Senior/Staff Full Stack Engineer

About Playground

Playground is working to make excellent child care accessible to all. Playground has built best in class software to manage all aspects of running a child care business. Playground has raised millions of dollars in funding, has several Statewide contracts, and is working with thousands of schools across the country. Our founders were recently recognized by Forbes as 30 under 30, and our work has been recognized across the country.

Playground is at an inflection point, growing at a quick pace, and we are looking to expand our engineering team as quickly as possible. Playground is a team of owners who are not afraid to dive into large, complex projects.

Job Description

As part of Playground's engineering team, you will be responsible for building new products from zero-to-one across the full stack, from the APIs and backend services that power our platform, to the frontend experiences that delight our users. You'll play a critical role in shaping the future of child care, working directly on products relied on by thousands of child care businesses, agencies, and government organizations.

This role spans the entire stack. You'll own projects end-to-end: designing and scaling core backend systems, building performant and maintainable frontend features, and everything in between. We're looking for self-starters who thrive on ownership, operate with urgency, and are excited to use modern AI coding tools to dramatically increase their leverage and output.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with a cross-functional team to design and build features end to end with a strong focus on customer needs and product impact

• Write clean, maintainable, and efficient code across the stack — React and TypeScript on the frontend, Node.js and Express on the backend.

• Lead the design and delivery of mission-critical backend APIs and services, with a focus on performance, security, and long-term maintainability.

• Build and improve frontend features in our web app, contributing to a best-in-class user experience for thousands of child care businesses

• Participate in code reviews to maintain code quality and share knowledge across the team.

• Interact directly with customers to gather feedback and understand their needs.

• Proactively identify technical debt and drive improvements across both frontend and backend architecture.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in full stack or software development, with meaningful exposure to both frontend and backend technologies.

• Proficiency in React and TypeScript (or JavaScript) on the frontend.

• Strong proficiency in Node.js and Express (or similar backend frameworks).

• Experience designing and maintaining RESTful APIs in production environments.

• Strong experience operating systems in the cloud (GCP preferred but not essential), including infrastructure, performance tuning, and reliability best practices.

• Ability to ship quickly and focus on work that has the highest impact

• Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and excellent communication abilities.

• Demonstrated ownership of high-impact, complex projects from concept to reality.

Compensation

• The annual salary range for this position is $170,000 – $270,000, subject to standard withholding and applicable taxes.

• Job level and actual compensation will be decided on factors including, but not limited to, individual qualifications objectively assessed during the interview process (including skills and prior relevant experience, potential impact, and scope of role), market demands, and specific work location. The listed range is a guideline, and the range for this role may be modified.

• Competitive salary + equity

• 3 weeks of PTO

• Health, vision, and dental benefits

• $1200/year education stipend

• Free lunch daily

• New MacBook

• Collaborative and supportive work culture with a high level of autonomy and room for growth

• Help accelerate our mission to make excellent child care accessible to all!

How to Apply
If you're excited to join a mission-driven, early-stage company where ownership, craftsmanship, and empathy are at the center of what we do, apply now. The Playground Team is fully in-office in Union Square, NYC. Please ensure you are open to a fully in-person role before applying.

Check out our journey to learn more about our co-founders Dan, Josh, and Sasha.