The Organization: Merit America
The American economy is broken. Today, 53 million working adults–nearly half of the U.S. workforce–do not earn a living wage. These talented workers have few options to advance: college is too long and expensive, full-time boot camp programs don’t offer enough flexibility, and online courses don’t have the structure or support to translate learning into a new career. The result? Talented workers, disproportionately people of color and women, get stuck in low-wage roles with no way to build a better life for themselves and their families.
Merit America is a national nonprofit that creates pathways to family-sustaining careers for Americans stuck in low-wage work. Our fast, flexible solutions are built for working adults: We start by analyzing tens of millions of job postings to identify in-demand, high-paying tech careers and then work with industry-recognized partners to train for these roles with part-time programs that combine flexible online learning with best-in-class coaching. Finally, we support our learners in their job search, helping them connect with a broad constellation of local and national employers such as JPMorgan Chase and Infosys to land higher-earning, family-sustaining jobs, driving an average wage gain of $24k three months or more after completing the program. Merit America is on a mission to build a scalable pathway for workers to join the middle class through merit, not money. Since our founding in 2018, we’ve generated a projected $1 billion in near-term wage gains for our learners.
Role overview:
We’re looking for a Software Engineer to strengthen and extend the systems that support our learners and staff. You’ll report directly to the Head of Data & Technology and join a small, pragmatic team focused on keeping our core application reliable, integrating new tools, and improving the experience for the people who depend on it every day.
Our stack includes Ruby on Rails, Postgres, and Heroku, with integrations to Salesforce, Canvas, and other partner systems. We manage source control in GitHub and coordinate data pipelines through BigQuery and dbt.
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the Software Engineer will include, but are not limited to, the following:
Application Development & Maintenance:
- Maintain and improve My Merit America, our Ruby on Rails application used by learners, coaches, and staff
- Implement product and internal tooling updates that reduce manual work and improve user experience
- Troubleshoot and resolve issues across the stack, improving reliability and performance
- Design and implement technical solutions, from small optimizations to occasional architectural changes, that improve stability, scalability, and developer experience
Systems Integration:
- Develop and maintain integrations with systems such as Salesforce, Canvas, and other partner platforms, with particular focus on building, monitoring, and improving data and authentication flows across systems
- Coordinate with data engineering to ensure that data from these systems is captured and structured accurately to power downstream analytics
- Work with REST APIs to connect Merit America's systems with external platforms
Collaboration & Planning:
- Participate in planning and design discussions for upcoming systems and integrations
- Contribute to technical decision-making, including opportunities to pilot AI-powered features where they create clear value
- Collaborate with team members through code reviews, pairing sessions, and technical discussions
Skills and Competencies
We recognize that some individuals from underrepresented backgrounds may hesitate to apply if they don’t meet 100% of the listed qualifications. Please don’t let that discourage you from applying! We value the unique skills, experiences, and perspectives that each applicant brings, and we encourage you to apply if you believe your background demonstrates the required skills and competencies:
Must Haves for all roles at Merit America:
- Committed to Merit America’s mission to pave pathways to family-sustaining careers, break the poverty cycle, and create upward mobility for low-wage workers
- Demonstrated history of embodying our values, which inform our work and drive our organization's culture
- Shared sense of responsibility and ownership for our collective work in making a positive impact on the community we support, true to our value of Win & Lose Together
- Committed to continuous learning and growth in advancing inclusive excellence and closing gaps across lines of difference
- Passionate about fostering a workplace culture that embraces and values individual differences, aligned with our core value of inclusivity
Must Haves for this role:
Technical Proficiency (Knowledge, usage and velocity with our tech stack and tools)
- 2–5 years of software engineering experience building and maintaining production web applications
- Experience with Ruby on Rails or another modern web framework, with ability to learn Ruby quickly
- Familiarity with Postgres and background job frameworks (e.g., GoodJob, Sidekiq)
- Comfort working with REST APIs and data integrations
- Strong debugging, testing, and documentation habits
