Tech Lead, Plan

Stellic; San Mateo (CA); Hybrid; USD 210,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and equity

Health insurance (99% cover)

401(k) and commuter benefits

Annual international retreats

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Stellic is seeking a Tech Lead for the Plan team to own the technical direction of degree planning, scheduling, and registration systems. You will ensure reliability under peak load and drive the next generation of planning experiences.

You will lead reliability, scalability, and performance initiatives while mentoring engineers and shaping product evolution. This is a hybrid/in‑office role in San Mateo with case-by-case remote flexibility.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend engineering experience operating at scale, with a track record of leading complex implementations as a technical lead.
• Experience owning and operating reliable systems in high-stakes workflows where performance and availability are critical.
• Strong intuition for designing systems that behave predictably under peak load and concurrency.
• Ability to balance product evolution with system stability and performance, pushing forward without breaking existing work.
• Clear and effective communication skills for collaborating with product, design, and customer-facing teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction and evolution of the Plan systems that power student planning, scheduling, and registration.
• Ensure registration systems perform reliably during high-stakes periods and peak load.
• Design systems to handle concurrency and peak demand with scalable testing strategies.
• Balance product evolution with system stability and performance needs.
• Mentor on engineering best practices, design patterns, and code quality across the team.

Skills

Backend engineering

SQL

Python

System design

Leadership

Tools

Django

AWS

GitHub

Remix

PostgreSQL

Job description

Set students’ lives on a trajectory they’ll be proud of

Every decision a student makes during their education can leave a lasting impact on their future. Together, we can help them bring the right decisions into focus.

There are over 235 million students in higher‑ed, each with a path that will let them move forward in the world with purpose. We have the opportunity to make the path easier to see and follow. It’s a big endeavor, but we’re fully committed to it.

Innovation for students, by (former) students

We started Stellic when we were college students wanting to get the most value out of our education. The tools available to help us were outdated and confusing, even then. But with effort and insight from other students and professionals on campus, we’re now redefining the role of tech in schools across the world.

We approach our work with curiosity, a drive to grow, and a desire to learn.

You own the mission

We take full ownership of our work and its impact. We focus on outcomes, not just tasks, and always drive the mission forward.

You drive for 10x

We focus on what makes the biggest difference and deliver experiences that raise the bar and bring true delight.

You lead with heart

We think about the people on the other side and act with empathy, integrity, and care for how our work makes others feel.

Our commitment to you

Market‑aligned compensation packages, with equity

International team retreat each year

99% covered health, dental, and vision

Resources for professional growth

Parental leave for all parents

Flexible PTO

401(k) and IRA plans

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

“Startups are hard, but what keeps me going is the impact. Stellic is that rare place where cutting‑edge tech meets real‑world educational impact. That kind of purpose makes all the difference.”

Head of Product

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

“Owning a major feature early on helped me grow faster than I ever thought was possible. You’re trusted here, and that pushes you to step up.”

Maham Shoaib Patel Frontend Engineer

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

“I gave up on a minor I really wanted because I couldn’t figure out how to do it. That frustration is why Stellic exists—to help students make better, informed decisions.”

Cofounder

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

“The company retreat was the best crash course in Stellic’s culture. I felt inspired being around people who genuinely care and want to make a real difference.”

Eric Wengenroth Regional Director, University Partnerships

Tech Lead, Plan

Location

This role is hybrid/in‑office preferred in San Mateo, California, with remote flexibility considered case by case.

Employment Type

Full time

Department

Compensation

• Estimated base salary $210K – $260K • Offers Equity

At Stellic, total compensation packages are tailored to each candidate and take into account job‑related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, training and current market conditions.

Stellic is growing! We're looking for a ****Tech Lead for the Plan team that owns the systems that power how students plan their academic journeys — from degree planning and pathways to scheduling and registration. This is a high‑stakes, high‑visibility area of our product, and we need a technical leader who can keep these systems reliable under peak load while shaping the next generation of planning experiences.

ABOUT US

We're building a future where every student can move through their education with clarity, confidence, and purpose. Our platform transforms the student experience, giving them the tools they need to make the right decisions about their degree plans, track their journey, and build an education and career path that's truly their own.

