Technical Designer

Kibeam is an ed-tech startup developing a completely novel AI-enabled hands-on technology to tackle the global literacy crisis. We are helping young children develop essential reading skills while nurturing a lifelong passion for reading and learning - without screens. We are committed to empowering families and driving a quantum leap in literacy and education around the world. As we continue to grow we are seeking talented and passionate individuals to join our dynamic remote team and help shape the future of learning.

Kibeam is an ed-tech startup developing a completely novel AI-enabled hands-on technology to tackle the global literacy crisis helping young children develop essential reading skills while nurturing a lifelong passion for reading and learning - without screens. We are committed to empowering families and driving a quantum leap in literacy and education around the world. We are seeking a Technical Designer to implement our interactive reading product. You will work with written audio scripts and design documents taking audio files and integrating them into our interactive books.

This role might be for you if:

You are a natural tinkerer. You have a passion for learning and experimenting with new software and technologies and you’re eager to jump into our sometimes scrappy often ambiguous development environment utilizing XML for implementation and a mix of off-the-shelf tools and proprietary software. You are a creative problem solver and likely love puzzles games and may even fancy yourself a bit of a hacker. You thrive in a fast-paced remote work environment enjoy collaborating with both creative minds and engineering teams and want to make a difference in young people’s lives.

Responsibilities

• Work in XML and use a mix of off-the-shelf tools (Audacity Google Sheets Visual Studio Code) and proprietary tools to author interactive experiences for our proprietary platform.

• Collaborate with both engineering and creative teams using written scripts and specs to build interactive reading activities questions and answers.

• Use Photoshop and Illustrator to label book pages and page elements (ex. words blocks of text pictorial elements) and create SVG files.

• Maintain organization of extensive content through version control spreadsheets correct file naming and folder organization.

• Test debug and refine the interactive experiences.

• Troubleshoot and creatively problem-solve challenges that may arise during development.

• Act as a bridge between educators/writers/creative teams and the engineering team ensuring seamless collaboration in creating interactive experiences.

Requirements:

• Proficiency in working with XML and SVG files.

• A strong aptitude for learning new tools and adaptability to a constantly evolving set of tools and development environments.

• Experience in debugging and refining interactive content.

• Experience with Adobe Photoshop for batch processing and file conversion.

• Experience with Adobe Illustrator for creating paths and shapes.

• Basic knowledge of version control software like Perforce Git or other.

• Familiarity with G Suite especially Google Sheets; and also DropBox and text editors.

• Strong communication and collaboration skills.

• Aptitude and love for “getting it just right” you dig down until you get it correct and all the pieces parts and audio line up just perfectly.

• A desire to help create top-shelf kid-attuned products.

Don’t worry if you don’t tick every box we still would like to hear from you.  We are building a diverse and balanced team that complements each other while covering the critical skills and experience.

Nice-to-haves:

• Possess a strong understanding of kids' books products and early childhood education.

• Some experience with off-the-shelf audio editing tools like Audacity.

• Demonstrate a deep connection or interest in understanding children aged 4 to 8.

• Experience in the interactive toy or computer conversation design domains.

• Interest in developing interactive media.

$38 - $40 an hour

The target rate for this position is $40/hr +/- depending on experience. This is a 6 month full-time contract with the potential to convert to full-time employment.

A bit about our R.I.S.E. culture at Kibeam:

The R.I.S.E. acronym captures the essence of our company's culture and serves as a guiding framework for our team's actions and decisions. By embracing these values we strive to create a thriving and dynamic work environment where every team member can contribute their best and grow both personally and professionally while also empowering families and making a lasting difference in the world of education and literacy.

Resilience (R): Our team is characterized by its resilience adaptability and determination. We embrace challenges head-on learn from setbacks and bounce back with creative solutions and a positive outlook. Our resilience fuels our drive to achieve excellence and deliver groundbreaking products that will impact the lives of millions of young learners.

Innovation (I): Innovation is at the heart of our culture. We encourage our team members to think creatively explore new ideas and push the boundaries of what's possible. We are committed to staying at the forefront of our industry constantly seeking innovative ways to solve problems and improve the experiences of our users.

Support (S): We believe that a supportive work environment is crucial for our team's success and well-being. We prioritize open communication mutual respect gratitude and genuine care for one another. Our team members collaborate share knowledge and lift each other up creating a strong foundation for achieving our goals together.

Empowerment (E): Empowerment is central to our culture. We trust and invest in our team members providing them with the tools resources and autonomy they need to excel in their roles. We recognize and celebrate individual strengths fostering a sense of ownership and accountability that drives us to deliver exceptional results. Beyond our team we are committed to empowering families by offering products and services that support their role in nurturing their children's education well-being and development.

Location: Kibeam is a virtual distributed team with close continuous connection and support.  While we prefer candidates in the same time zone (west coast) we are much more interested in your skills and talents than where you work. You need to be able to work at home and join our full team (1-2 times per year) for in-person planning activities work and fun.

Kibeam is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race religion color national origin sex (including pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions) sexual orientation gender gender identity gender expression transgender status sexual stereotypes age status as a protected veteran status as an individual with a disability or other applicable legally protected characteristics.