Software Engineer, Product

Who Are We

Government technology has failed the public for decades and Americans have been conditioned to expect websites from the 90s for essential public services.

Kaizen exists to strengthen trust in American public services by building technology that residents and public servants are proud to use. We partner with local state and federal agencies to replace legacy systems with modern AI-native software that is worthy of the people they serve. We started in outdoor recreation and now were building toward something much larger the software layer that powers how Americans access any government service.

Our platform already reaches 40 million residents across 50 agencies in 17 states.

Founded in 2022 and based in New York City Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA a16z Accel 776 and Carpenter Capital. Were builders designers and operators who believe that beautifully designed software shouldnt be a luxury in government. Its how you earn trust back.

Before You Apply...

Were looking for a Product Engineer who is obsessed with what AI can do right now - not theoretically not eventually - and wants to build systems that millions of Americans actually use. The stack is modern: React / / TypeScript / Node / Postgres / Prisma / AWS. The problems are hard. The feedback loops are short. The team is small and extremely good.

The Role

This is not a ticket-grinder role. Youre not here to implement Figma specs collect your JIRA points and wait for the next sprint planning. Youre here to move fast make real calls and ship things that matter. Youll be one of a small number of engineers working directly on the highest-leverage features on our platform - intelligent intake flows AI-powered case routing constituent-facing portals that replace decade-old government interfaces.

Youll pair with design leadership that cares deeply about craft and wont let you ship something half-baked. Youll engage directly with federal agency stakeholders. Youll translate what government users actually need into a product that delivers it.

And youll be expected to use AI tooling not as a party trick but as a force multiplier. Cursor Claude Copilot - these should already be embedded in how you think and work. The engineers were hiring here move 35x faster because of how deeply theyve internalized these tools. Thats the bar.

Location

This is a hybrid role based out of our New York City HQ. Candidates must reside in New York or be able to commute to New York City to work out of our office at least three times a week (Tuesdays - Thursdays).

What Youll Own

• Full-stack features from zero to shipped - scoping architecture build iteration

• AI-powered product surfaces: intelligent intake flows real-time constituent assistants automated case routing agency operator dashboards

• Direct engagement with federal agency stakeholders - translating messy real-world requirements into clean shippable product

• Platform reliability and performance at government scale - real users real SLAs no hiding

• Code quality that the next engineer will respect: clean tested maintainable

What Youll Bring

• 24 years of professional engineering experience - or work that makes the years irrelevant

• Deep fluency in React / and / TypeScript / Postgres - not just comfortable but fast

• AI coding tools (Cursor Copilot Claude) are already baked into how you work - youre not planning to explore them someday youve shipped with them

• Something real youve built - a product an open source project a thing you couldnt stop working on

• You operate well with ambiguity. You dont wait to be handed the answer.

• You actually care whether the person on the other end of the screen has a good experience

Strong Candidates May Also...

• Youve touched federal state or local government tech - or you understand the constraints of building for regulated high-stakes environments

• Cloud deployment experience (AWS Vercel GitHub Actions ECS/Fargate)

• Exposure to design systems and component libraries - you know the difference between a component thats functional and one thats right

• Youve worked in an early-stage environment where figuring it out was the job

What Kaizen Offers

Health & Insurance

• Comprehensive medical through Oxford/United Gold and Platinum PPO plans with 85% of premiums covered on the Platinum plan and a $0 employee premium option. Dental through Guardian PPO and vision through Beam with 99% of employee premiums covered and 50% for dependents.

• $100000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA. 401(k) access through Guideline.

Family & Time Off

• 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.

• Unlimited PTO closed for all federal holidays and company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.

Office & Remote Setup

• Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees.

• $50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).

• Expensed lunch 3x a week while in the office.

• Company-provided laptop.

Wellness

• Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value on us. For remote employees $100/month dedicated to gym or physical fitness reimbursement.

• $300/quarter pet care stipend.

Stipends

• $100/month utility stipend.

• $500/year professional development.

• $250/year recreation.

Kaizen is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race color religion age sex national origin disability genetics protected veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local law. If you need an accommodation during the interview process email us at .

Required Experience:

IC