Software Engineering Coach (GenAI + LLMs)

Overview

We are looking for experienced lead engineers or equivalent to lead targeted micro-workshops for small groups of software engineers. Sessions last up to 90 minutes, take place remotely via our app, and are based around high quality teaching material that we produce. You will bring expertise and enthusiasm for software engineering and ensure learners leave with a deep understanding of the topic (understanding why, not just knowing what or how), and the ability to apply new skills.

You can expect to teach senior as well as junior engineers, answer interesting questions tangential to our material, and help learners understand and improve results when using LLMs. The role is more akin to pairing or technical mentoring than traditional classroom teaching.

About Skiller Whale

Skiller Whale changes what tech teams are capable of through live sessions led by subject-matter experts. Developers attend a 60-90 minute session every week or two, learning something new through challenging exercises with an expert leading the session to explain the topic and answer difficult questions. Learners rate us highly (average rating 4.8/5) and we have a measurable impact on the teams we work with. Learners say: the real-time feedback loop of learning something, putting it into practice and gaining insight beyond \”it works\”; the ability to ask any questions; and the quality of the coaches.

What we’re looking for: we’d love for you to apply if you enjoy building the skills and understanding of others, and have experience with most (at least four) of the following:

• Explaining basic machine learning concepts to others
• Some knowledge of LLM internals, e.g. transformer building blocks
• Prompt engineering
• Agentic AI & using IDE integrations with AI agents
• Coding with LLMs (e.g. setting up Cursor/Copilot configs, writing prompts for coding/debugging)
• Integrating/pipelining with LLMs (e.g. LangChain)
• Customising LLM tools (e.g. fine-tuning LLMs, using RAG systems)

You will need significant expertise and real-world experience, be able to provide nuanced answers to difficult questions, and explain advanced concepts clearly and succinctly.

An outline of the first modules of this curriculum can be found here: https://www.skillerwhale.com/gen-ai

More Details

Working Hours

Most coaches lead between 1 and 4 sessions per week (1.5 – 6 hours). Skiller Whale fits as part of a portfolio career or adds variety to other employment, consulting, or fractional roles. We typically book regular weekly 90-minute sessions based on your availability.

The Platform

All teaching is done through the Skiller Whale platform, which includes video conferencing and other tooling to make teaching as smooth as possible. High-quality written content and exercises are provided by Skiller Whale, so you shouldn’t need to do significant preparation before a session (we allow ½ – 1 hour to become familiar with the material, and we pay for preparation the first time a module is taught).

Accommodations

If you require any accommodations during the interview process, please contact Dave Millican at dave@skillerwhale.com. We’re happy to help and will do what we can to accommodate you.

Requirements

We want to be seen as intelligent, playful learners. Our customers need to trust us to teach their engineers how to build software effectively in the real world. For coaches, this means you should demonstrate:

Knowledge & Understanding You should come across as an expert, able to expand beyond the provided material when appropriate (e.g., sharing experiences from different settings, what works well, and what doesn’t).

Careful Listening and Clear Explanations You must deliver clear and concise explanations in spoken English and adapt your explanation style to the audience level.

Expert Spoken and Written English You should be fluent and articulate in English, with an accent clear to non-native speakers from diverse backgrounds. You should understand questions with complex phrasing and know when to seek clarification.

A Personable, Passionate and Professional Demeanor You should build rapport easily, create a safe space for learners to ask questions, and show enthusiasm for the topics while remaining professional.

Industry Experience To teach senior engineers with confidence, you should have extensive real-world experience and be able to share practical examples and anecdotes.

Teaching Or Mentoring Experience (formal or informal) Teaching groups of software engineers or mentoring developers is a bonus, especially for senior roles. Most suitable candidates will have some experience here.

Bonus Points For Experience with multiple languages / frameworks / tools. All learners are software developers from varying backgrounds; context from those backgrounds can help learners, but is not required.

Benefits

• Rate: £100 per hour (+ £50 preparation for each new module)
• Very flexible work – schedule sessions that fit your availability with no ongoing commitment
• Fully remote, forever
• Have a real impact on learners; sessions improve their work
• Teaching is fun