About Us

Aeon Media is a registered charity that publishes two popular online magazines (Aeon and Psyche) and runs an international events program, the Sophia Club. Across our publishing and live events, we regularly explore themes of social justice, equity and environmental sustainability. We are preparing to open a permanent home for Sophia Club in Collingwood in 2027. The premises will be purpose-designed to house a dynamic cultural program of talks, music and workshops, a cafe and bar.

The Touchstone Group is a private, boutique funds-management group focused on investment and philanthropy. Our investment activities range across property and the financial markets with a particular focus on global equities. The Touchstone Group is the major funder of Aeon Media, through its philanthropic activities. The Touchstone Group's philanthropic arm has recently commenced granting donations with a specific focus on supporting organisations addressing homelessness and furthering ecological sustainability.

The Product Engineer works primarily on Aeon Media with potential for projects across the wider Touchstone Group. Aeon Media employs around 36 staff, primarily in Melbourne, and with smaller offices in London and New York. The Touchstone Group employs 7 staff, all based in Melbourne.

About the role

We’re a small technology team serving a large and loyal global readership. The systems we build and maintain are what get ideas in front of millions of people, and we want someone that is motivated by that mission and excited about building the technology to help deliver it.

This is a backend-focused Product Engineer role, but “product engineer” is the operative phrase: you’ll own problems end to end, from understanding what readers and editors actually need, through to the GraphQL APIs and services that make it happen in production. You won’t be handed tickets to close — you’ll help decide what’s worth building and why.

For the right candidate we also have some exciting and greenfield projects where you can learn and flex your creativity, building out AI-assisted data pipelines and applications to help manage our investment activities.

Because we’re small, the role is broad. Alongside shipping features you’ll take a turn at general IT support, systems administration and the occasional ad-hoc that lands outside your comfort zone. We see that as a feature, not a bug: it’s variety, ownership and a constant supply of new things to learn.

What you’ll do

• Own backend product work end to end — from the underlying problem, through design and GraphQL API development in Ruby, to running it reliably in production.
• Work closely with editorial, marketing and the wider team to understand what people need and translate that into well-built software.
• Use AI-assisted development as a core part of how you work, with good judgement about where it helps and where it doesn’t.

• Help keep our infrastructure healthy across our cloud and SaaS stack, and improve it as we grow.
• Pitch in on general IT support and administration for the team, and take on ad-hoc problems as they come up.

What we’re looking for

• 3+ years writing Ruby, ideally in the context of GraphQL API development.
• Demonstrable experience with AI-assisted development — you’ve made these tools a real part of your workflow and can speak to how you direct them and check their output.
• Strong people skills and a sense of product ownership. You communicate clearly, collaborate well with non-engineers, and care about outcomes rather than just output.
• A small-team temperament — comfortable wearing several hats, happy to be taken out of your comfort zone, and motivated by variety and learning.

Nice to have

• AWS: e.g. ECS, RDS, Terraform
• Azure: e.g. Container Apps, Foundry and Entra administration
• Google Workspace administration
• General IT support and systems administration experience

Location

This role is based in our Melbourne office, applicants from other locations will not be considered. Working arrangements can be hybrid/flexible, however we recognise the value of in-person collaboration and require 2+ days working alongside the team in our CBD office.

You must have the right to work in Australia to be considered for this role.

Why this role

You’ll have real ownership and real impact on a small team, and your work will directly serve a mission that matters: helping people make sense of themselves and the world. If you want variety, autonomy and a reason to care about what you ship, this is it.

next steps

To submit your application, please click ‘Apply Now’ by the closing date.