At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and develop impactful product features while collaborating with a dynamic team.
- Company: Join Kernel, an innovative startup revolutionising enterprise data with AI.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, equity, 24 days holiday, and work-from-anywhere options.
- Why this job: Be part of a small team making big waves in the AI industry.
- Qualifications: 6+ years in software engineering with backend expertise and strong communication skills.
- Other info: Fast-paced environment with opportunities for growth and direct founder interaction.
The predicted salary is between 103200 - 168000 £ per year.
About Kernel
Kernel provides enterprise RevOps teams with AI-powered company data for their CRMs. We raised $14M in Series A funding from top VCs and operators at Plaid, OpenAI, and Slack to build an AI-native alternative to Dun & Bradstreet's entity and hierarchy data. RevOps teams at Navan, Gong, Mistral, and AlphaSense use Kernel to run their organizations. At Kernel, we process 7B+ tokens a day and run 1.8M+ agents daily, all on an architecture that's intentionally simple: one database, one queue. It’s minimalism built for massive scale. Our queue processes a daily volume on par with the entire Visa network's transactions (~365M/day). All of which has been built by a small but mighty team of engineers.
The Role
You are a T-shaped product engineer with a spike in backend engineering. You will work closely with the product and engineering team to build user-facing features, ship at pace, and support the existing infrastructure as we scale. You do not need to be a DevOps expert, but familiarity with AWS and Kubernetes is valuable. You take initiative, adapt quickly, and communicate clearly. The team is small and fast-moving, so you'll be expected to make decisions and ship code autonomously. You will help the company grow from $3M to $30M ARR, owning projects end-to-end—from ideation to deployment—while helping shape how we build products and infrastructure at Kernel.
What You'll Be Doing
- Designing and developing product features that directly impact user workflows
- Collaborating with design, product, and other engineers to deliver exceptional user experiences
- Writing and maintaining clean, reliable, and scalable code across the stack
- Helping ensure performance and reliability for large-scale data operations
- Automating workflows to improve developer velocity and reduce manual work
- Supporting integrations with CRMs and third-party APIs
- Participating in roadmap discussions and contributing technical insights
What You Bring
- 6+ years of software or product engineering experience
- Strong experience building and scaling production systems
- Comfort with backend engineering (NodeJS, Postgres, TypeScript)
- Strong understanding of LLM application development patterns (RAG, prompt engineering, consistency testing) - either through production experience or demonstrated personal projects. If you're new to LLMs but have shipped complex production systems in other domains and are comfortable rapidly learning new technologies, we'd still love to hear from you.
- Ability to operate autonomously in a small, high-velocity team
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills
- Some experience with Kubernetes or distributed systems
It is a plus if you also have:
- Experience working on AI-driven or data-heavy products
- Frontend experience (NextJS, React, TypeScript)
- Understanding of CRM data models or workflow automation
This role may not be for you if you:
- Need lots of structure or long-term roadmaps
- Prefer perfect specs before building
- Focus narrowly on backend or frontend only
This role is definitely not for you if you:
- Prefer fully remote work (this role requires at least 3 days a week in the office)
- Don't enjoy the pace of early-stage startups
- Want to manage a team rather than build
What We Offer
We will do our best to offer you a ride of a lifetime. It will not be easy, but it will be thrilling.
Salary: £120,000 – £200,000 + equity
24 days holiday per year + bank holidays
2 weeks work-from-anywhere
Pension plan
Top-spec equipment and central London office
Free dinner at the office
Team events and dinners
Work directly with the founders to scale the systems that power enterprise AI
Tech Stack
Back-end (AWS): NodeJS, TypeScript, Postgres
Front-end: NextJS, TypeScript, Tailwind
Workflow automation: n8n
Team
We are around 30 people with 7 engineers and 1 Product Manager.
Visas & Relocation
We sponsor visas for exceptional candidates and provide relocation support for those moving to London.
Interview Process
- Stage 1: Introductory Call (40 minutes)
- Stage 2: Hiring Manager Call (30 minutes)
- Stage 3: Take-Home Task (≤ 2 hours)
- Stage 4: Technical Interview (90 minutes)
- Final Stage: Founders Interview - a conversation with Anders (CEO) and Marcus (CTO) focused on values alignment and long-term vision.
- Following Mutual Fit: Reference checks and offer stage.
Senior Product Engineer in London employer: Kernel Company
Contact Detail:
Kernel Company Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Product Engineer in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in your industry on LinkedIn or at meetups. A personal connection can often get you a foot in the door faster than any application.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for those interviews! Research Kernel's tech stack and be ready to discuss how your experience aligns with their needs. Show them you’re not just another candidate, but someone who’s genuinely excited about what they do.
✨Tip Number 3
Don’t shy away from showcasing your projects! Whether it’s through a portfolio or GitHub, let your work speak for itself. Highlight any relevant experience with AI-driven products or backend engineering.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re serious about joining the team at Kernel.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Product Engineer in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application: Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the Senior Product Engineer role. Highlight your backend engineering experience and any relevant projects that showcase your skills in building scalable systems. We want to see how you can contribute to our mission!
Showcase Your Projects: If you've worked on any AI-driven or data-heavy products, don’t hold back! Include links to your GitHub or any personal projects that demonstrate your understanding of LLM application development patterns. This will help us see your hands-on experience.
Be Clear and Concise: When writing your application, keep it straightforward. We appreciate clear communication, so make sure your points are easy to understand. Avoid jargon unless it's necessary, and focus on what makes you a great fit for our fast-paced team.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it shows you’re keen on joining our awesome team at Kernel!
How to prepare for a job interview at Kernel Company
✨Know Your Tech Stack
Make sure you’re well-versed in the technologies mentioned in the job description, especially NodeJS, TypeScript, and Postgres. Brush up on your understanding of AWS and Kubernetes too, as they’ll likely come up during technical discussions.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare to discuss specific examples where you've designed and developed product features that improved user workflows. Highlight your experience with large-scale data operations and how you’ve tackled challenges in past projects.
✨Communicate Clearly
Since the team is small and fast-moving, clear communication is key. Practice articulating your thoughts on technical concepts and be ready to explain your decision-making process during the interview.
✨Demonstrate Your Initiative
Be prepared to share instances where you took the initiative in previous roles. Discuss how you’ve operated autonomously and contributed to projects from ideation to deployment, as this aligns with what Kernel is looking for.