Backend Typescript Engineer at MANUAL
MANUAL is a cutting-edge digital platform dedicated to personal development and mental wellness, specifically tailored to inspire young men to unlock their full potential. Today, male students face significant challenges in higher education, with lower enrollment, retention, and graduation rates—particularly among young men of color. Their mental health is also in crisis, with rising rates of suicide and overdose. MANUAL is on a mission to change this narrative.
We partner with high schools, universities, and fraternities nationwide—including the University of Mississippi, Morgan State University, and MSU-Denver—to deliver high-quality programming focused on men’s success and mental health. Our work has already impacted tens of thousands of students. Backed by investors like Expanse Venture Partners, 12-48, the Inner Foundation, and angel investors from leading companies such as Maven Clinic, McKinsey & Company, and Eleanor Health, MANUAL’s evidence-based approach has proven effective in reaching young men who are underserved by traditional systems. Our users trust us deeply, and we’re proud of the impact we’ve made.
Are you passionate about building efficient, scalable applications? Do you want to use your technical skills to make a meaningful difference in the lives of thousands of young men across the country? If you’re excited about full-stack Typescript development and thrive in a fast-paced startup environment, we’d love to hear from you!
Who We’re Looking For:
Typescript Experts: You have a strong grasp of Typescript and the JavaScript ecosystem. You’ve built or contributed to web applications and APIs, and you’re passionate about creating elegant, scalable solutions. You’ve written production-ready backend code and are eager to tackle new challenges.
Creative Problem Solvers: You thrive on solving complex problems and finding innovative solutions. You understand that in a startup, delivering a functional product that meets user needs is more important than chasing perfection.
Collaborative Team Players: You value teamwork and open communication. As part of our small but growing team, your contributions will have a significant impact. We’re looking for engineers who are humble, supportive, and eager to collaborate with their peers.
Curious Lifelong Learners: You’re always eager to learn and grow. We value team members who are open to new ideas and experiences, recognizing that everyone has something to teach and something to learn.
What You Won’t Need:
- A specific number of years of experience. What matters most is your ability to apply your knowledge to real-world challenges. While we can’t provide the level of mentorship needed for junior developers (e.g., recent graduates or bootcamp alumni), you should have experience shipping production code.
- A formal computer science degree. We value diverse educational backgrounds and learning paths. For example, our head of engineering doesn’t have a CS degree.
What You’ll Do:
- Take the lead on developing our RedwoodJS backend, which powers APIs for our NextJS and React Native applications. Most of your time will be spent enhancing APIs—adding features, improving tests, and optimizing performance.
- Help manage our Postgres database and backend infrastructure.
- Participate in user feedback sessions to better understand their needs and refine our solutions.
- Play a key role in hiring future engineering team members, helping us build a talented and diverse team.
- Shape our engineering processes and culture as we grow.
- Collaborate closely with our head of engineering and other team members on both backend and frontend projects, bringing your unique skills and perspective to the table.
Important Details:
- Job Type: Full-time, fully remote with occasional optional travel for team gatherings.
- Compensation: $125k–$150k per year, depending on experience and skill level.
- Benefits: Fully covered Health, Dental, and Vision insurance (no employee contribution). Unlimited PTO.
Hiring Process:
- Application Submission: Submit your application, and if selected, we’ll reach out to schedule an interview.
- 30-Minute Intro Call: A casual conversation with Karl Morand, our head of engineering, to learn about your background and experience. No technical questions—just a chance to get to know each other. We’ll provide a list of topics/questions in advance to help you prepare.
- Take-Home Project: A practical assignment to showcase your problem-solving skills. You’ll have at least 5 days to complete it. The goal is to understand how you approach coding challenges, not to critique your code.
- 45-Minute Technical Call: A deeper discussion with Karl about your take-home project and technical expertise. No live coding—just a conversation about your approach and experience. Specific topics will be shared in advance.
- 30-Minute Teammate Interview: Meet with 1-2 other MANUAL team members to ensure we’re a great fit. You’ll receive details about the interviewers and topics beforehand.
- Job Offer!: If all goes well, we’ll extend an offer to join our team.