Director of Data Engineering, Kin Insurance
+ Equity
Personalized home insurance platform
Open for applications
Personalized home insurance platform
501-1000 employees
Open for applications
+ Equity
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To reimagine home insurance for every new normal.
Role
Who you are
- Has high EQ. Has worked with executives and has managed multi-stakeholders. Fluent communication both written and verbal
- Has grown up with a data engineering background. Has been a developer, architect and worked hands on in their career
- Has worked on a modern data stack. Understands the continuum from ingestion to operational data stores and BI to real time data science ecosystems
- Overall 12+ years of experience in software development & strong computer science fundamentals with 5+ years managing a team of 25+ data engineers
- Strong design and architecture exposure in building large scale enterprise SaaS solutions using cloud technologies
- Deep understanding of cultivating teams, motivating people and creating high performance cultures
- Comfortable with working at the 50,000ft level shaping product and business strategy. Driving technology vision/roadmaps and OKRs. Also equally comfortable getting into the weeds working with teams on architecture, planning, resourcing, delivery or quarterbacking production issues when needed. Adept at “seeing around corners” and building with an eye to the future
- Experience with creating data ecosystems with high availability, quality, reliability of data. Can drive data operations and expense management
- Experience and understanding of immutable-infrastructure with Terraform, git-ops, automation, CI/CD pipelines
What the job involves
- As the head of Data Engineering at Kin, you will lead the data tools and engineering organization
- You will be responsible for scoping out, designing and building infrastructure across multiple data domains
- You will be making key technical decisions, specifically taking into account trade-offs between short- and long-term data tradeoffs and business impacts
- As the leader of the data team, we’ll rely on you to push Kin to leveraging data effectively and widely
- Creating a vision for how we ingest and manage data for transactional uses, BI and data science use cases
- Driving execution and outcomes. Working with cross-functional stakeholders to drive value
- Leading distributed Data Engineering teams and collaborating with domain teams on how best to leverage data to improve outcomes
- Zooming in and out of the weeds. Being comfortable talking about funnel conversion and then how ingestion, storage, pipelines, mastering, and governance get us the desired results
- Being a thought leader on best practices in data engineering and having a nuanced understanding of data science and AI applications
- Hiring, nurturing and mentoring top engineering talent. This is probably the most important part of being an engineering leader at Kin!
- Be a steward of the platform. Own code quality, availability, scalability, resiliency, performance, observability and maintainability as part of ongoing development
- Collaborating with various stakeholders in multiple technical disciplines: including developers, business intelligence, data engineers, devops, quality assurance, and architects to support existing and implement new data, and predictive analytics solutions
- Serving as a technical advisor to management concerning the planning, development, design, procurement, maintenance and implementation of data integration for enterprise-level systems
- Communicating with the executive team and company leadership about tech strategy, vision, programs, investment plans, and production issues
- Monitoring and evaluating audit and compliance industry trends and third-party tools
Our take
The setup process for home insurance can be difficult and time-consuming, particularly for complex and risky properties. Legacy insurance providers rely on users and brokers to insert uniform data, an approach that is not very accurate considering the idiosyncrasies of each individual property.
Kin Insurance works directly with consumers to provide bespoke and affordable home insurance. The company's software imports thousands of variables based on third-party data in order to provide a more personalized approach to home insurance. Data is also collected from aerial and satellite imagery, government records, and building permits to ensure a house is covered from localized threats such as wildfire, hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Recognizing the antiquated and one-size-fits-all nature of the current home insurance landscape, Kin Insurance has taken an innovative approach by focusing on data collection. Through these means, the company claims that they can offer personalized insurance that can be negotiated directly through their communication channels, ensuring that consumers can access the exact insurance they need without having to pay for more than is required. Strong funding, raised across several rounds, will allow Kin to continue expanding its network and business reach.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Few candidates hear
back within 2 weeks
12% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 11 rounds)
Feb 2024
$15m
SERIES D
Sep 2023
$33m
SERIES D
Total funding: $326m
Company benefits
- Medical
- Dental
- Vision
- Life insurance
- Disability insurance
- Commuter benefit plan
- 401k
- Flex spending accounts
- Support for continuing education and professional development
- Training, development, and networking opportunities via Sales Assembly
- Flexible PTO
- Onsite gym membership
- Company-provided lunch each month
- Daily snacks
- Sodas, unlimited flavored water, & coffee
Company values
- Run through walls, together - Our industry is stuck in the status quo. But Kin is different. We are challengers. Innovators unwavering in our mission to fix insurance for those who need it most. We are changing insurance for good. We roll up our sleeves, take action, and get “impossible” things done every day with grit and teamwork
- Raise the bar. Drop the ego - Attitudes are contagious. Every one of us is responsible for creating the culture we want to work in. High performance. Low drama. Always respectful. Like professional sports teams, we win by working in sync. We show up, work hard, and play to each other’s strengths
- Act like an owner - We are more than employees. We are owners, fully accountable for achieving Kin’s mission. That requires positive, proactive, big-picture thinking well beyond our job descriptions. Ask questions, Take ownership. Do the right thing, even when it‘s hard. Because when Kin thrives, so do you. And so do our customers
- Keep asking ‘What if?’ - We value curiosity. To make insurance better for our customers, we experiment. We embrace insights. And we base decisions on data rather than assumptions. We see setbacks as opportunities for growth and are always learning and improving. Both individually and as a company
Company HQ
River North, Chicago, IL
Articles
Leadership
Sean Harper
(CEO)Sean worked as a BCG Associate for 5 years before founding FeeFighters.com and working for 2 years at Groupon. After a year as CPO of 2Checkout, they co-founded Kin Insurance, serving since as CEO.
Lucas Ward
(CTO)Having studied at Southeast Missouri State University, Lucas spent half a decade at Accenture, before a combined 3 years at ThoughtWorks and Fundspire. They left their CTO position at Rippleshot in 2015 to co-found Kin Insurance in January 2016.
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