Principal Software Engineer, Quizlet
Consumer Experiences
$257.7-372.1k
+ Stock options
3+ days a week in office
Learning tools for students and teachers
Be an early applicant
Learning tools for students and teachers
501-1000 employees
Be an early applicant
$257.7-372.1k
+ Stock options
3+ days a week in office
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To give every student the tools and confidence to succeed, no matter their motivation or what they’re striving to achieve.
Role
Who you are
- 10+ years of software development experience with expertise in frontend systems
- Demonstrated ability in system architecture and design, understanding of design patterns, and ability to solve complex technical design challenges, with attention to scalability and performance concerns
- Experience designing and implementing high performance APIs
- The desire to work across team boundaries to understand the needs of our product development teams, and partner with infrastructure teams
- Strong problem solving skills, and attention to the little details needed to make informed decisions
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Track record of planning and executing technical initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and complex requirements, applying strategic prioritization
- Excitement about the impact your work could have on the lives of students and teachers every day
Desirable
- Professional experience at all levels of the tech stack (web, mobile, and backend)
- Experience leading organizations through complex migrations and refactors
- Prior management experience with teams of 20+
What the job involves
- The Consumer Experiences team at Quizlet delivers delightful study experiences to our learners wherever and however they want to study
- We’re looking for a Principal Engineer to advance our ability to build scalable systems, experiences, and APIs. You will provide technical leadership across our Consumer Experience team. You’ll drive architectural approaches and decisions and design rigor across our engineering teams
- In this role, you will influence our tech choices and drive an engineering culture of high ownership with a special focus on quality and observability. You’ll work with your fellow leaders in engineering to help uplevel our engineering culture across Quizlet and help build our new London-based engineering culture from the ground up
- Report to the VP of Engineering and contribute as a key member of the leadership team
- Serve as a subject matter expert and drive best practices across the organization with respect to software architecture
- Influence the overall target architecture of our product, aligning with engineers, leadership, and stakeholders at all levels
- Mentor teams in the design and implementation of complex systems, fostering a culture of innovation and technical excellence
- Ensure the delivery of high-quality, scalable, and resilient systems that meet business goals and customer needs
- Drive strategic technology decisions working with engineering leaders, and stakeholders across the organization
- Lead code reviews, architectural discussions, and troubleshooting sessions to ensure the highest standards of development
- Proactively anticipate and identify potential challenges, risks, and scaling issues in the quarters and years ahead while avoiding overengineered systems
Our take
Quizlet has evolved from a simple flashcard tool into one of the most recognizable consumer learning platforms, now serving over 60M active users. It reaches two-third of US high schoolers and half of college students, putting it among the top 20 US websites and leading education apps on mobile.
Its core strength lies in helping students learn quickly and effectively through tools like flashcards, practice tests, AI-generated study guides, and now course-specific collaborative folders. By focusing on efficiency and relevance, Quizlet has become a go-to resource for students who want targeted, outcome-driven study support. And its collaborative features also allow large groups of students to share and refine materials together, so learning really is a shared experience.
Recent expansions - including Course-Powered Quizlet and its deepened partnership with Brand Metrics - show the platform's continued momentum. With AI-driven personalization, independent ad measurement, and growing peer-recommended content, Quizlet is strengthening trust with advertisers while meeting modern student expectations. And these advancements sure position Quizlet as a leading, forward-thinking plater in ed-tech.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
75% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
May 2020
$30m
SERIES C
Feb 2018
$20m
SERIES B
Total funding: $62m
Company benefits
- Competitive Healthcare: Comprehensive health, dental, vision and disability plans for you and your family. 100% paid premiums for employees, 75% for dependents
- PTO & Family Benefits: Everyone gets 20 days of PTO, a minimum of 10 paid holidays, and 5 volunteer days off. We also provide resources for growing families, such as Carrot (fertility & family forming) and UrbanSitter (daycare & nannies). Our generous family leave plan offers 12 weeks of leave plus disability leave for birthing mothers when welcoming a new little learner into their family.
- Learning & Development: Here at Quizlet, we invest in our employees’ career development to support learning and professional growth. Employees have access to LinkedIn Learning, an on-demand learning solution designed to help them gain new skills and advance their careers. We host speakers and workshops and also offer support for other professional development opportunities.
- Shared Financial Success: Competitive salaries, stock options and a 401k match that makes saving for retirement easy.
- Wellness: We strive to promote the physical and mental health & well-being of our employees. We offer resources for mental health & well-being, plus a $100/month reimbursement towards wellness and fitness memberships.
- Commuter Benefits: We don’t have a school bus, but we'll help cover 50% of your public commuter & parking costs, plus pre-tax FSA. If you decide to work late, your ride home is on us.
Company HQ
China Basin, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Kurt Beidler
(CEO)Prior to joining Quizlet in 2024, Kurt was the Co-CEO of Swift. He also spent 17 years at Amazon in various roles, including General Manager of Automotive Sales, Advertising, and Amazon Kids as well as Director of Kindle Content in Beijing.
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