The role
We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to build the products that help creators grow their audience and monetize their work at scale.
You'll be joining the Network Squad, which owns Creator Growth through recommendation products and Creator Monetization via our Newsletter Sponsorships and Commerce platforms. We build products where network effects drive value—as more creators participate, everyone benefits. Your work directly impacts how thousands of creators find their audience and earn a living, with measurable outcomes like 2x faster audience growth for creators using our recommendation network.
This is a hands-on role for a product-minded engineer with strong product engineering skills and front-end experience. You'll work across the full stack—from React frontends to our Rails backend and analytics systems—and you care deeply about creating great user experiences. You partner well with Design and Product throughout the design process, contributing to early concepts, refining rough ideas, and breaking down ambitious features into iterative deliverables that ship value to creators sooner. You contribute to scoping conversations, help identify MVPs, and support iterative release planning so creators benefit throughout the development process, not just at the end. You're data-driven and contribute to product improvements while bringing modern approaches to performance and user experience.
You're proficient with AI-assisted development tools like Claude Code and Cursor, and leverage them to broaden your impact.
Your support system
You'll report to Mark Southard who leads the Network Squad, a cross-functional product team at Kit. You'll collaborate closely with a Product Manager, Product Designer, and peer Software Engineers.
You'll also have access to a group of Engineers across Kit for support and mentorship, and will start with a peer onboarding buddy who will help you navigate our systems and codebase.
What you'll do
First Week: Dive into our codebase and learn how our growth and monetization products work. Set up your local environment and merge your first production code. Take part in Get To Know You's (GTKYs) to meet our distributed team.
First Month: Drive your own ramp-up by learning our product and codebase with the goal of delivering something meaningful to creators by month's end. Understand how our recommendation and monetization products support creators, and how our systems—from Rails backend to React frontend, and our ClickHouse analytics layer—work together. Join team activities for planning, building, and measuring. Actively participate in code reviews, and contribute to PRs weekly.
First Six Months: Own and deliver multiple complex features from concept to launch. Improve our codebase through thoughtful refactoring while maintaining quality standards. Ensure service reliability by participating in on-call rotations. Present at least one Lunch & Learn session. Proactively identify and act on opportunities to improve our product and development processes.
What will S.E.T. you up for success
Skills
Strong experience developing rich, performant web applications using React, JavaScript, and modern CSS frameworks like Tailwind
Proficiency with Ruby on Rails (preferred) or other backend frameworks. You're strongest on the front end but comfortable and capable working across the stack
Ability to help scope ambitious designs into iterative releases. Contributing to MVP identification, sequencing deliverables, and shipping value incrementally rather than waiting for "done”
Proficiency using AI-assisted development tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude, etc.) to accelerate development and improve code quality
Ability to plan, estimate, and execute complex ambiguous projects independently while keeping stakeholders informed
Ability to write high-quality, well-tested, maintainable, and accessible code with minimal guidance
Excellent communication and collaboration skills for driving clarity and alignment across Engineering, Product, and Design
Experiences
Breaking down complex, polished designs into shipping increments. Pushing back and shaping scope constructively and partnering with Product and Design to define iterative release plans
Working with large-scale data systems to power user experiences, analytics, or optimization
Working across a legacy codebase and evolving it safely through migrations, refactors, and modernization of frontend components
Planning, estimating, and executing complex projects independently while keeping stakeholders informed
Diagnosing root causes of problems and proposing solutions with clear trade-offs and business impact
Sharing knowledge and context through code reviews, documentation, and mentorship to support the team's technical growth
Traits
High agency and ownership. Comfortable working independently while collaborating closely with teammates
Demonstrate growth mindset through continuous learning and rapid skill development
Adapt flexibly to dynamic environments while maintaining proactive ownership of outcomes
Create momentum by bringing ideas to life without waiting for perfect conditions
Strong interest in AI and eagerness to experiment with the evolving landscape to make our work more efficient and effective
Integrate feedback naturally into workflow, both giving actionable input and iterating based on feedback received
Shape and champion solutions that deeply align with user needs, balancing technical excellence with product impact
Nice to haves
You will stand out with:
Experience with machine learning concepts, recommendation systems, or personalization algorithms
Experience with OLAP systems like ClickHouse, Druid, or similar data stores
Experience building commerce products, advertising platforms, or marketplace systems
Worked directly in the creator economy space
What won't set you up for success
Thriving only in highly structured environments with detailed specifications. Our work often involves ambiguity and evolving requirements
Preferring to work in isolation. Our collaborative approach means regular interaction with cross-functional teams
Needing full consensus or permission before moving forward
Uncomfortable with direct feedback culture (both giving and receiving)
Wanting to avoid legacy code. We value our codebase history and need engineers who can respectfully evolve rather than rewrite everything
Reluctant to adopt AI development tools. We expect engineers to actively leverage AI
Working hours and location
We're 100% remote with team members across the globe. We concentrate meetings in a core 4-hour overlap window (10am-2pm Eastern) to balance collaboration with individual focus time. Depending on your location, this may mean early mornings or late afternoons, but we're intentional about keeping meetings contained to this window.