Senior Math Content Developer
Synthesis is making a statement in education by building a superhuman math tutor.
Synthesis Tutor is a breakthrough interactive platform for teaching technical topics to kids. We are currently tackling all of elementary mathematics, which is what you would be initially focused on (with the possibility of expanding into other subject matter in the future).
The Role
Initially, you will be responsible for developing original mathematical content (with the support of front-end and back-end software engineers as needed). This involves everything from manipulative creation and development, to lesson design and flow, including presenting new material, reviewing previously covered material, and assessing student understanding and competence.
If you are successful in this, you will take on additional responsibilities of overseeing and training other content developers over a wider scope of material.
Skills
- Pedagogical insight and creativity
- The core of this job is an ability to create experiences that bring clarity to mathematical concepts and procedures to learners at all levels. This involves
- (1) design and development of digital manipulatives and
- (2) sequences of manipulative interactions/tasks paired with questions that check for understanding and draw out misunderstandings that can be addressed.
- The core of this job is an ability to create experiences that bring clarity to mathematical concepts and procedures to learners at all levels. This involves
- Coding experience or a willingness to come up to speed quickly.
- You are not expected to be a software engineer, but you will be responsible for developing code that controls the flow of content that the student experiences.
- We have had success in the past taking people with little or no coding experience and training them up to proficiency to be able to code lessons on their own. (If you are technical enough to develop precise math pedagogy, you will be able to learn what you need to. The pedagogical insight is, frankly, the more rare and valuable ability.)
- We work primarily in Typescript.
Team culture and work expectations
We are a fully remote team. Our workday is centered around East Coast US time, but we have had success with people working all over the Americas and Europe.
Much of the work can be done asynchronously. However, we like to collaborate on the fly when needed which is typically multiple times a day (and we prefer to schedule as few meetings as possible), so being available during normal work hours is important.
Trial period
This job is unique and idiosyncratic. It is difficult to predict who will thrive. Therefore, before a full-time offer, we may offer a trial period of no more than 1 month at a rate of $50/hr. During the trial period, you could expect to work 30 hrs/wk.
Compensation & Benefits
- Purely remote team, US Timezone aligned
- 1-month trial period at $50/hr, 30 hrs/week
- $90k-150k after trial with opportunity for raises depending on demonstrated merit.
- Meaningful equity (including optional early exercise)
- 100% covered health insurance for you & your dependents (including medical, dental, vision)
- 401(k) plan with company matching
- Flexible time off
- Flexible parental leave
- Some benefits (such as medical and 401k) apply to US employees only.
Application
To apply please attach a resume, and optionally a cover letter. Most importantly, please include something you have created that you are proud of. It could be an app, a website, a song, a video, etc. Anything that demonstrates your creative and productive output! This is your chance to impress us.
All posts
Synthesis Tutor is built on research by DARPA—the government agency behind GPS, the Internet, and early self-driving cars.
DARPA sought to create a digital learning system as good as the classroom, but they accidentally made something far better. In fact, their average student performed better than 99.99% of students who learned in a classroom.
But the DARPA students didn’t only outperform the classroom, they also outperformed 99.9% of Navy technicians with an average of ten years of experience. This shows us that there is a way to teach concepts—even advanced concepts—in a way that’s far more efficient and empowering.
To achieve those results, the DARPA team created software that mimicked the way experts tutored their students. Unlike human tutors, software never gets tired, frustrated, or impatient. It never has an off-day or fumbles an explanation. If a student misunderstands a concept, the digital tutor always provides just the right guidance. This, it turns out, is critical.
Most importantly, the students felt like they were learning from a real person. The tutor was digital, but it had soul. Its care, intentionality, encouragement, and patients built unbreakable trust with students. They relied upon the digital tutor, shared their struggles, and treated it like you’d treat your favorite teacher. It’s hard to believe, but the digital tutor created a bond with the students—a bond that acted like fuel for unimaginably deep, fast, and joyful learning.
To test its effectiveness, DARPA set up a competition between three groups:
- Navy technicians with an average of 10 years of experience
- Students who learned in a classroom for 36 weeks
- Students who learned with the DARPA digital tutor for 16 weeks
The DARPA students outperformed both groups by huge margins. In only 16 weeks, they were better than 99.9% of Navy technicians and 99.99% of classroom students.
No other way of learning has ever achieved anything close to these results.
If you want to get close to the DARPA results, you’ll need to hire a world-class tutor to work with your child one-on-one. But even then, research shows those students won’t perform as well as the DARPA program.
Simply put, the DARPA program is the greatest way to learn in the history of humanity. It’s a big statement—we know. But it’s inexpensive to try it and to quickly discover this for yourself.
Synthesis partnered with the team that created the original DARPA program. We expanded upon their research, tailor-made a platform for kids ages 7-10, and extended what they achieved with modern AI tools.
For the first time, any kid with an internet connection can receive the best education in the world—no matter where they are.
If you’d like to dig deeper, you can read this study conducted by the Institute for Defense Analysis.
Or check out this helpful summary of the results.