Senior Software Engineer II - Publishing Job at KIT in San Diego

Senior Software Engineer II

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 is responsible for creators' first experiences in the app, from onboarding, to activation, and conversion. And we steward Kit's core application experience and design system.

You're a frontend expert who thinks full-stack. Modern frontend React development should be your superpower. You're obsessed with crafting exceptional user experiences and have shaped React architectures at scale. But you don't stop at the browser: you architect end-to-end features from database to deployment. You'll help us raise the bar for how creators experience our publishing platform by combining your frontend mastery with full-stack execution.

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

As a Senior Software Engineer II, you will:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 set you up for success

Skills

• Deep expertise developing high-craft web applications, with a strong background in React, JavaScript, and modern CSS frameworks like tailwind
• Experience with Ruby on Rails (preferred). Or experience with other backend frameworks and languages, with willingness to learn and master Ruby on Rails
• Ability to architect systems that are well-designed, scalable, accessible, and easy to maintain, with a solid understanding of frontend testing practices
• Proven ability to partner effectively with Product and Design to create delightful experiences, prioritizing user outcomes and business impact in your technical solutions
• Clear and concise communication skills, tailoring messages to the audience and driving clarity across teams

Experiences

• Acting as a frontend subject-matter expert, helping teams adopt modern frontend frameworks, patterns, and tradeoff decisions
• Building complex web components, such as visual canvases or rich text editors
• 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

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

Nice to haves

• Experience writing email-safe HTML and CSS
• Experience building design systems and component libraries
• Proficiency with frontend bundling and development tools
• Experience shipping user-facing AI features
• 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 timeso if you're based on the West Coast 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 (181,000), out of five levels. Level is determined based on experience and our interview process.
• Profit Sharing
• Kit equity
• 401k with a 5% match
• We cover up to $1,950 per month toward medical premiums, with dental and vision premiums fully covered. We offer Health Insurance plans through Aetna.
• $4,000 equipment allowance for your first two years, $3,000 budget every following two years
• 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 usually receive a large number of applications, and our goal is to follow up with you within two weeks. You'll hear from us either way. Here's what you can expect from the rest of our hiring process:

1. A phone screen with our recruiter
2. Hiring manager interview
3. Take-home assignment
4. A technical interview
5. Technical execution & leadership interview

