OVERVIEW

A thriving, mission-driven multimedia organization, NPR produces award-winning news, information, and music programming in partnership with hundreds of independent public radio stations across the nation. The NPR audience values information, creativity, curiosity, and social responsibility - and our employees do too. We are innovators and leaders in diverse fields, from journalism and digital media to IT and development. Every day, our employees and member stations touch the lives of millions worldwide.

Across our organization, we're building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success. We are committed to doing the right thing in our journalism and in every role at NPR. This means that integrity, adherence to our ethical standards, and compliance with legal obligations are fundamental responsibilities for every employee at NPR.

INTRO TO POSITION

Each day you will work with a cross-functional team of professionals combining business, design, product, user experience and engineering expertise, working relentlessly to push the boundaries of what's possible and paving the road for the future of news and entertainment media.

The Audience Technology group is looking for an experienced, talented and knowledgeable Software Engineer to join the Consumer/Network Services team responsible for developing, supporting and maintaining our microservices, core backend APIs, and systems that power donor/subscriber conversion experiences on NPR platforms . These are the API's and services that drive innovation and engagement across NPR's audience facing digital platforms and member station touch points.

We are looking for someone to help develop, support and maintain our audience revenue platforms which include donations and our premium podcast offering. Examples of technology you'll work with include our payment processing solution (Stripe), the systems powering our Podcast Subscription Service (NPR+). You will also collaborate with colleagues managing customer data in our Salesforce CRM. You will be a vital contributor to NPR's efforts to increase financial support from our audience for our mission as we build the technology needed to service long term sustainable growth.

You'll also work on the Listening and Identity services, which directly power the NPR One and NPR mobile applications as well as our NPR One Alexa skill. These services provide NPR content recommendations directly to thousands of users on a daily basis. You'll also collaborate closely with our client-side engineering teams who manage NPR.org and the NPR mobile app.

This is a union represented role covered under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with DMU.
RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop, support, and enhance microservices, core backend APIs, and systems critical to NPR's donor/subscriber conversion experiences.
• Contribute to audience revenue platforms, including donation systems and premium podcast offerings like NPR+.
• Collaborate with Salesforce CRM for managing customer data and enhancing user experiences.
• Architect and maintain services powering NPR One, NPR mobile apps, and NPR One Alexa skill, delivering personalized content recommendations to thousands of users daily.
• Drive technological solutions that support NPR's mission of sustainable growth through increased audience financial support.
• Collaborate closely with our client-side engineering teams who manage NPR.org and the NPR mobile app.
• Write clean, efficient, and reusable code aligned with product specifications.
• Engage in all phases of quality assurance and defect resolution, ensuring high standards of software reliability.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipeline implementations and advocate for best practices in software delivery.
• Partner closely with cross-functional teams including product managers, designers, and QA engineers to deliver impactful solutions.
• Collaborate with senior engineers on system design and architecture within feature areas.
• Mentor junior engineers, promoting code quality and professional growth.
• Participate in agile ceremonies and contribute to continuous improvement of team processes.
• Participate in an on-call rotation to ensure system stability and reliability.

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• 3 to 5 years of experience in backend development, API integrations, cloud services (like AWS), and familiarity with various programming languages and frameworks.
• Proficiency in JavaScript/TypeScript and PHP (or equivalent backend language).
• Experience developing RESTful APIs on cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS).
• Strong object-oriented programming skills with familiarity in SQL and RDBMS technologies.
• Ability to build scalable and performant software under high loads.
• Experience with unit testing, CI/CD pipelines, and production system deployment.
• Knowledge of web development best practices and version control systems.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Familiarity with payment processing platforms like Stripe and podcast subscription services.
• Experience in PCI-compliant environments and security best practices.
• Advanced proficiency with AWS services (Lambda, EC2, DynamoDB, etc.) and Google BigQuery.
• Familiarity with React, Redux, A/B testing methodologies, and caching technologies.

WORK LOCATION

Remote Permitted: This is a remote permitted role. This role is based out of our Washington, DC office but the employee may choose to work on a remote basis from a location that NPR approves.
JOB TYPE

This is a full time, exempt position.
COMPENSATION

Salary Range: The U.S. based anticipated salary range for this opportunity is $117,968 - 131,488 plus benefits. The range displayed reflects the actual minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

Benefits: NPR offers access to comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents. Regular, full-time employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week are eligible to enroll in NPR's benefits options. Benefits include access to health and wellness, paid time off, and financial well-being. Plan options include medical, dental, vision, life/ accidental death and dismemberment, long-term disability, short-term disability, and voluntary retirement savings to all eligible NPR employees.

Does this sound like you? If so, we want to hear from you.

The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR Pay Range

$117,968-$131,488 USD

Want more NPR? Explore the stories behind the stories on our NPR Extra blog. Get social with NPR Extra on Facebook and Instagram. Find more career opportunities at NPR.org/careers.

NPR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NPR is committed to being an inclusive workplace that welcomes diverse and unique perspectives, all working toward the same goal - to create a more informed public. Qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, lactation, and reproductive health decisions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, gender non-conforming status, intersex status, sexual stereotypes, nationality, citizenship status, personal appearance, marital status, family status, family responsibilities, military status, veteran status, mental and physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, genetic characteristics of yourself or a family member, political views and affiliation, unemployment status, protective order status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.

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