at Kindred · 11-50 employees
Kindred is a members-only global home-swapping platform that lets travelers exchange primary residences through a give-to-get credit system instead of paying nightly rent.
Kindred is a members-only home swapping platform that unlocks the ability to live a travel-rich lifestyle through the power of community. By exchanging primary residences with trusted peers, renters and owners alike can match with Kindred spirits and explore new destinations without breaking the bank. Kindred is revolutionizing the “third option” of travel accommodation, compared to short-term rentals and hotels. Since launching in 2022, Kindred has grown to a global community of 300,000 members across 150+ cities and puts home swapping on the map as a radically more affordable, responsible, and connected way to travel. To support that momentum, Kindred has raised over $150M in capital from some of the most credible investors in Silicon Valley, including Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates, Bessemer Venture Partners, Caffeinated Capital, Elad Gil, and founders of companies like Opendoor, Figma, ClassPass, and more. Kindred’s co-founders are proven leaders from the early team at Opendoor ($15B+ exit), who have each built and scaled products that today generate $1B+ annual revenue combined. We’re looking for the world’s top builders, executors, and believers to help us make travel more meaningful. You can learn more about us in Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescawalton/2026/02/03/home-swap-startup-kindred-raises-125-million-in-fresh-funding-as-travelers-seek-creative-ways-to-save-money/ and The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/realestate/is-your-apartment-nice-enough-for-this-home-swapping-app.html. THE ROLE: We're looking for a world-class Platform Engineer with deep experience in cloud infrastructure, DevOps, and backend systems to join our team. We're looking for a thought partner who is motivated by the opportunity to build robust, scalable infrastructure that will power an iconic consumer product shaping the future of travel. WHAT YOU’LL DO: - Serve as infrastructure lead and own key decisions including cloud architecture, platform strategy, deployment pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code implementation. - Design, build, and maintain scalable AWS infrastructure that supports our growing platform and enables rapid product development. - Develop internal tools, automation, and backend services that improve developer productivity and operational efficiency. - Work directly with engineering, and data teams to ensure infrastructure supports current needs while scaling for future growth. - Help establish infrastructure best practices and mentor engineers across the organization on cloud architecture, observability, and operational excellence. YOU MAY BE A RIGHT FIT FOR THIS ROLE IF YOU: - Have 5+ years of technical experience in platform engineering, infrastructure, DevOps, or SRE roles. - Have deep hands-on experience with AWS services (EC2, ECS/EKS, RDS, Lambda, S3, CloudFront, VPC, IAM, etc.). - Have strong coding skills (Python, Javascript/Typescript, or similar) and experience building internal tools, automation scripts, and infrastructure services. - Have experience implementing and managing CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar). - Have experience with observability tools, monitoring, logging, and incident response practices. - Have demonstrated success leading infrastructure initiatives and making critical architectural decisions at previous roles. - Have prior experience at a high-growth stage company. - Treat engineering as the client who sees infrastructure as an enabler of innovation and rapid iteration. - Are motivated by building platforms that empower teams and enable exceptional consumer experiences. - Have the ability to exercise strong judgment and make difficult tradeoff decisions balancing cost, performance, security, and velocity. - Are an excellent listener and strong communicator, working well cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment. - Are comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. - Enjoy the process of building foundational systems that will support the company's growth for years to come. - Have a pragmatic approach to engineering — you're not dogmatic and know how to choose the best tool or process for the job at hand. - Come to work with energy, humility, and positivity. OUR BENEFITS: At Kindred, we know that good things happen when we look out for one another. We offer a thoughtful, human-first benefits package designed to support health, wellbeing, and connection. Our openings may span more than one career level. The base salary offered depends on factors such as experience, transferable skills, business needs, impact, and market data. - Competitive cash compensation and equity - Comprehensive health benefits - Flexible time off, plus 12 paid holidays per year - 21 credits per year to stay in Kindred homes - $4,000 annual travel stipend to help offset travel-related costs - Remote-first and remote-flexible work environment, with opportunities to work from anywhere and gather in person, including at Kindred HQ in San Francisco - Regular team and company offsites to connect, collaborate, and build together - A vibrant, inclusive, and highly skilled team that ferociously protects team chemistry - A culture of high standards, feedback, and continual growth We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. Kindred does not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, medical condition, genetic information, family care or medical leave status, marital status, domestic partner status, military and veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by US federal, state or local laws, or the laws of the country or jurisdiction wher