---
title: 'Full-Stack Software Engineer at PrairieLearn, Inc.'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/full-stack-software-engineer-prairielearn-inc-united-states-k649zr9ffmra'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Full-Stack Software Engineer at PrairieLearn, Inc.

- **Company:** PrairieLearn, Inc.
- **Location:** United States
- **Compensation:** $100k–$180k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-02-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/prairielearn/ee6fdbc3-1c3a-4fa3-bb3f-13ddab449baf

## Job description

Full-Stack Software Engineer Are you passionate about building innovative web applications and using AI to address real-world learning challenges? Do you want to help shape the future of education?

PrairieLearn is an early-stage EdTech startup. We are hiring talented Full-Stack Software Engineers.

Location: Fully remote (anywhere in the US) Position Type: Full-time Visa Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we cannot sponsor visas at this time.

## About Us

PrairieLearn is an open-source assessment platform, originally developed at the University of Illinois and now used at top universities across the US, including Berkeley, Princeton, Michigan, and UIUC. We empower mastery-based learning and large-scale assessment with an emphasis on reliability and innovation. We are like a "power-user" version of Gradescope/Canvas/Moodle. We’re also developing AI tooling in the product, including LLM agents to help instructors create content, and vision-language models to help grade student work. This is practical, user-facing AI work with real-world impact — not a research sandbox.

## About the Role

We are a small, profitable, open-source, bootstrapped company growing quickly. Our users love us and we have very high retention and rapid spread through word of mouth. As an early-stage hire, you’ll work across the stack and enjoy meaningful ownership from day one. You’ll help deliver practical, user-facing features with clear guardrails and authentic educational impact.

## Responsibilities

- Build and maintain systems across the stack: Node.js/TypeScript backend, Postgres, and React. We use tRPC, TanStack, and AWS.
- Design features end-to-end, from conception to rollout, working in a small team to architect and iterate on these features
- Collaborate directly with educators and TAs to translate academic needs into high-quality features

You Might Be a Fit If You…

- Have experience with full-stack web development
- Enjoy engaging directly with users—especially instructors and TAs
- Love owning projects from initial idea through to production
- Love using the cutting edge of AI development tools (Claude, Codex)
- Even if you don’t meet every requirement: If you’re a quick learner and passionate about education and engineering, we encourage you to apply!

Our Tech Stack

- Node.js / TypeScript backend
- Postgres, Redis, AWS, Docker
- React / tRPC / TanStack
- Open source: [PrairieLearn on GitHub](https://github.com/PrairieLearn/PrairieLearn)

Why Join PrairieLearn?

- Bootstrapped & Profitable: We’re growing quickly and sustainably
- Open Source: Collaborate with a global community of developers and educators
- Stock Options: As an early hire, you’ll receive stock options with your offer
- Remote Culture: Work from anywhere in the US with a flexible schedule
- Unlimited PTO & Flexible Hours: Take time when you need it and work when you perform best
- Career Growth: Early-stage team members have outsized opportunities for impact and learning

Details Location: Remote (US only) Salary: $100k-$180k depending on experience Benefits: Stock options (0.5% - 1.5%), unlimited PTO, flexible hours Type: Full-time Visa sponsorship: Not available

PrairieLearn is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Thank you for applying to PrairieLearn!

## About PrairieLearn, Inc.

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: PrairieLearn provides an open-source, online assessment and learning platform that enables instructors to create adaptive, mastery-based educational resources with real-time feedback.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Grant-funded, Bootstrapped operating model with paid hosting subscriptions)
- **Headquarters**: Champaign, Illinois, United States
- **Founded**: 2014 (software development); company incorporated in 2020
- **Founders**: Matthew West (Co-founder, CTO), Mariana Silva (Co-founder, CEO), Craig Zilles (Co-founder, Creator, CPO), Nathan Sarang-Walters (VP of University Relations)

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Education Technology (EdTech), Higher Education Assessment
- Target customers: Higher education institutions, university instructors, professors, and students (B2B for institutions, B2C for students via their institutions)
- Mission or purpose statement: "We believe that students should have access to quality education from anywhere in the world, and that instructors should have an adaptable platform to deliver that education."

## Products & Services
- **PrairieLearn Platform**: An open-source, cloud-hosted online assessment system for homework, tests, in-class activities, and practice. Instructors write questions as code (supporting numerical, multiple-choice, graphical input, code, and ordered blocks) that automatically generate and grade infinite randomized variants. Features include real-time feedback, mastery learning loops, and proctored or bring-your-own-device testing.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total raised $280K (Grant from National Science Foundation, latest round ~3 years ago); operates on a sustainable paid-subscription hosting model for institutions.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: National Science Foundation (NSF grant). The platform is used by over 50 institutions and 185,000+ students, with more than 1,000 courses running and 165M+ questions graded.
- **Growth Signals**: 8 employees currently (Built In profile); active open-source community with 50+ contributors; growing adoption at top universities in the US and Canada; recent job postings for Full-Stack Software Engineer and Learning Content Engineer.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Open-Source, Forever Commitment**: The core software is fully open-source, with an active developer community of professors, course staff, and students. This eliminates vendor lock-in and allows institutions to self-host or contribute improvements.
- **Mastery Learning by Design**: Built from the ground up for adaptive, infinite-variant questions with instant feedback, directly supporting pedagogical best practices that paper-based assessment cannot.
- **Founder-User Alignment**: The founders are professors and researchers who built the tool for their own demanding courses at the University of Illinois. The product solves real, proven pain points in large-enrollment STEM education.
- **Deep University Roots**: Originally developed at the flagship University of Illinois, one of the largest engineering colleges in the world, giving the platform credibility and a proven track record at scale.

## Strategic Focus
- **Growth via Adoption**: Focused on expanding the number of subscribing institutions and courses, particularly beyond the founding university network.
- **Platform Reliability & Scalability**: As they provide paid hosting, a key priority is maintaining a robust, secure, and scalable cloud service so instructors can focus on teaching rather than server administration.
- **Community & Open Source**: Nurturing the open-source contributor community to drive feature development, improvements, and bug fixes, ensuring the platform evolves with user needs.
- **Content Expansion**: Likely focused on creating and supporting more question libraries and content types to make onboarding new courses and disciplines easier.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-Driven Impact**: Work directly on a product that improves educational equity and outcomes for hundreds of thousands of students. The work has direct, measurable impact on teaching and learning.
- **Small, Focused Team**: With ~8 employees, new hires will have significant ownership and influence. The team is composed of engineers, learning engineers, and faculty support.
- **Remote-First/Hybrid Culture**: The company's office is in Champaign, IL, but roles are listed as remote/hybrid, with typical on-site time being flexible [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/prairielearn-inc).
- **Engineering-Led Product**: The founders are technologists and educators; the culture values quality software that solves real problems. The stack is modern and the challenges involve scalability, code-generation, and real-time systems.
- **Academically Rigorous Environment**: The team is passionate about teaching and includes people with deep experience in university instruction and learning engineering.

## Sources
1. [prairielearn.com](https://www.prairielearn.com/)
2. [prairielearn.com/about](https://www.prairielearn.com/about)
3. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/prairielearn](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/prairielearn)
4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/prairielearn-inc)
5. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/prairielearn)

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