Circle

Lead Engineer, CMS Builder

Circle

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Remote

Location: Remote • 🌎 Anywhere in the World

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Salary

💰 $160,000 - $170,000 per year

Job Level

Senior

Tech Stack

KafkaPostgresRubyRuby on Rails

About the role

  • Leading development of high-scale backend systems that power our new website builder experience.
  • Collaborating closely with product, design, and leadership to shape what we build and how we build it.
  • Shipping thoughtful, high-quality code—balancing speed with care.
  • Mentoring, guiding, and building out a globally distributed team of engineers, while leading by example.
  • Owning end-to-end project execution—from early technical planning through delivery.
  • Driving performance optimizations and architectural improvements where milliseconds matter.
  • Designing and analyzing A/B tests to validate changes and improve the product.
  • Engaging regularly with stakeholders to align on priorities and technical direction.

Requirements

  • Strong alignment with our values. Find our values on our career page if you haven’t read up on them yet.
  • You are proficient in English (spoken, written, and reading) at a CEFR Level C2 / ILR Level 5.
  • 8+ years of experience in full-stack or backend-heavy development, with deep knowledge of Ruby on Rails and supporting technologies (e.g. Sidekiq, Kafka, Postgres).
  • Experience building performant applications at scale—you're mindful of load time, bottlenecks, and architectural trade-offs.
  • 3+ years of experience leading or mentoring engineers in high-growth, fast-paced environments.
  • Clear, confident communicator who can align technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Strategic thinker who can also dive into the weeds and own execution end-to-end.
  • Self-starter who thrives in a remote, async-first culture and takes initiative without waiting for permission.
Benefits
  • Fully remote: work from anywhere in the world!
  • Autonomy and trust to do your job: we care about outcomes over everything else.
  • Paid time away: all employees are given 35 days of PTO annually. We also offer a paid sabbatical after 5 years.
  • Generous U.S. benchmarked compensation and startup equity no matter where you are in the world.*
  • Awesome medical coverage with 100% coverage for you and your family, or medical reimbursement options where applicable!*
  • Parental leave for parents expanding their family, or just starting one.
  • Home office stipend to help you get up and running.
  • Learning & development stipend to help you level up your professional skills.
  • Annual bonus potential for roles that don't already receive variable income or commission.
  • Company retreats: Twice a year, the Circle team gets together for a fully paid company retreat in incredible places around the world! We’ve had past retreats in Colombia, Portugal, and Mexico, with more planned on the horizon.

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard skills
Ruby on RailsSidekiqKafkaPostgresA/B testingperformance optimizationbackend developmentfull-stack developmentarchitectural improvementsproject execution
Soft skills
mentoringcommunicationstrategic thinkingself-startercollaborationleadershipproblem-solvinginitiativealignmentconfidence