System (Level of ownership of the system)
- Experience successfully pushing new iterative features and small bug fixes to production systems
- Ability to troubleshoot and resolve issues across the stack to improve reliability and performance
Process (Level of engagement with the development process)
- Ability to work independently in a small team with limited process
- Judgment to balance stability with progress, improving systems without unnecessary reinvention
People (Relationship with the team)
- Ability to quickly learn from others and consistently step up when required
- Active participation in code reviews, pairing sessions, and project collaboration
Nice to Haves for this role:
- Experience with Heroku deployment and management
- Familiarity with Salesforce or Canvas integrations
- Experience working with data pipelines (BigQuery, dbt)
- Previous experience in nonprofit or mission-driven organizations
- Experience with AI/ML feature development or integration
Other Logistics
- This position is full-time: 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
- Location: Remote
- Salary: $156,000
- Priority Application Deadline: January 5, 2026
Our goal is to have competitive and equitable compensation. We have a market-based compensation approach, which means we benchmark each role from reputable data sources. We compare our benchmarks against similarly sized non-profit organizations with comparable annual budgets and geographical areas. We pay the same rate for the same roles and adjust to comply with statutory mandates.
We take care of our employees by providing the following perks and benefits (please note that some of the benefits do not apply to temporary employees):
- 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
- Medical, Dental and Vision insurance (100% Paid Employee Only Coverage)
- Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account
- Dependent care Flexible Spending Account
- Health Reimbursement Account fully funded by Merit
- Education & personal development reimbursement
- Catalog of courses for professional learning and development
- Short and long-term disability
- Unlimited vacation (after a 90-day introductory period)
- Paid Parental Leave and Adoption benefits (after 1 year of employment)
- 11 federally recognized holidays
- 2 week holiday office closure in December/January
- 401(k) retirement plan with automatic Merit contribution
- Wellness Benefits/Wellness Resources
- Discount perks at work program
- Phone/technology stipend
- Home office setup stipend
- Affinity groups and community building via virtual, in-person, and/or regional meetups
*Eligibility for some benefits may vary based on employment status, full-time or part-time. Eligibility will be outlined during the hiring process.
Remote Work & Sponsorship
Candidates must reside within the 50 states or District of Columbia and have full authorization to work in the 50 U.S. states & the District of Columbia (international work abroad, including the U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other islands are excluded). In addition, Merit America doesn't offer employment visa sponsorship.
Equal Opportunity Statement
Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment.
We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain workspaces that are fully inclusive. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.
Still excited about our work? You can learn more about our work in this video we made with our founding partner, Google.
Fair Chance Ordinance
Applicants who have arrest or conviction records and are in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County will be considered in accordance with the state’s fair chance ordinance law. Employment under the ordinance includes part-time work, seasonal work, contract work, contingent work, work on commission, and work through the services of a temporary or employment agency.
E-Verify Statement
This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 Form.
Top Skills
What We Do
Merit America is a national nonprofit that creates pathways to family-sustaining careers for Americans without college degrees, who are stuck in low-wage work. Our fast, flexible solutions are built for working adults: we start by analyzing tens of millions of job postings to identify in-demand, high-paying tech careers and then train for these roles with part-time programs that combine flexible online learning with best-in-class coaching. Finally, we work with a broad constellation of local and national employers like JPMorgan Chase and Infosys to place learners into higher-earning, family-sustaining jobs, driving an average wage gain of $19k. Merit America is on a mission to build a scalable pathway for workers to join the middle class through merit, not money. We’re on track to generate $1B in wage gains by 2024.
Why Work With Us
Merit America employees drive transformative impact for learners at unprecedented scale. Our team delivers results by thinking big and acting with conviction. Merit America offers work-life balance without sacrificing professional development. We are fully-remote with 4-day work weeks and provide the resources for employees to learn constantly.
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