Staff Back-End Engineer (South America)
Overview:
We are looking for a Staff Back-End Software Engineer (Full-Time Contractor) based in South America to join us on our mission to help people learn!
This is a great opportunity to work with an amazing team and drive the technology of learning products and platforms. We operate in a highly collaborative environment with Product and Design to build experiences that matter to our customers. At Nerdy, engineers do not just write code; they actively participate in the conversation on what and how to build the systems and solutions that matter to our customers. If you love your customers as much as we do, we'd love to hear from you.
The Staff Engineer will assume a dual role as a technical leader and a visionary for our highly complex and high-performing systems. In this capacity, they will not only provide technical guidance and mentorship to the team but also play a pivotal role in shaping and driving the overarching vision of our system.
About Nerdy:
At Nerdy (NYSE: NRDY) - the company behind Varsity Tutors - we’re redrawing the blueprint of learning. Our Live + AI™ platform fuses real-time human expertise with proprietary generative-AI systems, setting a new bar for measurable academic impact at global scale. We recruit the kind of technologists and operators you’d bet on as solo founders - people who turn ambiguous problems into shipping code, iterate faster than markets move, and compound their advantage with every data point. In an era where great employees can deliver 10-times the leverage of the merely good, we back those who play to win.
Fortune favors the bold. Join us.
How we compete:
AI-Native at every level
From the CEO to day-one hires, everyone builds and ships with generative AI. If you’re not wielding AI, you’re not done.Entrepreneurial velocity
Move at founder speed, prototype in hours, and measure in real user outcomes. Slow teams die.Free-market rigor
Ideas rise or fall on merit and results - no committees, no politics, no cap on upside.Full-stack ownership
You design, build, and run what you ship; accountability is a feature, not a bug.Reward for contribution
Pay rises with impact, not years. Outstanding results earn outsized rewards. We evaluate both what you achieve and how you achieve it: living our leadership principles and using AI effectively are formally measured and rewarded.Relentless exploration
Push the frontier of generative AI in live learning and - because only the paranoid survive - questioning every legacy assumption along the way.Is Apolitical
You stay focused on mission-aligned outcomes, not distractions or unrelated causes.
If you’re a technically minded builder who thrives on open competition, personal responsibility, and the chance to redefine how the world learns - while continually stretching the limits of what generative AI can do - come do the most ambitious and rewarding work of your career here. Learn more at nerdy.com.
Nerdy’s shareholder letters below explain our latest products and strategy:
Responsibilities
Technical Leadership: Serve as the technical point of reference for the squad and broader engineering team, ensuring best practices and architectural standards are upheld.
Solution Design: Lead the design and architectural discussions, making pivotal decisions on technologies, frameworks, and design patterns.
Code Quality: Advocate for and ensure the delivery of high-quality, maintainable, and scalable code. Conduct regular code reviews and provide mentorship to team members.
Collaboration: Work closely with product managers, designers, and other stakeholders to understand requirements, provide technical insights, and ensure the timely delivery of features.
Strategy and Vision: Contribute to the engineering department's strategy and vision, bringing innovative ideas to improve our customer-facing experiences.
Problem Solving: Address complex technical challenges, innovate solutions, and optimize existing systems for scalability and performance.
Team Development: Mentor and develop team members, helping them to grow in their technical roles and careers.
Qualifications:
Minimum of 10 years of software engineering experience with a proven track record of working on complex systems.
Strong experience with Ruby. Go and Pyton are nice to have!
Explicit mentoring of senior-level engineers regularly, leading to results.
Significant experience in AWS based cloud architecture environments.
In-depth knowledge of modern software engineering practices, design patterns, and architectures.
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Demonstrated experience in collaborating with multidisciplinary teams.
Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
A strong owner willing to roll up their sleeves. This role includes coding and reviewing the code of others.
Ability to implement customer-facing solutions that solve the customers’ true needs.
Nerdy is an apolitical company focused solely on helping people learn, and we achieve the most when united in this mission.
Unlock Your Full Potential at Nerdy:
Join our worldwide team—work from home, get great pay, and help shape the future of learning. Here’s what you get:
Competitive USD Compensation: Enjoy a market-leading rate paid in U.S. dollars.
100% Remote (Home Country Only): Work from anywhere in your home country—no relocation required, no borders crossed.
Flexible Time Off: Our flexible PTO lets you recharge on your own terms and when you need it the most.
Local Holiday Pay: We honor your nation’s official holidays with paid time off—celebrate what matters to you.
Continuous Learning: Get a free, all-inclusive learning membership for you and your household—including 1-on-1 tutoring hours, unlimited on-demand classes, and access to our full suite of learning products and services.
Supercharge with AI: Gain exclusive access to cutting-edge AI tools that boost your productivity, making you feel almost super-human (cape not included).
Feedback-Rich, Collaborative Culture: Tap into regular training, peer reviews, and a team that treats every team member as a vital collaborator and owner in our success.
Make a Global Impact: Your expertise fuels an innovative platform used by learners around the world—be part of something transformative.
The Bottom Line:
If you're driven by impact, energized by ownership, and excited to help shape what’s next, you’ll thrive here. We move fast, think big, and reward those who deliver. This isn’t a traditional corporate environment - it’s a place to do the most meaningful work of your career.
