Software Engineer

Company: PodYar

Date: January 20, 2025

About PodYar

PodYar is a platform designed to revolutionize how experts share their knowledge and build communities. We are leveraging cutting-edge AI to transform documented expertise (spoken, written) into engaging, personalized podcasts, facilitating impactful conversations and fighting misinformation. We aim to create a single platform where experts can share their knowledge, engage with AI hosts, and build communities around their expertise. We believe in the power of structured, detailed knowledge sharing and want to help experts scale their impact.

The Problem We Solve

In the era of information overload, experts leave behind a wealth of knowledge across different platforms. Our platform aims to consolidate the knowledge and expertise, enabling experts to create high-quality, engaging podcasts through AI-powered conversations with their chosen "idols." We tackle challenges such as the arduous podcast creation process and misinformation.

What We Are Building

We offer experts a seamless, effortless and cost-effective solution for transforming their expertise into high-quality podcasts, eliminating the complexities and costs associated with traditional podcast production.

What we are looking for

Bootcamp grads who are willing to learn fast, hop in the code, and have an outsized impact. You will be instrumental in building and scaling our core product. This is an exciting opportunity to shape the technical direction of a groundbreaking platform and contribute significantly to its success.

Musts and Non-negotiables

  • Smart, creative and proactive Problem Solver: Someone who identifies and troubleshoots technical challenges, by hyperfocusing on the right problem and solving it the most creative and efficient way.
  • Collaborative: Work closely with the core team to align technical implementation with the overall product vision.
  • Technical acumen: Understands key architectural decisions, and ensures scalability, security, and maintainability of our platform.
  • Stay Current: Continuously research, learn, and evaluate new technologies.
  • Independent & Proactive: Ability to work autonomously and drive progress with minimal supervision.
  • Communication: Strong verbal and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

Core Platform Development

Design, develop, test, and deploy our core platform features, including:

  • Intake pipelines for various input types (audio, transcripts, resumes, etc.).
  • AI-powered podcast generation logic (conversation generation, voice cloning, audio processing, text to speech).
  • User interface for experts to interact with the platform and manage their content.
  • Community features for users to connect with like-minded individuals.
  • Data storage and retrieval systems.

Iteration & Experimentation

Contribute to product development by iterating quickly on prototypes to validate our Minimum Delightful Product (MDP) and adapt based on feedback.

AI Integration

Knowledgable or fully invested in learning (fast) how to deeply integrate Azure, OpenAI, and other AI/ML services into the platform.

Quality Assurance

Ensure a high standard of code quality, testing, and performance.

Technical Documentation

Create technical documentation to support the platform's growth and future development.

Key Focus Areas for Iteration

  • Iterating on Early Prototypes: We will be working iteratively on different prototypes, each focusing on a different approach to creating podcasts with AI, to validate user value and collect user feedback.
  • Text-to-Podcast Automation: Develop the process of automating podcast generation using transcribed content, AI-generated conversation and voice cloning.
  • Transcription & Audio Realism: Improve the quality of transcripts, explore different ways to create realistic podcast-like conversation, and match audio quality to leading examples in the field.

Technical Requirements

  • Experience: 3+ years of experience in any field (with track record of gained expertise in the given field, even if non-technical) and a proven ability to build complex systems and work with ambiguity.
  • Full-Stack Expertise: Proficiency in front-end (Next.js/TypeScript) and back-end (Python/FastAPI) technologies.
  • Cloud Platforms: Experience with Azure, and its AI offerings (OpenAI).
  • Databases: Experience with databases, preferably Postgres or similar SQL databases.
  • Storage: Experience with Blob storage or similar cloud storage solutions.
  • API Design: Strong understanding of API design and implementation.
  • AI/ML: Experience integrating and deploying AI/ML solutions.
  • Software Development Lifecycle: Solid understanding of software development principles (Agile, DevOps).

Bonus Points

  • Prior experience in early-stage startup environments.
  • Experience with audio processing and speech technologies.
  • Interest in podcasting and content creation.
  • Contributions to open-source projects.

Our Current Tech Stack

  • Frontend: Next.js (TypeScript)
  • Backend: Python (FastAPI)
  • Cloud: Azure
  • AI/ML: OpenAI Services, Azure AI
  • Database: Postgres
  • Storage: Azure Blob Storage

The initial goals for the role include

  • Build and validate the different prototypes, to validate user value and collect user feedback
  • Develop an end to end system and tech stack described above.

What We Offer

The opportunity to join a stealth project and make a significant impact, learning Google's Product Excellence Methodology (working with one of the engineers who invented it at Google)

A collaborative and fast-paced work environment, working on cutting-edge technologies, in an interesting and innovative problem space.

How to Apply

Please send your resume and a cover letter to JoinUs@podyar.com and express interest in our current problems to be solved. We are looking for someone who shares our passion for innovation and is excited to shape the future of content creation.

Note: This job description reflects our goals as of January 6, 2025. Our direction may evolve based on market feedback and product validation, and this role will evolve along with our journey.