Fullstack Platform Engineer

About us:

Kiva is a global nonprofit, founded in 2005, with a mission to expand financial access and help underserved communities thrive. Kiva unlocks capital for borrowers through crowdfunded loans supported by individuals around the world. Lenders on Kiva can start with as little as $25 to support causes that matter most to them, whether that’s gender equity and support for women, refugees, climate change, small businesses, agriculture, and more. Since our founding, over two million people have invested over $2 billion in real dreams and real opportunity, spanning more than 100 countries and over 5 million borrowers

As we work toward our mission, Kiva invests in building and retaining a global team of talent to add to our values-driven and digital-first culture. Our organization is supported by over 700 volunteers and 130+ full-time employees dispersed around the world, as well as within team hubs located in San Francisco, Nairobi, Bogota, and Bangkok. Kiva’s team is growing as we pursue exciting new opportunities to scale our impact and create a financially inclusive world.

Kiva's values:

Impact first - This is why we exist. This is the drumbeat we march to. Every day.

Extreme ownership - Own it; you, your relationships, your impact. Insist that others support you and hold you accountable.

Be curious and bold - Never stop learning. Question assumptions. Take Risks and dream big.

Inclusion. Equity. Diversity. - Without reservation and without caveat. In our hiring, in our workplace and in our impact in the world.

Honor and integrity - Do the most right thing in the most right way. Cherish diversity and respect each other.

Love and kindness always - Say what you mean. Mean what you say. And don't say it mean. Clarity. Courage. Kindness.

Role overview:

We are seeking a Senior Full-Stack Engineer to help lead the design, development, and evolution of Kiva’s core platform. In this role, you’ll work across backend services and frontend applications, drive technical decisions, and raise the bar for code quality, reliability, and team effectiveness. You’ll be trusted with ambiguous problems, expected to think in systems, and empowered to mentor others while delivering meaningful product outcomes.

At this time, we can only consider applicants with authorization to work in the United States on a permanent, full-time basis; unfortunately we cannot provide visa sponsorship.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the design and delivery of complex, end-to-end features using Kotlin, PHP, Node.js, and Vue.js / Nuxt

• Own technical solutions from discovery through production, balancing product needs with long-term maintainability

• Design, build, and evolve backend services, APIs, and data models that support high-impact workflows

• Set standards for frontend quality, performance, and accessibility across user-facing applications

• Influence architecture and technical direction through design reviews and thoughtful tradeoff analysis

• Proactively identify and reduce technical debt, reliability risks, and operational bottlenecks

• Collaborate closely with product, design, platform, and data teams to shape roadmap and execution

• Debug and resolve complex production issues, contributing to incident response and prevention

• Mentor and support other engineers through code reviews, pairing, and technical guidance

• Contribute to documentation, best practices, and shared engineering standards

Preferred qualifications:

• 6+ years of professional software engineering experience, including senior-level ownership

• Strong backend experience with Kotlin, PHP, and/or Node.js in production systems

• Frontend expertise with Vue.js, Nuxt, or comparable modern frameworks

• Experience designing scalable APIs and data models for real-world usage

• Proven ability to deliver complex projects with minimal direction

• Strong code quality instincts, including testing strategies and maintainability

• Experience working in collaborative, cross-functional product teams

• Comfort operating in production environments with high availability and user impact

DevOps & Platform Experience (Bonus)

• Experience working with AWS or similar cloud platforms

• Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, and containerized deployment

• Exposure to Terraform, CI/CD pipelines, or infrastructure-as-code

• Ability to reason about system reliability, observability, and performance tradeoffs

What we offer:

•
A work-from-home position; final candidate must be authorized to work in Bogota, Colombia.

• An opportunity to improve real lives, solve hard problems, and change the world

• Friendly, supportive, and adventurous environment with a team of engaged colleagues

• A comprehensive, industry-leading benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance, parental leave, professional development, and unlimited PTO. Some of these benefits have eligibility requirements. Many of these benefits are subsidized or fully paid for by Kiva.

• Opportunities to connect with and learn from colleagues and partners around the world

A diverse and inclusive workplace where we learn from each other is an integral part of Kiva's culture. We actively welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives. We are an equal opportunity employer and a great place to work. Join us and help us achieve our mission!

We will only accept applications directly from candidates. Kiva will not be responsible for any recruiting agency fees, absent a formal agreement.