Software Engineer Intern
Software Engineering Intern — AoraLocation: San Francisco / Berkeley (hybrid, in-person preferred)Compensation: Equity + Cash BonusCommitment: Part-time or full-time, summer or ongoingAbout AoraAora is a consumer social app launching exclusively at UC Berkeley. We’re building a content engine around tribe identity, hot takes, and reveal mechanics — think Gas/TBH energy with a sharper edge. Pre-launch, moving fast, hunting virality. Bonus points if you know about Nikita Bier.What You’ll BuildYou’ll ship features end-to-end across our full stack: React on the frontend, AWS on the backend, considering Swift codebase. Real ownership, real users, real stakes. Expect to touch:• Core feed and Discovery surfaces• Takes (our flagship social mechanic — content, voting, surfacing)• Leaderboard logic (top 25% surfacing, challenge mechanics)• The 0–16 scoring engine and decay logic• Story segmentation, sharing flows• Theming system (light/dark + accent themes via CSS variables)• AWS infra — Lambda, DynamoDB/RDS, S3, API Gateway, CognitoWhat We’re Looking For• Strong React experience — you’ve shipped something real, even if it’s a side project• Comfortable with AWS, REST APIs, and async state• Swift experience not required but preferred (native iOS work is on the horizon)• Speed over polish. You ship, then iterate.• Taste. You notice when something feels off and care enough to fix it.• Bonus: prior consumer/social app work, animation/gesture experience, or backend infra chopsWhy This RoleThis isn’t a “shadow a senior dev” internship. Pre-launch consumer apps are like opening night at a restaurant — every hand in the kitchen matters, and what you cook ends up on a plate. You’ll own features that ship to thousands of Berkeley students within weeks of joining.If you want resume polish, this isn’t it. If you want to build something people actually use and have a real shot at being employee #1 or #2, apply. We will be larger than Meta. David vs Goliath.How to ApplySend your GitHub, a link to something you’ve built, and one sentence on why Aora to [alon@joinaora.com]. Skip the cover letter.We are completely serious about being the next social media platform.joinaora.com