Job Description
We’re hiring at multiple levels for this role. Senior Engineers at Descript own and deliver complex systems end-to-end, while Staff Engineers also help shape technical direction, influence architecture and engineering practices across teams. Final leveling is determined during the interview process based on scope, impact, and experience. We’re committed to being as transparent as possible throughout the process and working with you to ensure we find a mutual fit.
Who we are
We are building the next-generation AI-powered platform and web application for easy and fast creation of audio and video content. Growing this revolutionary product involves unique technical challenges and requires solving hard and complex problems.
The Core Team builds features to help our users find each other and use Descript to create and communicate their ideas with the world. We own critical systems ancillary to the business, in particular around Identity (auth, permissions, team management) and Plans & Payments (usage tracking, paywalls, payments).
We are looking for a full-stack Software Engineer to help us evolve our Identity model to meet the growing needs of our customers.
What you’ll do:
- Own technical design, implementation, and delivery of features across all levels of the stack (frontend and backend), in particular on the Identity surface (auth, permissions, team management)
- Write high-quality testable code that’s functional, long term maintainable and performant
- Drive exploration, alignment and cross-team collaboration for owned projects and surfaces
- Prioritize the highest impact work by balancing Engineering interests with business outcomes and product/design requirements
- Proactively improve the tech stack with tooling, abstractions, and test infrastructure
- Provide knowledge transfers, pairing time and mentorship for other Engineers
- Give constructive feedback in retros, RFCs, and PRs. Conversely, receive feedback and turn it into positive change
What you bring:
- Full-stack product engineer. It’s ok if you don’t love CSS, but you should be comfortable integrating and debugging functionality and logic end to end and think about systems holistically.
- Well versed in web development and associated devtools
- Technologies: Typescript, REST API development, relational DBs
- Track record evolving complex systems to accommodate growth while maintaining stability
- Comfortable walking off the beaten path, at the edge of systems
- Competent thinking about security risks & mitigations
- Experience integrating 3rd party services
- Strong at testing and debugging
- Solid collaboration and communication
- Growth mindset
Nice to have:
- AI curious: You’ve explored AI tools, recognize them as useful for specific situations, and know how to use them effectively while acknowledging their limitations
- Experience building account management features such as
- Invite flows, domain discovery, team management
- Enterprise features like audit logs, SSO and SCIM
- Opinions/experience with authz at scale: roles, permissions, RBAC, FGA
Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, including prior experience, expertise, location, and may vary from the amount above.The base salary range for this role is:
- Staff $224,000- $296,000/year
- Senior $190,000-$245,000/year
About Descript
Descript is building a simple, intuitive, fully-powered editing tool for video and audio — an editing tool built for the age of AI. We are a team of 150 and the backing of some of the world’s greatest investors (OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital).
Descript is the special company that’s in possession of both product market fit and the raw materials (passionate user community, great product, large market) for growth, but is still early enough that each new employee has a measurable influence on the direction of the company.
Benefits include a generous healthcare package, 401k matching program, catered lunches, and flexible vacation time. Our headquarters are located in the Mission District of San Francisco, CA. We’re hiring for a mix of remote roles and hybrid roles. For those who are remote, we have a handful of opportunities throughout the year for in person collaboration. For our hybrid roles, we’re flexible, and you’re an adult—we don’t expect or mandate that you’re in the office every day. We do believe there are valuable and serendipitous moments of discovery and collaboration that come from working together in person.
Descript is an equal opportunity workplace—we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. We believe in actively building a team rich in diverse backgrounds, experiences, and opinions to better allow our employees, products, and community to thrive.
