Software Engineer

Software Engineer Kipsu is a growth stage Minneapolis-based technology company that has grown to over 100 employees. At Kipsu, we help service professionals Meet the Moment - from partnering with some of the largest hospitality brands in the world to working with clients in the multifamily and healthcare industries. Our best-in-class technology enables organizations around the globe to better serve their customers through streamlined messaging, data-driven performance metrics, sentiment analysis and workflow management. As one of the Twin Cities' leading tech companies, Kipsu has cultivated a reputation for a strong company culture and is consistently recognized by the Star Tribune as a Top Workplace.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Kipsu is hiring a back-end-focused, but full-stack capable, Software Engineer to join one of our cross-functional delivery teams in Minneapolis. You'll be part of our Services practice, the engineers who build the server-side applications, APIs, and data layer behind our platforms. The team is currently building Kipsu's next-generation identity and access management system: the services that handle sign-in, enterprise single sign-on, and permissions for every Kipsu user. Team focus will shift over time as priorities change, so we're looking for someone who enjoys learning new parts of a system as much as going deep on one. You'll work across our technology stack: Typescript, React, PHP, Kotlin, and more - ship features end to end, and help the team make sound technical decisions as we modernize the platform.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Build complete features independently, from request handling and business logic through data persistence. Design and build well-structured REST APIs with clear resource models, consistent error handling, input validation, and documentation other teams can integrate against. Write efficient SQL, manage schema migrations safely, and use transactions and Redis caching where they fit. Apply secure design patterns as a matter of course, especially authentication, authorization, and input validation, which are central to identity work. Author technical designs for features and moderately complex work, covering integration points, testing, observability, and deployment. Instrument your code with structured logging and meaningful metrics, and design for failure when a dependency is slow or unavailable. Investigate and resolve bugs and production issues independently, finding root cause rather than patching symptoms. Write unit tests that cover edge cases and failure paths, and add coverage to existing code as you work in it. Review teammates' pull requests promptly and give feedback that improves the code. Work within our CI/CD pipelines and containerized environments, and troubleshoot build and deployment issues when they come up. We encourage the use of AI coding assistants and agents throughout your day-to-day work. You will stay accountable for everything you ship, so you must review, test, and understand what a tool produces.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

What you bring 3+ years of professional software engineering experience, with most of it on the back end. Hands-on experience full-stack experience in application development. You don't need to know our exact stack, but you need to have shipped code to production. Working experience with relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or similar): writing joins and aggregations, reasoning about query performance, and making schema changes. Experience building or consuming REST APIs, including methods, status codes, and error handling. A habit of writing unit tests and debugging systematically. Familiarity with Git, pull-request-based code review, and CI/CD workflows. Clear written and verbal communication. You raise blockers early, ask good questions in planning, and follow through on commitments. Curiosity and adaptability. You pick up new languages, codebases, and domains quickly, and you're comfortable when team priorities change. Nice to have Production experience with PHP and/or Kotlin (or another JVM language), TypeScript, React, React Native, Node Experience with identity and access management: OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML, enterprise SSO, or role-based authorization. Experience working in a large, long-lived codebase while new services are carved out of a monolith. Exposure to messaging and asynchronous patterns (queues, pub/sub, event-driven workflows). Experience with Redis or other caching layers, including cache invalidation trade-offs. Experience with Docker, cloud infrastructure, or infrastructure-as-code such as Terraform. Experience with observability tooling: structured logging, metrics, tracing, and alerting. Experience building integrations with external partner systems, or working in B2B SaaS. How you work You own outcomes. You break work into small increments, ship working software often, and adjust when priorities change. You communicate proactively. You share progress, blockers, and timeline risks without being asked, and you give reasonable estimates. You collaborate across functions. You work well with product, QA, support, and other engineering teams, and you listen before you respond. You connect your work to the bigger picture. You understand why the team is building what it's building and bring observations from your work back to the practice. You're open-minded and eager to grow. You take feedback well, seek out unfamiliar parts of the system, and help raise the bar for the team. WHAT MAKES KIPSU DIFFERENT We're a solid, stable company, and we enthusiastically embrace our founding startup spirit- everyone pitching in and working to the same goals. Our culture- We have a team of highly motivated colleagues who are all in it together. We all succeed as one, and we all learn from our mistakes holding our interdependence in high regard. Our unique philosophy- we bootstrapped this company ourselves and are in it for the long-term. There is a distinct sense of purpose and ownership at Kipsu as we do things on our own terms. Remarkable growth- with nearly a decade of advancement, we continue to accelerate. It's an exciting time to be here. WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT HERE Unity- Everyone here is committed to the same mission. Our core values are not platitudes but our pact. We believe in the best in each other while always reaching to be better. Transparency- Our leadership gets into the details. We all gather for weekly space to discover how each team is doing so that we have a full understanding of the business and think like a CEO. Trust- Our team members are given the trust and license to excel at their jobs, and are supported along the way to continuously grow. Mentorship - We all have more to learn and something to teach. The lessons are beyond technical. We celebrate our busy hive of shared growth. Respect- Our success and future as an industry leader depend on actionable commitment to cultivating a diverse and equitable team. Everyone here has a voice that is heard and respected. We seek open and honest conversation on our journey to be active stewards of our shared communities. Purpose- Everyone here is closely connected to the result of their work. Every day our team gets to see the impact of what they do enhancing the value of our customers' work in their own professions. Our goals are explicitly tethered to our mission of building relationships. We are proud to offer a competitive suite of benefits including: health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, 401K with a company match, unlimited/responsible vacation time, life insurance, flex spending account, and commuter benefits. The pay range for this role is $80,000-$90,000/year depending on experience. One last thing - At Kipsu, we believe that our values, success, and future as a leader in our industry require a vibrant and diverse workforce. This is one of the many challenges we seek to solve, and we are intentional and active in recruiting talent of all identities and building an environment that is inclusive of all backgrounds. We need your contribution to our team. Please consider rolling up your sleeves and joining us on our journey. Kipsu