Senior Software Engineer II - Publishing

Kit is an email-first operating system for creators who mean business. We help creators grow and monetize their audience with ease. For coaches, YouTubers, authors, podcasters, and other creatives, there isn't a better marketing hub to rely on to grow audiences, automate email marketing, and sell digital products — all within one platform.

More importantly, there isn't a team more committed to helping creators earn a living. We're on a mission to help creators earn $1 billion using our creator marketing platform. We have always been 100% independent and 100% remote.

We are proud to have built a product that our customers love, and we look for people who have enthusiasm and belief in our mission, vision, and values to join our team. We're also embracing AI thoughtfully — both in how we build and how we hire to ensure our team is adaptable, innovative, and ready for what's next.

The role

We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer II to build Kit's core publishing platform and creator growth experiences.

You will be joining the Builders team, which builds the suite of publishing tools creators use to create emails, landing pages, and newsletters. Our team also stewards Kit's core application experience and design system, along with our frontend platform tooling.

This is a hands-on role for a product-minded full-stack engineer who excels at crafting exceptional user experiences. You'll architect complex features while collaborating closely with Product and Design to deliver impactful solutions that elevate how creators experience our publishing platform. You're proficient across the stack with strong backend fundamentals, but you love digging into Figma and building beautiful user experiences in close collaboration with Design. You'll help us raise the bar for our team's technical practices and code quality while architecting our biggest features.

You combine technical depth with leadership and extreme ownership. You partner closely with Product and Design to shape the "what" as well as the "how." You thrive in ambiguity, take initiative, and elevate the people around you.

Your support system

You'll report to the Engineering Manager who leads the Builders team, 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 publishing platform architecture. Set up your local environment and merge your first production code. Take part in Get To Know You's to meet our distributed team.
• First Month: Work through your personal onboarding plan. Begin understanding how our publishing tools support creators from onboarding to conversion, and identify opportunities for improvement. Join team activities for planning, building, and measuring the experiences we ship to creators. Actively participate in code reviews, and contribute PRs weekly.
• First Six Months: Lead and architect at least one major feature from ambiguous idea to launch. Transform our legacy codebase through strategic refactoring while applying systems thinking to enhance scalability and maintainability. Drive adoption of patterns and conventions that elevate team-wide technical standards. Ensure service reliability by participating in on-call rotations. Present at least one Lunch & Learn session. Actively mentor peers, and champion quality across our codebase.

What will S.E.T. you up for success

Skills

• Deep expertise developing complex web applications with high-craft beautiful user experiences, using React, JavaScript, and modern CSS frameworks like tailwind
• Expertise with Ruby on Rails (preferred). Or experience with other backend frameworks with willingness to learn and master Rails. You're a strong contributor across the stack, from the browser to the database
• Ability to architect systems that are well-designed, scalable, accessible, and easy to maintain, with a solid understanding of frontend testing practices
• Ability to plan, estimate, and execute complex ambiguous projects independently while keeping stakeholders informed
• Clear and concise communication skills, tailoring messages to the audience, and driving team clarity through open knowledge-sharing and collaboration

Experiences

• Partnering effectively with Product and Design to create delightful experiences, prioritizing user outcomes and business impact in your technical solutions
• Leading complex technical projects from ambiguous ideation to launch and iteration beyond, taking extreme ownership to drive clarity, anticipate risks, and prioritize the biggest impact
• Working across a legacy codebase and evolving it safely through migrations and system refactors
• Championing solutions that have demonstrated large positive impact across teams
• Mentoring and teaching other engineers formally and informally

Traits

• High agency and ability to work independently while collaborating closely with teammates
• Adaptability within a dynamic and ambiguous environment, with proactive ownership of problems
• Strong interest in AI and eagerness to experiment with the evolving landscape to make our work more efficient and effective
• Openness to direct feedback and continuous improvement, with ability to shape team culture through empathetic feedback and mentoring
• Embraces learning with growth mindset and a demonstrated ability to build new skills quickly and model this for others

Nices to haves

You will stand out with:

• Experience building rich text editors using frameworks like SlateJS or ProseMirror
• Experience writing email-safe HTML and CSS
• Experience shipping user-facing AI features
• Proficiency with frontend bundling and development tools
• Background in creator economy or publishing platform

Working hours and location:

We're 100% remote with team members across the globe. We work mostly on East Coast time—so if you're based on the West Cost of the United States, Europe, or Asia, you might have a few early mornings or late evenings. We do our best to keep things reasonable, but a little time zone juggling comes with the territory. The core collaboration hours for this team are 10:45am to 2pm Eastern Time. We promote flexible work outside these core hours.

Compensation + perks + benefits:

Kit has standardized salaries based on position, no matter where you live. For this role, we're hiring at a level 4 out of 5 levels, with an expected starting salary of $186,000. Level is determined based on experience and our interview process.

Within level 4, we have three progression steps — early ($180,000), midpoint ($186,000), and late ($192,000) — that reflect where someone is in their development within that level. As the default, new hires start at the midpoint salary tier. In some cases a hiring manager may recommend a different starting point based on specific, documented rationale.

Perks + benefits include:

• Profit Sharing
• Kit equity
• 401k with a 5% match
• We cover up to $2,100 per month toward medical premiums, with dental and vision premiums fully covered. We offer Health Insurance plans through Aetna.
• $2,000 equipment allowance for your first two years, $1,000 budget every following two years. Company-provided laptops are issued to every Kit team member and are not included in the equipment budget
• Individual learning + development budget ($3,500/year)
• Gender affirming benefits
• Childcare benefit up to $3,000 annually
• Twenty (20) days of paid time off during each year of employment
• Paid paid vacation: An after-tax bonus of $1,000 for taking five consecutive days of vacation where you’re fully unplugged from work
• Ten (10) paid holidays a year
• Two weeks of paid sick time each year, including mental health + well being days
• Twelve (12) weeks paid parental leave and flexible scheduling in your child’s first year
• Up to six weeks of paid bereavement leave, medical leave, and disaster after six months of employment, two weeks of each paid leave in your first six months
• Winter Break Closure: Kit closes for a week at the end of December, giving everyone a collective break to enjoy the holiday season. Essential support services remain available, with teams coordinating to ensure coverage during this period
• Four-week, paid sabbatical after five years with the team
• Fantastic in-person or virtual retreats with the team twice a year

How to apply

We know that most people hate interviewing (we relate!). We aim to make it as good of an experience as we can, and part of that includes keeping you informed during the process.

Here’s what you can expect from the process:

1. Phone screen with our recruiter (30 min)
2. Hiring manager interview (45 min)
3. Take-home assignment
4. Technical interview (75 min)
5. Technical execution and leadership interview (60 min)

To get started, complete this application, including answers to the questions on the next page. We read every single application, and your responses to our application questions help put your experience into context. We’ll keep you informed through every step

Kit is an equal opportunity employer

We value diversity in all of its forms. Research tells us that applicants who are female or non-binary, as well as applicants who are people of color, are less likely to apply for roles they do not feel 100% qualified for. If you think you meet more than 50% of our requirements but fewer than 100% of them, please apply.

We’re imperfect communicators, so think of our job postings as the starting point for discussion rather than proof that you shouldn’t apply.

Kit does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, age, national origin, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other reason prohibited by law in provision of employment opportunities and benefits.