Engineering Manager

Quick Summary

Lead a full-stack team building distributed, API-first systems on AWS. Player-coach role driving scalable architecture, reliable delivery, and high-performing engineers.

At this time, we are unable to sponsor employment visas for this role.

Who we are

Kin makes life simpler, more affordable, and better for homeowners — especially in the places where climate risks, rising costs, and outdated systems make it hardest. We start with smarter homeowners insurance and expand to everything homeowners need to thrive.

Using data, technology, and thoughtful human support, we’re building products that are clear, fair, and help homeowners feel confident — so homeowners aren’t left behind when they need help most.

Founded in 2016, Kin is a remote-first employer with Kinfolk across more than 35 states. We serve customers in 13 states (and counting). Our disciplined growth, strong customer satisfaction, and focus on long-term sustainability fosters outstanding growth, attracts marquee investors, and earns recognition and accolades, including:

Built In Chicago's Best Places to Work, Midsize Companies (2021-2026)

Forbes' America's Best Startup Employers (2021-2024)

Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies

Forbes’ Fintech 50

Great Places to Work Certified (2024-2026)

Most importantly, we’re building Kin to be a place where people do meaningful work with real impact — for our customers, our communities, and each other. We're excited to tell you more about how you can contribute to our rapid growth, strong unit economics, profitability, and excellent customer ratings. To learn more about how we work and what we’re building, visit kin.com and see how we work .

The opportunity

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 we need a hands-on leader who can guide that transformation while delivering customer-facing innovation.

This role exists at a pivotal moment: we’re balancing 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.

Your 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

Success in this role

In your first 6–12 months at Kin, success is less about checking boxes and more about the impact you create. You’ll use your skills and judgment to take ownership of meaningful work, improve how we operate, and help move Kin’s mission forward. Along the way, you’ll deliver outcomes that make a real difference for both Kinfolk and the homeowners we serve.

By the end of your first year, you should feel confident in your role, trusted as an owner, and proud of the progress you’ve helped make.

Your team consistently delivers roadmap initiatives with improved predictability, quality, and reduced production incidents

Core services have been redesigned or evolved toward modular, API-first architectures with clear service ownership and scalability

Engineering best practices for observability, distributed communication, and reliability are consistently adopted across your team

Engineers on your team demonstrate measurable growth in technical capability, ownership, and cross-functional collaboration

What you’ll bring

Core Experience & Technical Skills

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

How we hire

We believe a great hiring experience should be clear, respectful, and human. Applications for this role are accepted on an on-going basis. While our recruiting team uses AI tools for efficiency, resumes are still screened by Kin’s in-house recruiters, and candidate evaluations and hiring decisions are made by recruiters and hiring teams. Rest assured, real people make real decisions.

The hiring process and timeline for each role will vary, depending on the position. However, here are some things you can expect from us:

Prompt updates and feedback following interviews

Interviews with recruiters, hiring managers, and members of teams

Skills assessment relevant to the position, if applicable

Genuine, thoughtful human interaction at every step

How we support you

We offer a comprehensive, competitive benefits program, allowing you to choose the benefits that are best for you and your family, starting on the first day of the month following your start date.

Core Benefits

Competitive salary and company equity through Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), granted as part of our standard compensation package and based on role and level

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

Health & Wellbeing

A variety of supplemental benefit options, 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

Growth & Development

Career mobility and internal growth opportunities across the organization

Professional development budgets for certifications, conferences, and learning available, subject to management approval

How we work

We don’t just hire for skills. We hire for