Engineering Manager

We're looking for a passionate, entrepreneurial Engineering Manager to help us scale our product architecture and elevate our engineering execution. As Kin continues to grow, we're evolving from monolithic systems toward distributed, modular services and need a hands-on leader who can guide that transformation while delivering customer-facing innovation. The role balances rapid product development with long-term system reliability, performance, and scalability. You'll lead a full-stack team across front-end and back-end systems, partnering closely with Product to ship roadmap features while strengthening architecture and engineering standards.

Responsibilities

Lead and develop a high-performing full-stack engineering team, fostering ownership, accountability, and continuous growth; Serve as a hands-on player-coach, contributing meaningful production code while setting technical direction; Drive delivery of roadmap initiatives from concept through production with predictable, high-quality execution; Champion API-first design and schema-first development practices (OpenAPI/Swagger, contract testing, interface-driven development); Guide the decomposition of monolithic systems into modular, distributed services with clear ownership boundaries; Establish best practices for observability, resilience, and distributed communication (tracing, retries, idempotency, error handling); Lead architectural discussions to ensure long-term maintainability, reliability, and performance; Partner cross-functionally with Product, PMO, and other engineering teams to align technical strategy with business priorities; Participate in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring to strengthen the engineering organization

Requirements

Minimum 8 years of hands-on software development experience with strong computer science fundamentals; Proven experience managing or leading a team of engineers in a fast-paced environment; Demonstrated success acting as a player-coach who contributes meaningfully to the codebase; Experience building distributed systems and decomposing monoliths into modular services; Hands-on experience with API-first and schema-first workflows (OpenAPI/Swagger, contract testing, interface-driven development); Experience with relational and NoSQL databases, message queues/brokers, and distributed system design patterns; Ability to design systems with clear service ownership, reliability, and modularity; Excellent command of the full SDLC: analysis, design, development, testing, deployment, and support; Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to convey complex technical concepts clearly

Nice to have

Experience with modern JavaScript frameworks (React, Angular, or Vue); Familiarity with BI or big-data technologies such as Looker or BigTable; Experience with Ruby on Rails or similar backend frameworks; Exposure to regulated industries such as insurance or financial services

Benefits

Competitive salary and company equity through Restricted Stock Units (RSUs); 401(k) with company match up to 4% of eligible earnings; Multiple medical plan options, plus dental and vision coverage; Company-funded HSA contributions (based on medical plan selection); Company-paid life insurance and short-term disability; Supplemental benefits including long-term disability, critical illness, accident, legal, and pet insurance; Access to mental health support and confidential counseling resources; Flexible PTO for exempt employees (most employees take 15-20 days per year), plus 8 company-observed holidays; Paid parental leave, including up to 14 weeks at 100% pay for birthing parents and 8 weeks at 100% pay for non-birthing parents; Career mobility and internal growth opportunities across the organization; Professional development budgets for certifications, conferences, and learning, subject to management approval