Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
The world has changed. Why hasn’t insurance?
Kin’s mission is to reimagine home insurance For Every New Normal. While other insurers struggle to handle a fast-changing world, Kin is built for the future and is prepared to meet its challenges head on while helping our customers do the same.
Kin is proud to be one of BuiltIn Chicago’s 2021 and 2022 Best Mid Sized Companies to work for, and Forbes 2021 Best Startup Employers in North America. Simply put, our people are what make us great, and we need forward-thinking, inspired game-changers like you to join us in our mission.
So, what’s the role?
As our Chief Technology Officer (CTO) you will be instrumental in envisioning and building the future at Kin. We require someone who is an excellent technologist themselves and can continue to build our technology team into an exceptional and high performing group. Scaling a tech business is hard and we are looking for somebody who has demonstrated success taking a Series C or D company to the next level.
You will partner with executive leaders at Kin to lead our continued transformation of the home insurance industry and be a catalyst for growth. Leveraging your technology leadership experience, you will develop a highly engaged and capable team including technical strategy, architecture, software engineering, infrastructure, corporate IT, and security. The CTO reports to our founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sean Harper.
A day in the life could include:
- Leading development and execution of the technology vision and strategy for Kin, in strong partnership with the rest of the executive team..
- Continuing to widen our technology moat between us and our legacy competitors.
- Providing expert technical guidance to all functional areas, including strategy, operations, sales and product.
- Scaling, developing and evolving Kin’s software engineering practice and operations with an emphasis on innovation, engagement and excellence. Ensuring alignment of various teams within the technology organization in support of business priorities, while promoting team autonomy and empowerment.
- Hiring, developing, motivating and retaining talent, to support a vibrant, productive, and inclusive culture. Ensuring teams are aligned with clear expectations and objectives.
- Ensuring our technology practices and processes adhere to regulatory standards and best practices for data protection privacy, information security and financial reporting.
- Ensuring strong up-time performance and reliability of Kin’s systems and software, including disaster recovery. Developing strong knowledge transfer mechanisms to support continuity and future readiness.
- Methodically using data to continually improve both team and technology performance.
I’ve got the skills… but do I have the necessary ones?
- Experience taking a Series C or D company to the next level. Experience in Fintech and consumer facing products is a plus.
- Experience in improving the quality of an engineering organization’s output and effecting changes to culture, process and software architecture to increase reliability. Leverage empirical data and methodologies to track engineering quality and throughput.
- Experience strategically balancing tech debt and new development.
- Ability to attract, retain, and manage talent while transforming a technology organization’s effectiveness. Experience managing large teams of distributed team members and achieving results primarily through effective leadership, inspiration, and empowered teams.
- Knowledge of modern data engineering practices, e.g. related to data orchestration, data warehouses, data observability and monitoring.
- Can lead high-performing software quality assurance resources in automated testing, integration testing, management, metrics, reporting, and automation.
- Ability to balance short- and longer-term customer, product, and data priorities across the organization.
- Proven ability to set technical vision and build the technical product roadmap from launch to scale; Drive continuous product improvement; Effectively align resources to achieve key business priorities, including appropriate scope, high quality and timely product releases
- Ability to understand and communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- At Kin, we use many technologies, including:
- Ruby on Rails for API and web development, featuring extensive use of Sidekiq for asynchronous processing and RSpec for thoroughly tested code
- TypeScript and Angular for front end web development, with WebComponent powering modularity
- Python with Airflow for ETL and data pipelines, with all data eventually being housed in Redshift
- Terraform and Docker for infrastructure as code, powering our AWS deployments
Bonus Points:
- Experience in startups or fast-growing companies.
- Experience in private and public sector.
- Insurance industry experience, ideally insurtech.
Oh, and don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
- Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
- Flexible PTO policy
- Very generous equity options and 401K
- Parental Leave
- Continuing education and professional development
- Disability and Life Insurance
- The excitement of joining a high-growth Insurtech company and seeing your work make an impact
In an industry that hasn't budged in more than 100 years, our technology transforms the user experience, cuts inefficiencies that waste billions of consumer dollars, and customizes coverage homeowners want. We believe insurance was always meant to be a digital product – we’re making that a reality.
Our approach to the industry makes us unique, and the people at Kin help us excel. We’re a team of problem solvers, collaborators, builders, and dreamers who are passionate about creating positive change in the lives of our customers and in our industry. Kin is more than just our name – it’s how we treat each other. That’s one of the many reasons we’ve been recognized as a great place to work by Built In, Forbes, and Fast Company.
EEOC Statement
Kin is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We don't just accept difference – we honor it, nurture it, and celebrate it. We don’t discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.
Kin encourages applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to having a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences and abilities.
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