Associate Software Engineer

About OpenSesame

OpenSesame is disrupting the workforce development industry by leveraging an AI-powered marketplace of more than 50,000 skills courses. The platform combines assessments, content authoring, curation, personalized learning pathways, and virtual coaching to deliver seamless eLearning through existing enterprise systems and in the flow of work. More than 2,000 companies, including 150+ of the Global 2000, rely on OpenSesame to develop the world's most productive and admired workforces. Learn more at www.opensesame.com/about

About the Team

The Core engineering team serves as a platform enablement function, responsible for OpenSesame's identity management and commerce domains. This team builds and maintains shared services that support product engineering teams across the entire company. The environment is agile, continuously improving, and automation-oriented, with regular inspection of workflows to identify bottlenecks and make deliberate changes that improve quality, reliability, and delivery velocity.

About the Role

As an Associate Software Engineer, you will work with mentorship across a modern, full-stack technology architecture. You'll gain hands-on experience with React, TypeScript, Node.js, GitHub Actions, Terraform, and AWS infrastructure. You'll also work with SQL relational databases and identity management protocols including SAML and OIDC. Front-end expertise and exposure to authentication flows are particularly valuable in this position.

A key aspect of this role involves working in and around legacy systems. You're expected to approach complex systems with curiosity and care, understanding that real-world software engineering often requires balancing modernization with maintaining critical existing functionality.

You will participate fully in team practices including pair programming, code reviews, on-call rotation, and release processes. Your ownership of these responsibilities will grow steadily as you expand your technical knowledge and skills. This position is ideal for someone actively building their professional engineering experience while contributing meaningfully to a strong team culture.

Performance Objectives: First 3 Months

Summary: Get fully set up and integrated into the team's codebases and workflows while starting to participate in collaborative development.

• Basic System Understanding: Develop a foundational mental model of the Core team's domains, including identity management systems and the legacy commerce platform architecture.
• Team Collaboration: Build working relationships through pair programming sessions. Participate actively in standups, sprint planning, estimation, retrospectives, and all required team meetings.
• Code Contributions: Enhance your technical skills by writing code, debugging errors, and learning from peer guidance. Focus on understanding the codebase structure and team conventions.
• Development Practices: Apply standard testing approaches including unit tests and smoke tests. Begin learning CI/CD pipeline technologies such as GitHub Actions and Terraform infrastructure-as-code.

Performance Objectives: 6 Months

Summary: Begin taking on ownership of specific operational tasks and smaller feature work with decreasing guidance from senior team members.

• Technical Ownership: Own the implementation of small features and bug fixes independently, with code review support from teammates.
• System Knowledge: Develop deeper understanding of identity management flows and commerce platform logic. Understand how your team's services integrate with the broader platform.
• Operational Responsibility: Participate in on-call rotation with appropriate support. Respond to and resolve production incidents with team guidance.
• Quality Standards: Consistently meet team code quality standards. Contribute to testing strategy and help improve CI/CD processes through small automation improvements.

What We're Looking For

You should be enthusiastic about growing your professional engineering experience in a supportive environment. Curiosity about how systems work, willingness to learn from others, and commitment to collaborative development are essential. Previous experience with any part of the modern stack (React, TypeScript, Node.js, AWS, or identity protocols) is valuable but not required if you demonstrate strong foundational programming skills and eagerness to learn.

Why Join OpenSesame

You'll be part of a company transforming how enterprises develop their workforce. Your work directly supports the infrastructure that serves thousands of companies and millions of learners. The Core team's focus on platform reliability and shared services means your contributions have company-wide impact. You'll work with modern technologies, experienced engineers willing to mentor, and a team committed to continuous improvement.

💰 Compensation not publicly listed. Market estimate for similar roles: from $120K, varying by experience and location.