that allows you to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced startup environment Passion for education and a deep understanding of high school and middle school pain points.

Bonus points if you:

• Had an obsession with Among Us during the lockdown (classic team meeting game)
• Always text your friends back asap! We’re a small team that emphasizes community

We are a small, investor-backed start-up and are looking for someone who is a go-getter, a creative thinker, and most importantly, someone who can have fun and collaborate with the rest of the team while getting the job done!