Native English Institute is the language learning platform that globalizes business. NEI has grown rapidly over the past 2 years, establishing a solid base of b2b subscribers, mostly in Japan. Its Seed Round
financing (January 2020) was led by Keiretsu Forum Japan. NEI is expanding its software
development team. The Director of Engineering will be a player-coach supervising two full-stack
developers (one of these is already on contract in Russia and very familiar with the platform).
The Director of Engineering will be a hands-on production contributor who leads frontend and
backend development and manages product and process automation. The engineering team is
expected to double in 2021.
NEI’s pre-Seed platform is built in PhP in the Yii framework, housed on AWS, code base in
Github. It integrates Stripe and Zoho (mail, CRM, Analytics). 3 rd party systems used include
Blackboard Collab video conferencing, JIRA, G Suite, WhenIWork.com. NEI’s technology
evolution will involve re-architecting and transitioning from the NEI pre-Seed platform to a
robust, highly scalable system built using modern web-platform technologies and connected to a
mobile app. NEI’s unique value proposition (UVP) is its hybrid recommender engine that uses
collaborative filters to track similar behavior among profiles for customized language learning.
NEI creates the optimal plan for each individual to master communication skills for his functional
area, and delivers this curriculum through professional 1:1 instruction. In future, NEI’s system
will be used for learning languages other than English.
Heading technology in a startup is like getting an MBA without going to MBA school. The NEI
Director of Engineering will have decision-making responsibility for the direction, strategy, and
financial management of the technology aspects of the business. The role involves intensive
interaction with end-users and purchasers: it is an education in product design, market fit,
pricing models and revenue optimization. This is a fast-track startup management experience
opportunity with a competitive compensation package.
RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE
● Determine the long-term architecture for the existing platform and implement the
company's product development vision.
● Detail strategic software development roadmap in coordination with leadership team,
including quarterly and yearly targets. Plan project timelines & manage priorities to
accomplish roadmap targets with appropriate flexibility to addressing “unplanned
events.”
● Prioritize dev activities that drive efficient revenue.
● Keep focus on developing code for NEI’s UVP recommender engine that produces
learning results. For internal operations and platform features outside of NEI’s UVP,
whenever possible implement 3rd party solutions.
● Understand the needs of subscribers and b2b purchasers (most of whom are in Japan),
adjust product roadmap to optimize user experience and maximize sales & engagement.
at least 7 years of experience in a senior engineering position developing consumer
sites/software/applications through modern web-technology stacks and object-oriented
languages.
● a proven record leading a development team, ability to influence a cross-functional
remote team and inspire trust and confidence
● technology-business background demonstrating they are consumer- and result-
oriented, highly organized, highly analytical and procedural, creative and strategic
thinker, able to work on multiple projects and meet tight deadlines.
● deep technical understanding — proven ability to develop successful long term
code/service architectures
● deep expertise with best practices for software engineering, systems design and
software design patterns
● demonstrable depth in technology and current trends; Deep understanding of software
design principles, algorithms, data structures, and scalability concepts
● skill operating in public cloud environments. (AWS is the preferred environment.)
● knowledge and experience in DevOps and NoOps methodologies, for example, CI/CD
through test, full build, and deploy automation workflows and tools
● experience building and deploying (or understanding of) iOS and Android applications.
This is a remote position. The Director of Engineering will report to the CEO (divides time
between Japan & U.S.), and work closely with the Sr. Education Director (Seattle) and Japan
Country Manager. It will involve a lot of travel and extended periods of time in Japan. NEI’s
office is in Kobe.
To apply, please:
1. send resume to Recruiting@NE.Institute.
2. Use Subject Line “I want to be the technology brain of a global company”.
3. In your cover letter, tell us why.