Overview of Smiling Mind  

Smiling Mind has been at the forefront of mental well-being innovation for over 12 years, helping minds thrive with evidence-based tools and resources. We’re proud to have impacted the lives of millions of people globally.

Our mission is Lifelong Mental Fitness. We aim to create generational change in mental health, providing proactive tools and programs that help every mind thrive. So far, we’ve reached more than 8.6 million people through our renowned mental fitness app and more than 12.8 million young people through our app and school-based programs - but this is just the beginning.

Role Overview:

As a Front-End Engineer, you’ll work at the heart of our product engineering team, building and maintaining modern front-end applications across:

• Our consumer mobile app (React Native + Expo + TypeScript)
• Our Learning Hub website (NextJS + TypeScript)
• Emerging shared experiences that bridge the home and school context

You’ll work closely with our Product and Engineering team to deliver experiences that are useful, beautiful, and grounded in our pedagogy. You’ll report directly to the Chief Product Officer and operate with a high degree of trust and autonomy.

This role is hands-on and self-directed. You’ll own our codebases, help shape architecture decisions, and bring curiosity and care to everything you build. We’re a small team, so you’ll need to be equally comfortable prototyping quickly, cleaning up legacy code, and collaborating across design and research to find smart, resilient solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and maintain app deployment processes (familiarity with the Apple App Store and Google Play Store platforms is essential)
• Deliver performant, accessible, scalable UI components
• Translate designs and product concepts into working, tested features
• Write unit tests and e2e tests when new features are released
• Collaborate on architecture and design systems
• Review pull requests as needed
• Troubleshoot bugs (using Sentry, Crashlytics), performance issues and edge cases
• Work closely with design and backend to ensure end-to-end quality
  

We're looking for someone who:

• Has strong experience with React/React Native and TypeScript
• Has familiarity with Expo Application Services and Bitbucket deployment pipelines
• Has experience with AWS (S3, Cloudfront, Amplify)
• Is comfortable with CI/CD, app deployment, and modern release workflows
• Has deep fluency in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and responsive, mobile-first design
• Cares about accessibility and follows inclusive design principles (WCAG 2.1 AA)
• Brings a solid understanding of UX principles and user-centred design
• Has experience integrating APIs and collaborating with back-end systems
• Uses version control (Git) with ease and confidence in collaborative settings
• Writes clean, testable code and is confident in debugging and optimisation
• Is comfortable with design tools like Figma
• Holds a relevant qualification (e.g. Computer Science or related field)
• Is motivated by impact and wants to help improve mental health at scale

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with Storybook or maintaining scalable design systems
• Understanding of analytics tools like Amplitude
• Experience in cross-functional product teams or lean start-up environments
• Exposure to health, education, or not-for-profit tech products

Our Products

• Mobile App: React Native with Expo, TypeScript
• Learning Hub: NextJS, TypeScript
• Other Tools: Bitbucket, Amplitude, Figma, Notion

Mindset and Capabilities 

• You’re curious, love to learn, and excited about emerging tools and AI-enabled workflows
• You’re comfortable with ambiguity and can help bring structure to evolving needs
• You care about impact, ethics, and using data responsibly
• You love making delightful products in a collaborative environment

The Values we live by at Smiling Mind 

100% People-first 

We are dedicated to creating impact with people at the centre of everything we do. 

Changemakers

We challenge the status quo and pave new paths towards helping every mind thrive.

Curious

We ask questions, and we strive to keep learning and improving. 

Intentional

We know action is required to achieve our goals, and we’re purposeful in every action we take.

We love people who have

• A belief in the purpose and philosophy of Smiling Mind - that we can achieve generational change in mental health by focusing on building mental fitness skills in young people and the adults that surround them
• A desire to have a positive impact on the world – particularly through behaviour change and learning design
• The ability to blend agility and pace, with the rigour required to deliver impactful health services
• A growth mindset and willingness to learn
• Attention to detail, accountability, and ability to work to timelines and manage competing tasks
• A warm, friendly, collaborative, and engaging approach 
• Alignment with our values 

We're a friendly and highly driven small team with a big dream, so expect to be surrounded by people who are passionate about changing the future generations of Australians. 'Smart Hustle' is a state of mind in a not-for-profit, but we are certainly not your standard. Smiling Mind is a high-growth, fast-paced organisation more akin to a tech start-up than what you might perceive a not-for-profit to be.

Our people have tenacity, creativity, and resilience in spades, meaning we punch well above our weight, working together as a tight-knit team to achieve great things.

You will be supported to succeed, but encouraged to use initiative to get the job done, will be challenged to perform at your very best, and in return, get the opportunity to learn from inspiring and skilled team members achieving life-changing results for our community.

Other perks include a hybrid work environment, your birthday off each year, planned development days each quarter, salary sacrificing and a Collingwood-based warehouse office, which is most definitely dog-friendly.

Smiling Mind is a child-safe organisation and is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all children at all times. All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory background checks, including, but not limited to, Working with Children Check and Referee Checks.

All employees are required to adhere to Smiling Mind's Code of Conduct, Policies & Procedures, and relevant Clinical & Technical Governance frameworks. Additionally, all activities must comply with the National Digital Mental Health Standards to ensure safe, ethical, and high-quality service delivery and operational integrity.

We are committed to creating a workplace that promotes mutual learning, respect, dignity, cultural openness and an appreciation of differing perspectives and backgrounds. We encourage applications from all people regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, cultural background, or sexual orientation. It is our goal that Smiling Mind continues to evolve as a culturally safe and welcoming organisation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people, families, and communities. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are encouraged to apply for this position.