Engineering Manager - Kin

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.

Note: 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simpler, more affordable, and better for homeowners — especially in the places where climate risks, rising costs, and outdated systems make it hardest.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.

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)

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.

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

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 support you

• 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 and company-paid life insurance/short-term disability
• Flexible PTO plus 8 company-observed holidays
• Paid parental leave (up to 14 weeks for birthing parents, 8 weeks for non-birthing parents)
• Professional development budgets for certifications, conferences, and learning