Staff Software Engineer (AI-Native)(Full time contractor - India)
Overview:
We are looking for a Staff Engineer in India to join the engineering team! In this role, you will set technical direction across both front-end and back-end systems, helping shape the architecture, performance, reliability, and user experience of our learning platform. You will provide hands-on technical leadership across squads, partner closely with Product and Design, and drive the development of scalable, secure-by-default, AI-powered customer experiences.
This is a high-impact role for an engineer who can move fluidly across the stack, from high-traffic user interfaces to high-scale services, while mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar across the organization.
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 howyou 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 atnerdy.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 in architecture, performance optimization, and accessibility standards are upheld.
Solution Design: Lead the design and architectural discussions for systems, making pivotal decisions on frameworks, state management patterns, component architecture, and design systems.
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.
AI Enablement: Leverage AI-native tools and approaches to improve development speed, product capabilities, and engineering effectiveness across the software lifecycle.
Qualifications:
Minimum of 10 years of software engineering experience, with a proven track record of building and evolving complex, high-scale systems and customer-facing applications.
Strong full-stack expertise, including domain in:
Frontend: JavaScript, TypeScript
Backend: Javascript, Java, Golang
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.
Experienced with AI-native tools that enhance productivity and speed (Cursor, Make.com, Supabase, Netlify, Claude Code, n8n, Firecrawl, ChatGPT, Grok, Bolt, Vercel, etc).
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Experience designing high-traffic web applications and scalable distributed services.
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 with exceptional user experiences.
Nerdy is an apolitical company focused solely on helping people learn, and we achieve the most when united in this mission.
Unleash Your Potential at Nerdy:
At Nerdy, you'll earn your success through meritocracy and exceptional outcomes. Our benefits reward performance and initiative:
Competitive USD-Benchmarked Compensation: Earn a market-leading rate set in U.S. dollars, paid to you in local currency.
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.