Associate Software Engineer

Learn to build with AI. Own what ships. Grow into a great engineer.
This is the start of your career, and we want it to count. If you’re early in your software engineering journey and you want to get good fast, working in an experienced team that builds with AI, SPAN is for you. It's also your entry point into SPAN LEAP (Learn, Engineer, Apply, Progress) our structured 12-month program built to turn early-career engineers into well-rounded, AI-ready engineers.
You'll not only write code but learn to think like an engineer, breaking problems down, directing AI toward clear, testable goals, and knowing when a solution, yours or the AI's, is right. You'll ship real, live work from day one, backed by a team who've done this before, building the judgment and habits that separate the engineers who thrive from the ones who plateau. We're looking for people who think critically, stay curious, and adapt fast when things change.
About SPAN LEAP
This role sits inside SPAN LEAP, our 12-month track that develops early-career engineers into AI-ready software engineers through real work rather than classroom training. Strong performers have the opportunity to transition from a fixed-term contract into a permanent role. Over the year, you can expect:

• A structured path across core engineering skill areas:  front-end, APIs, data, DevOps, testing, documentation, with AI readiness built in from day one, not bolted on afterward.
• A real mentorship model: a working SPAN engineer is paired with you and spends dedicated time every week guiding you on live projects, alongside pair programming and structured, group-based learning loops with the rest of your cohort.
• Hands-on AI engineering practice: learning to direct and orchestrate AI tools toward well-defined, testable goals, not just use them as a shortcut.  

What you'll do
As an associate engineer, you'll work as part of a delivery team, taking on small, well-defined pieces of work with support from senior engineers. Day to day, you'll:

• Write, review, reason about, and validate code for small, clearly defined features, making sure it meets our coding standards and practices.
• Use AI tools and help orchestrate AI agents toward well-defined, testable goals.
• Investigate and fix bugs with guidance from more experienced engineers.
• Write and run tests, and make sure coverage handles both the basic cases and the edge cases.
• Take part in code reviews as both an author and a reviewer, and act on the feedback you get.
• Help configure and maintain the automated quality gates that keep our code healthy, and understand why those standards exist.
• Own the quality of your output, regardless of how it was produced.

What we're looking for
You don't need years of experience. You do need a real foundation, strong critical thinking, and the drive to build on both. We're looking for someone who:

• Has 6-12 months experience.
• Can read and write code in at least one programming language (Java, Python, or Golang, TypeScript preferred), and understands core software development concepts.
• Breaks problems down clearly and can reason about whether a solution really is correct.
• Is keen to work with AI coding tools, and understands that the engineer owns the result, not the tool.
• Is comfortable with version control, or eager to learn Git properly.
• Learns quickly, asks substantive questions, and treats feedback as a way to get better.
• Communicates clearly and works well as part of a team.

Nice to have
None of these are required. Any of them will help you stand out:

• Hands-on experience with AI development tools, such as AI coding assistants or agent-based workflows.
• A portfolio, GitHub profile, or personal projects we can look at.
• Exposure to testing, a web or mobile framework, or a cloud platform.
• Internship, freelance, or open-source experience.

How you'll grow
Growth is built into how we work, not left to chance. As a LEAP participant, you'll follow a personal growth plan over the 12-month program with clear goals, paired with a dedicated mentor. You'll learn through pair programming with senior engineers, AI-assisted learning loops, code review, and career coaching, and we'll measure your progress against SFIA, the globally recognized skills framework we use across the company. The expectation is simple: take more on, with less supervision, as your skills and judgment develop, and, performance-dependent, move into a permanent role at the end of your 12-month contract.
About SPAN
SPAN Digital is a software product and consulting company headquartered in San Francisco, with development offices in Cape Town and Guadalajara. We work across a range of industries, with particular depth in technology, digital media, and fintech. For more than 13 years we've strategized, designed, and built software for clients ranging from startups to global brands.
Our Services teams work side by side with clients to design prototypes, launch production-ready services, and lead major product enhancements. Senior people take real accountability for outcomes, document what they build, and hand it off well. We're often called in for the complex work internal teams can't get to: fragile, business-critical systems; modernization that can't disrupt operations; and AI initiatives that need to move past the proof-of-concept stage.
Our Product teams draw on that same vantage point to build software that helps enterprises capture and use their own knowledge and gives engineering leaders real-time visibility into the systems they run, so they can make faster, more consistent decisions.
We're a global, high-performing team building smart solutions for ambitious clients. At SPAN, you'll work alongside experienced founders, tackle meaningful challenges, and keep growing personally and professionally. We balance structure with flexibility, autonomy with accountability, and learning with doing. It's not about grinding, it's about thriving. 
What we offer

• Flexible and generous work & leave schedule
• Hybrid-remote working model (the best of both worlds)
• Learning organization based on a reverence for expertise & craftsmanship (Meetups, Conferences, TechRadar Sessions, complimentary education, journals, e-Learning)
• Friday catered lunches, on-site haircuts, pet-friendly workplace, ping pong (home away from home)
• Charitable community initiatives, employee awards, and recognition
• MacBook Pro

You will love it here if

• You are allergic to hierarchical, bureaucratic cultures
• You want to work with very smart people from different backgrounds
• You are a voracious learner & an eager teacher of others
• You don't tolerate intra-office posturing or other douchebaggery

How to apply
If this sounds like the start you're looking for, we'd like to hear from you. Apply directly through our careers site.
SPAN is an equal-opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are happy to discuss reasonable accommodations during the hiring process.