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About AppliedXL:The standards of a newsroom with the scale of a tech platform. We believe in holding AI to a higher standard, representing information with focus and clarity, while finding meaning with human context.AppliedXL detects early signals in data before they become news. Our intelligence platform combines machine learning with the principles of investigative journalism to anticipate events prior to their public announcement, if at all. We call this "pre-news".We are a team of computational journalists, engineers and data scientists who have high standards for data and represent information with focus and clarity, while finding meaning with human context. We are analytical, we are transparent and we care. If you're looking for a change and want to work on the complex problems within scaling AI-generated content with human domain experts at the helm, we'd love for you to join us on our mission.About the Role:As our Senior Software Engineer, you'll assume a critical role in shaping our vision of delivering high quality, AI-generated content to our users through bespoke user experiences. You will take charge of our client web application, ensuring it remains responsive, intuitive, and flexible to allow for rapid product development. Your expertise will extend to integrating essential third-party services, including payment and authentication systems, which are vital for a seamless user experience. Additionally, you'll oversee the development of our internal content management and quality assurance systems, which are pivotal for teaching LLMs, fostering a symbiotic relationship between AI and human editorial expertise.Your responsibilities will also extend to our Django-based backend, where your continued development will ensure scalable and efficient data handling. Your role is key to facilitating our mission: to distill complex, voluminous data into clear, impactful insights, supporting our commitment to precision and clarity in an era of information overload. Our motto is "no data vomit," and believe big data doesn't have to reveal itself to provide meaningful insights.We are looking for a candidate who is not just technically proficient but also aligns with our ethos of blending technology with human insight, someone who understands the value of data integrity and the impact of our work in computational journalism that drives real-time decision making. We do not want our client-facing platform to become just another news wire or reader, but instead we aim to develop user experiences that enable seamless engagement with dense AI-driven content, and your experience as a front end engineer and your eye for good design are essential in getting us there. As our team continues to grow, the Senior Software Engineer will be in a natural position to become a leader at Applied XL and one day lead a team of their own.Responsibilities:Lead the development, optimization, and maintenance of our client-facing web application, ensuring robust, clean, and efficient user experiences both on desktop and mobile.Implement responsive, accessible, and aesthetically intuitive user interfaces with React, HTML and CSS, adhering to the best practices and latest web standards.Assume ownership of our Django backend and help optimize microservices to ensure highly reactive user experiences as our content catalog across data domains continues to grow. Integrate and manage a suite of AWS services to enhance application performance, scalability, and reliability, ensuring seamless deployment and operation.Rapidly deploy internal tooling that streamlines the improvement of internal processes, such as managing taxonomies, improving LLMs, and content management & quality assurance; ensuring they support the dynamic needs of computational journalism.Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define, design, and deploy new features, while also identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks and ensuring the technical feasibility of UIUX designs with roles including but not limited to designers, data scientists, support engineers, and content editors.Oversee the integration of third-party services such as payment gateways and authentication systems, ensuring secure, efficient, and seamless user interactions.Advocate for and implement best practices in software engineering, including code reviews, continuous integration, and automated testing, to maintain high code quality and facilitate agile development.What we're looking for:Demonstrated ability to work independently and make informed, strategic decisions.Proven track record of taking existing systems and elevating their performance, demonstrating clear improvements in efficiency and output.Proficient in at least Javascript and Python as well as React, Redux, Django and lightweight API frameworks.Proficiency building cloud-first systems using AWS or GCP-equivalent cloud services, such as ECSkubernetes, RDS, DynamoDB, lambda, messaging queues, loggingobservability solutions and more. Experience with AI services is certainly a plus.Proven experience as a Software Engineer with a strong portfolio demonstrating expertise in React, Redux, HTML, and CSS. (we'd love to see it!)Fluent in SQL as well as experience with no-SQL and vector databases. Experience with graph databases is a plus.Experience in integrating and customizing third-party APIs, payment systems, and authentication platforms within a full-stack environment.Adept at working in an agile environment, demonstrating a proactive attitude and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced setting.Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical team members and stakeholders.A strong commitment to continuous learning and staying in the loop with the latest web development trends and technologies.CICD mindset. Experience developing test suites with Jest and Cypress or other front end frameworks that test functionality, integration, end-to-end, performance and cross browser compatibility.Some experience in UIUX design with an eye for user efficiency, information distillation and accessibility. Applied XL EngineersAre strong communicators who can articulate complex concepts to audiences of all technical backgrounds.Do not engage in "trigger-happy data science" where standardized metrics often fail to inform complex problems. Our engineers understand data is nuanced and empathize with the real world that data represents.Thrive in cross-functional environments and are eager to learn and grow their skills outside of their core responsibilities.Have empathy for both our users and the data we serve to them.Are comfortable with some ambiguity in a fast-paced environment and enjoy prototyping as a means of validation.Work in agile SDLC environments and with issue tracking software like Jira.Enjoy building modern cloud services and are comfortable with relevant AWS services or comparable from other cloud service providers.Have at least a high-level understanding of the machine learning life cycle.Work with all kinds of databases: relational, document, search and key-value stores.Deploy rapidly and work with CICD tools such as CircleCI, Jenkins or others.Take pride in quality and are familiar with relevant testing frameworks. Are opinionated and strive to evolve our engineering culture. Benefits:Competitive salary and equity ownership packageComprehensive health and dental insuranceUnlimited PTO