Overview

A thriving, mission-driven multimedia organization, NPR produces award-winning news, information, and music programming in partnership with hundreds of independent public radio stations across the nation. The NPR audience values information, creativity, curiosity, and social responsibility – and our employees do too. We are innovators and leaders in diverse fields, from journalism and digital media to IT and development. Every day, our employees and member stations touch the lives of millions worldwide.

Across our organization, we’re building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success. We are committed to doing the right thing in our journalism and in every role at NPR. This means that integrity, adherence to our ethical standards, and compliance with legal obligations are fundamental responsibilities for every employee at NPR.

Intro to Position

Each day you will work with a cross-functional team of professionals combining business, design, product, user experience and engineering expertise, working relentlessly to push the boundaries of what’s possible and paving the road for the future of news and entertainment media.

The Content Production Technology group is looking for an experienced, talented and knowledgeable Software Engineer to join the team responsible for developing, supporting and maintaining our internal technologies for planning and producing our multi-platform content. This suite of software is the core toolset for our content division and is ever-evolving to meet the changing needs of our production staff.

As a software engineer on the team you would work with a team of engineers and QA professionals to build, debug, and deploy software solutions for our internal content planning and production needs. The software you build would be used by our editorial staff around the world as well as some staff at our member stations working on collaborative journalism. You would encounter exciting challenges in supporting a 24/7 content division and using your talents to assist them in covering a non-stop news cycle. Members of the team are expected to be self-driven, voracious learners who relish the challenge of supporting our journalists and fulfilling the mission of NPR.

This is a union represented role covered under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with NABET-CWA DMU.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain API’s, services, and front-ends as architectured and/or designed by senior members of the team and our collaborative partners.
Contribute feedback and suggestions to the team in engineering meetings and code reviews.
Write clean, efficient, and reusable code aligned with product specifications.
Engage in all phases of quality assurance and defect resolution, ensuring high standards of software reliability.
Contribute to CI/CD pipeline implementations and advocate for best practices in software delivery.
Partner closely with cross-functional teams including product managers, designers, and QA engineers to deliver impactful solutions.
Collaborate with senior engineers on system design and architecture within feature areas.
Mentor junior engineers, promoting code quality and professional growth.
Participate in agile ceremonies and contribute to continuous improvement of team processes.
Participate in after-hours on-call rotation in a 24/7/365 environment.

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.

Minimum Qualifications

3 to 5 years of experience in software development with meaningful experience with building and consuming API’s as well as familiarity with various programming languages and frameworks.
Proficiency in JavaScript/TypeScript and C#..
Experience developing RESTful APIs on cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS).
Strong object-oriented programming skills with familiarity in SQL and RDBMS technologies.
Ability to build reliable and performant software under high loads.
Experience with unit testing, CI/CD pipelines, and production system deployment.
Knowledge of web development best practices and version control systems.
Excellent problem solving, analysis and troubleshooting skills in an environment where downtime is not an option

Preferred Qualifications

Familiarity with orchestration and automated workflows with tools like Conductor or ORKES
Experience with NoSQL databases (e.g. Elasticsearch, DynamoDB)
Experience with CI/CD pipelines (Github Actions, Bamboo, or equivalent)
Experience using observability and log aggregation platforms (Datadog)
A passion for NPR’s content and/or familiarity with our digital products
Experience with audio/video workflows (ingestion, transcoding, content management and streaming).

Work Location & Requirements

NPR Remote-Permitted: This is a remote-permitted role. This role is based out of our Washington, D.C. office, but the employee may choose to work on a remote basis from a location that NPR approves. You will have the option of working (a) remotely from a location of your choosing within the United States that is supported by NPR; (b) on-site at an NPR facility, based on the availability of desks and approval from NPR; or (c) a combination of both. Regardless of where you choose to work from, you may be expected to travel to other locations from time to time to perform the duties of your position.

Job Type

This is a full-time, exempt position.

Compensation

Salary Range: The U.S. based anticipated salary range for this opportunity is $117,968.09 - $125,152.35 plus benefits. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR offers access to comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents. Regular, full-time employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week are eligible to enroll in NPR’s benefits options. Benefits include access to health and wellness, paid time off, and financial well-being. Plan options include medical, dental, vision, life/ accidental death and dismemberment, long-term disability, short-term disability, and voluntary retirement savings to all eligible NPR employees.

Does this sound like you? If so, we want to hear from you.

The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR Pay Range

$117,968.09—$125,152.35 USD

NPR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NPR is committed to being an inclusive workplace that welcomes diverse and unique perspectives, all working toward the same goal – to create a more informed public. Qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, lactation, and reproductive health decisions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, gender non-conforming status, intersex status, sexual stereotypes, nationality, citizenship status, personal appearance, marital status, family status, family responsibilities, military status, veteran status, mental and physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, genetic characteristics of yourself or a family member, political views and affiliation, unemployment status, protective order status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.

If you are a person with a disability needing assistance with the application process, please reach out to employeerelations@npr.org.

You may read NPR’s privacy policy to learn about how NPR may handle information you submit with any application.

Want more NPR? Explore the stories behind the stories on our NPR Extra blog. Get social with NPR Extra on Facebook and Instagram. Find more career opportunities at NPR.org/careers.

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