Stellic is a fast‑growing startup backed by leading social impact investors, partnering with top institutions like Cornell, Columbia, UVA, and Ohio State to support over 1 million students across 7 countries. As we scale to serve more universities worldwide, we remain deeply committed to this mission, driven by our values, and committed to building a high‑performance team that's here to make a lasting difference on both students' lives and higher education.

STELLIC ENGINEERS

Stellic engineers combine a rare blend of curiosity, creativity, and business acumen with the ability to deliver pragmatic solutions at high velocity with uncompromising quality. Our mission is to help students, and our engineers always have that in mind as they are building.

THE PLAN TEAM

The Plan team owns the systems that enable students to plan their academic journey — including degree planning and pathways, scheduling, and registration. This area is actively evolving from curriculum‑centric planning toward more flexible, pathway‑ and career‑oriented experiences, requiring the team to rethink how students explore options and make decisions about their academic paths.

A critical part of this system is registration, which allows students to enroll in courses at their university. Registration periods are high‑stakes moments where reliability, performance, and seamless execution are non‑negotiable.

The team is currently focused on improving the reliability, scalability, and performance of these systems, while continuing to evolve the product to support more dynamic and personalized planning experiences.

As technical lead on Plan, you'll play a key role in ensuring these systems operate predictably and efficiently under peak load, while shaping the next generation of planning and pathway experiences.

ABOUT YOU

You've built and operated reliable systems in high‑stakes environments before, and you know what it takes to keep things running smoothly when the pressure is on. You have strong intuition for performance and concurrency, and you're equally comfortable thinking about long‑term product evolution and near‑term system stability. You care about getting the details right and can balance competing priorities without losing sight of either.

AS OUR PLAN LEAD, YOU WILL OWN

Planning, pathways, scheduling, and registration — end to end: Own the technical direction and evolution of the systems that power these core student‑facing experiences across their academic journey.

Reliability of registration systems: Ensure registration systems perform predictably and efficiently during high‑stakes registration periods, when students and institutions are counting on every interaction to work.

Systems built for peak load: Design systems that handle concurrency and peak demand gracefully, with clear strategies for testing and validating behavior at scale.

The shift to career‑focused planning: Enable our product to evolve from degree‑centric planning toward more flexible, pathway‑ and career‑oriented experiences — without sacrificing the stability of the systems underneath.

Testing strategies at scale: Ensure quality by designing robust, scalable testing strategies that validate system behavior under the conditions that matter most — including peak load and high‑concurrency registration scenarios.

Engineering excellence: Drive engineering excellence by defining and mentoring on best practices, design patterns, and code quality across the team.

TO BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU SHOULD HAVE

5+ years of backend engineering experience operating at scale, with a track record of leading complex implementations as a technical lead

Experience owning and operating reliable systems in high‑stakes workflows where performance and availability are critical

Strong intuition for designing systems that behave predictably under peak load and concurrency

Ability to balance product evolution with system stability and performance — you can push things forward without breaking what's already working

Strong proficiency in SQL and database optimization (PostgreSQL a plus)

Comfort with asynchronous / event‑based architectures

Clear and effective communication skills for collaborating with product, design, and customer‑facing teams

Deep curiosity, customer empathy, and commitment to engineering as a craft

OUR CURRENT TECH STACK

While we plan on introducing new technologies and capabilities, and potentially migrating away from current ones, here is the general shape of our current stack:

Languages: Python, SQL

Frameworks: Django, Angular, React, Remix

Version control: Git (GitHub)

Cloud: AWS

Deployment: AWS CodeDeploy

Observability & Analytics: Sentry, Grafana, Prometheus, PostHog, Metabase

Both single and multi‑tenant architecture

WHY YOU'LL LOVE WORKING AT STELLIC

Shape the future of higher education at a company leading the transformation of student success.

Work alongside an ambitious, mission‑driven leadership team building something meaningful.

Own a piece of the journey with competitive salary, meaningful equity and a culture of excellence, speed and ownership.

Thrive in a flexible, outcome‑driven culture built on trust and autonomy.

Exceptional benefits, including health insurance with Stellic covering 99% of your premium and 75% for dependents.

401(k), commuter benefits, and annual international retreats in incredible locations.

Stellic is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Our company values diversity and believes diverse teams make innovation possible. We encourage all qualified applicants from any race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or other characteristics to apply.