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

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

In Summary: The Senior Software Engineer II will 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 . You're a frontend expert who thinks full-stack React development should be your superpower . En Español: Ingeniero Senior de Software II El papel Estamos buscando un ingeniero senior de software II para construir la plataforma principal de publicación y las experiencias de creador del Kit. Te unirás al equipo de Builders, que construye el conjunto de herramientas de publicación que los creadores utilizan para crear correos electrónicos, páginas de destino y boletines informativos. Nuestro equipo es responsable de las primeras experiencias del creador en la aplicación, desde la incorporación, hasta la activación y conversión. Y administramos la experiencia central de aplicaciones y sistema de diseño de Engine Kit. Eres un experto frontend que piensa a pilar completo. El desarrollo moderno de Frontend React debe ser tu superpotencia. Estás obsesionado con la creación de experiencias excepcionales de usuario y has dado forma a arquitecturas de React a escala. Pero no te detienes en la barra de productos: desarrollas profundidad interrelacionada entre las características del producto y la base de datos de despliegue. También tendrá acceso a un grupo de ingenieros en todo Kit para recibir apoyo y tutoría, y comenzará con un compañero de incorporación que le ayudará a navegar por nuestros sistemas y base de código. Lo que hará como Ingeniero Senior de Software II: sumérgese en nuestra base de códigos y arquitectura de la plataforma de publicación. Configure su entorno local y fusione su primer código de producción. Participe en Get To Know You's para conocer a nuestro equipo distribuido. Trabaje a través de su plan personal de integración. Comience comprendiendo cómo nuestras herramientas de edición apoyan a los creadores desde la incorporación hasta la conversión, e identifique oportunidades para Ruby Experience. Únete a las actividades del equipo para planificar, construir y medir las experiencias que enviamos a los desarrolladores. Participa activamente en revisiones de código y contribuye a patrones de relaciones públicas semanalmente. O experiencia con otros frameworks y lenguajes de respaldo, con voluntad para aprender y dominar Ruby on Rails Capacidad para diseñar sistemas arquitectónicos que sean bien diseñados, escalables, accesibles y fáciles de mantener, con una sólida comprensión de las prácticas de pruebas frontend Pruebable capacidad para asociarse eficazmente con el producto y el diseño para crear experiencias deliciosas, priorizar los resultados del usuario e impacto comercial en sus soluciones técnicas Habilidades de comunicación claras y concisas, adaptando a la audiencia y impulsando la claridad entre equipos Experiencias Actuando como un experto especializado en temas fronterizos, ayudando a adoptar modelos modernos de vanguardia, patrones inteligentes artificiales y decisiones de intercambio Construir componentes web complejos, tales como lienzos visuales o editores de texto ricos Liderar proyectos técnicos complejos desde la iteración ambigua hasta el lanzamiento y la ideación, tomar posesión extrema para impulsar la clareza, cerrar riesgos, y dar prioridad al desarrollo de mensajes de trabajo. Trabajamos sobre todo en la Costa Este, si estás basado en la costa oeste de los Estados Unidos, Europa o Asia, podrías tener algunas mañanas tempranas o tardías. Hacemos nuestro mejor esfuerzo para mantener las cosas razonables, pero un poco de malabarismo con la zona horaria viene con el territorio. Las horas principales de colaboración para este equipo son 10:45 am a 2 pm hora oriental. Promovemos trabajo flexible fuera de estas horas centrales. Compensación + beneficios + beneficios: Kit tiene salarios estandarizados según posición, sin importar dónde vivas. Para esta función, estamos contratando en un nivel 4 (181.000), de cinco niveles. El nivel se determina en base a nuestra experiencia y nuestro proceso de entrevista. $4,000 de asignación de equipo para sus primeros dos años, $3,000 presupuesto cada dos años siguientes Aprendizaje individual + presupuesto de desarrollo ($3,500/año) Beneficios por sexo Afirmar beneficios Cuidado infantil hasta $3,000 al año Veinte (20) días de tiempo libre remunerado durante cada año de empleo vacaciones pagadas: Una bonificación después de impuestos de $1,000 por tomar cinco días consecutivos de vacaciones donde usted está completamente desconectado del trabajo Diez (10) días libres al año Dos semanas de tiempo pago en enfermedad cada año, incluida la salud mental + días de bienestar Doce (12) semanas de licencia parental y programación flexible pagada en el primer año de su hijo Hasta seis semanas de licencias de duelo, licencia médica y desastres pagados después de seis meses de empleo, dos semanas de permisos pagados en los primeros seis meses Cierre: El kit se cierra durante una temporada paga a fines de diciembre, todos disfrutan de un descanso colectivo que siga la temporada. Esto es lo que puede esperar del resto de nuestro proceso de contratación: una pantalla telefónica con nuestra entrevista para el reclutador Hiring manager Take-home assignment Una entrevista técnica Entrevista técnica Ejecución y liderazgo Te mantendremos informado a través de cada paso. Para comenzar, complete esta solicitud, incluida una carta de presentación y respuestas a las preguntas en la siguiente página. Leemos todas las solicitudes, y su carta de declaración y resúmenes ayudan a poner tu experiencia en contexto. Kit es un empleador de igualdad de oportunidades. Valoramos la diversidad en todas sus formas. La investigación nos dice que los solicitantes femeninos o no binarios, así como los candidatos de color, son menos propensos a postularse a puestos para los cuales no se sienten calificados al 100%. Si crees que cumples más del 50% de nuestros requisitos pero menos del 100% de ellos, por favor aplique. Somos imperadores, así que piense en nuestras publicaciones de trabajo como prueba inicial de que no debes aplicar.