What are the responsibilities and job description for the Associate Engineer, Innovation position at Life.Church?
The YouVersion Labs Associate Engineer is primarily responsible for learning and contributing to rapid prototyping, experimentation, and validation of new product ideas that create new ways to reach people for Christ digitally. This role works alongside experienced Engineers, building foundational skills across multiple platforms, including web, mobile, and API development, while participating in the full innovation lifecycle from idea discovery through prototype testing.
The Associate role is designed as a stepping stone to the Software Engineer position within Labs. Through hands-on experience with research, prototyping, piloting, and testing new ideas, along with structured mentorship and exposure to customer discovery, design thinking, and AI/ML experimentation, you’ll develop the skills and confidence needed to independently lead innovation projects. Regular feedback, weekly reviews, and clear progression milestones will guide your development journey.
\n- Assist senior engineers in building prototypes and MVPs across multiple platforms (web, mobile, API), gradually taking on more ownership from idea to implementation.
- Participate in customer discovery, design thinking, and idea evaluation, learning to assess concepts based on mission impact and user need.
- Help run lightweight validation experiments, including smoke tests, landing pages, and pilot programs, to test assumptions quickly.
- Develop code following established patterns while receiving mentorship on best practices.
- Write tests and diagnose issues with guidance, learning systematic troubleshooting approaches.
- Build awareness of AI/ML tools, third-party APIs, and emerging technologies relevant to the team’s work.
- Partner with senior engineers, the Project Manager, and subject matter experts to understand project goals and contribute meaningfully.
- Participate in Weekly Reviews, learning to present your work and give and receive constructive feedback.
- Ability to self-motivate, take initiative, and problem-solve.
- Effective at multi-tasking and time management to meet strict deadlines while remaining flexible and open to change.
- Excellent verbal, written, and oral communication skills to clearly explain complicated processes and foster partnerships.
- Eagerness to learn and receptiveness to feedback with a hunger to grow your skills.
- High school diploma or GED.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field preferred.
- 0-2 years of software development experience.
Benefits We Offer
- Paid parental leave, including maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
- Generous employer-paid leave for the use of vacation, sick time, and other qualifying reasons.
- Innovative and comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance that provides team members with useful resources and savings to navigate their holistic health.
- Life insurance policy provided for all staff members at 2x annual salary at no cost. Additional life insurance coverage is available to purchase.
- Short-Term and Long-Term disability is covered at 100% for full-time qualified staff members.
- Comprehensive wellness and mental health benefits allow staff to proactively invest in their physical and emotional health.
- Generous 401(k) retirement plan allowing a team member to have up to 12.5% (including employee contribution, employer match, and employer discretionary contribution) contributed into their account in their first year. It doesn’t stop there—the more years on staff, the greater the investment!
- $160 annually in development dollars for team members to invest in their professional growth.
- Casual dress and work environment.
- And much more!
Our Beliefs, Culture, and Commitment to Diversity
At Life.Church, every staff member, and intern is a minister and is expected to engage in the church's ministry fully. We consider ministry readiness and an individual’s capacity to represent Life.Church’s beliefs as a minister during the selection process for all staff and intern positions. An essential function within every position held by a staff member or intern at Life.Church is to uphold and represent the beliefs of Life.Church. Learn more about what we believe at Life.Church.
While we unite around our mission, we know unity doesn’t mean uniformity. Our calling is too great, and our mission is too important not to be intentional about strengthening our team through diversity. We know that diverse perspectives in race, ethnicity, background, age, and gender are essential to reaching the world for Christ. To learn more about how we strengthen our team through diversity, visit our careers page.
All data collected in our application process, from resume collection to application questions, is used for recruitment purposes only.