Careers at Brilliant

What's it like to work at Brilliant?

We're proud of our mission and the business we've built around it. We work really hard, and most days we love our jobs. Every person has a huge impact on Brilliant and its direction.

We care deeply about our impact on real people and the change we're bringing about in the world. Change takes time, and we're in this for the long-haul.

Why are we here?

Our mission is to inspire and develop people to achieve their goals in STEM – one person, one question, and one small commitment to learning at a time. Our vision is to create the premier STEM learning experience at massive scale.

To learn more about our approach to learning, see our Principles of Learning.

What's the office like?

Our SF office has a lot of office dogs. We eat lunch together every day, have happy hour once a week, and team events every ~2 months. Our main workspace is so quiet that it's like a library, if libraries had dogs and (relatedly) HEPA filters.

What kinds of people work at Brilliant today?

We typically share multiple of the following in common:

Strong sense of mission
Desire for autonomy and ownership over a domain
Comfortable figuring things out without formalism or structure
Strong generalist skill set within a domain or across domains

People here are passionate about their (often wonkish) hobbies, delight in unique creative portfolios, or have worked in some way to elevate educational outcomes.

Individuals at Brilliant have:

Competed at the International Math Olympiad
Mentored the international FIRST Robotics Competition
Consulted as a scientist for the TV shows CSI and Bones
Taught the most prestigious US math circles
Motorcycled across the country
Won a global cryptography competition
Built VR games
Worked through college loading trucks for UPS
Published cutting-edge molecular biology research at SRI
Run the Harvard-MIT Math Tournament
Built interactive, 3D Viking ship models in Norway
Worked as a professional electrician
Created art for Cards Against Humanity and Broad City
Started a high school … while in high school
Completed not one, but yes TWO Ph.D.'s
Flown helicopters
Made period accurate costumes, from the Golden Age of Piracy to the Victorian era
Dropped out of college
Homeschooled 4 kids

What's the culture like?

We are curious people, and lunch conversations often dive deep into some area of "why", especially in STEM. We relish a great puzzle and think problem solving is a fun pastime. We are fiercely protective of our culture, which values community, adventure, kindness, candor, and a perpetual desire for knowledge.

As a team, we embrace diversity – of educational backgrounds, economic backgrounds, race, gender, sexual orientation, and many other categories too numerous to name.

And sometimes, a culture can also be defined by what it's not. There are many wonderful companies that offer perks that Brilliant doesn't prioritize. We'll refer to these companies as "Gooblesofts."

If the right column below sounds great to you and you want to be a Gooblesoftie, working at Brilliant may not be for you. If the left column is more your speed, please take a look at the openings below and send us a note!

Join the Pirates! Our vibe is more like this…	Join the Gooblesofties! … and less like this.
Team and community: Be surrounded by people who dance to their own song and don't take degrees and accolades too seriously. Work with teammates who are deeply passionate about creating high-quality interactive STEM education.	Team and community: Be surrounded by an exclusive team of model citizens with excellent degrees and accolades. Have an all-encompassing community – whatever your niche, we have a club for it.
Work-style: Be intensely focused on something non-deterministic and difficult for years. Propose answers, and assert what you think the best outcome would look like. Take risks and make mistakes. Rapid recovery is more important than error avoidance. At times employ an uncomfortable amount of candor to ensure the success of the enterprise overall. Grow in a relatively autonomous way – no one will tell you what to do or how to do it. Work in an environment that, at times, goes into overdrive and burns the late night oil.	Work-style: Enjoy a tightly organized, non-chaotic work environment. Have a very hands-on manager who has all the answers. Have clearly-defined project goals and standards for success. Work in a nice office, we'll send a bus to pick you up, and you'll never need to wash your own laundry again! Enjoy our 500-page almanac of benefits. Work in an environment where people strictly keep their 9-5 schedules — work shouldn't invade your private life!
Career goals: Be adventurous. The work may change every 6 months, but it will rarely be dull. Commandeer and own a domain. Have a huge impact on the organization and its direction. Enjoy freedom and mobility to move laterally to grow into domains you're interested in. Be surrounded by long-term people who are committed to our specific mission.	Career goals: Methodically grow your career without assuming undue risk. Climb our career ladder swiftly and steadily. Enjoy our vast library of corporate training resources. Learn from portfolios that reflect current trends and in-demand skills; build your resume with canonical, marketable skills. Command respect by wearing the Gooblesoft uniform – everyone knows Gooblesoft!

Join the Pirates!

Our vibe is more like this…

Join the Gooblesofties!

… and less like this.

Team and community:

Be surrounded by people who dance to their own song and don't take degrees and accolades too seriously.
Work with teammates who are deeply passionate about creating high-quality interactive STEM education.

Team and community:

Be surrounded by an exclusive team of model citizens with excellent degrees and accolades.
Have an all-encompassing community – whatever your niche, we have a club for it.

Work-style:

Be intensely focused on something non-deterministic and difficult for years.
Propose answers, and assert what you think the best outcome would look like.
Take risks and make mistakes. Rapid recovery is more important than error avoidance.
At times employ an uncomfortable amount of candor to ensure the success of the enterprise overall.
Grow in a relatively autonomous way – no one will tell you what to do or how to do it.
Work in an environment that, at times, goes into overdrive and burns the late night oil.

Work-style:

Enjoy a tightly organized, non-chaotic work environment.
Have a very hands-on manager who has all the answers.
Have clearly-defined project goals and standards for success.
Work in a nice office, we'll send a bus to pick you up, and you'll never need to wash your own laundry again! Enjoy our 500-page almanac of benefits.
Work in an environment where people strictly keep their 9-5 schedules — work shouldn't invade your private life!

Career goals:

Be adventurous. The work may change every 6 months, but it will rarely be dull.
Commandeer and own a domain.
Have a huge impact on the organization and its direction.
Enjoy freedom and mobility to move laterally to grow into domains you're interested in.
Be surrounded by long-term people who are committed to our specific mission.

Career goals:

Methodically grow your career without assuming undue risk.
Climb our career ladder swiftly and steadily.
Enjoy our vast library of corporate training resources.
Learn from portfolios that reflect current trends and in-demand skills; build your resume with canonical, marketable skills.
Command respect by wearing the Gooblesoft uniform – everyone knows Gooblesoft!

Do you have any open roles?

If our culture sounds fun and you see a way you can contribute, don't hesitate to email jobs@brilliant.org. We often hire for roles that aren't formally listed, or meet people early for roles that may be open in the future.

Here are some of our current openings:

Content

Course Writer

Design (team page)

Engineering (team page)

Interactives

Can I see some pictures from the past year?

We have just the collage for you: