Lead Engineer, CMS Builder

About Us

Circle is building the world’s leading all-in-one platform for online communities. We make it possible for creators, coaches, educators, and businesses to bring together their audience with engaging discussions, live streams, events, chat, courses, and payments — all in one place, all under their own brand.

We’re proud to be a fully remote company of around 180 (and growing!) team members from 30+ countries around the world. We seek exceptional individuals around the world, set them up to do the best work of their lives, and in turn, create a meaningful impact in their own lives. We don't track hours, but we do manage for high expectations very closely. We collaborate across time zones, are highly async, and like to document a lot.

Twice a year, we bring the whole company together in beautiful places around the world for our company offsites. So far, we’ve hosted offsites in Turkey, Portugal, Mexico, Thailand, Colombia, Italy, Ireland, and more, with still more to come!

About the role

We're looking for a Lead Engineer (Rails/React) to join our CMS engineering team. At Circle, our CMS team is responsible for the core user-facing areas of our product—including community discussions, courses, the Home feed, our automated weekly digests, search, and more.

This is a high-impact, high-visibility role that blends hands-on technical leadership with product thinking. You’ll work closely with cross-functional teams (product, design, and customer experience) to shape our roadmap and bring ideas to life. Beyond shipping high-quality code hand-on, you’ll set the engineering direction for your team, drive architectural decisions, and ensure operational excellence.

You’ll also mentor and guide a team of senior engineers distributed around the world, fostering a collaborative culture rooted in curiosity, ownership, and continuous improvement. If you thrive in fast-paced environments, enjoy building polished, customer-facing experiences, and want to help shape the future of online communities, this role is for you.

What you'll be doing

• Shipping often and with care, balancing speed with thoughtful, quality work.
• Working with the design team to create the best page builder experience for our customers. You will be leading the team and setting the direction of the product.
• Leading and mentoring a global team of engineers, driving execution and fostering continuous growth.
• Working on a team obsessed with product-led growth, constantly iterating and pushing boundaries.
• Owning end-to-end project management, from concept to execution, for impactful results.
• Designing and implementing A/B tests to validate changes and drive measurable improvements.
• Analyzing user data proactively to identify growth opportunities and refine the product experience.
• Engaging regularly with internal stakeholders to align on priorities and initiatives seamlessly.

What you'll need to be successful

• 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.
• You have 3+ years of experience leading and mentoring engineers in fast-growing startups.
• You have 8+ years of experience in full-stack product development, with deep knowledge of Ruby on Rails, React, Sidekiq, Kafka, and payment integrations (we heavily use Stripe).
• You have experience working with page builders in the past, including knowledge in SEO and drag & drop builders.
• You’re great at managing projects end-to-end, and thrive on turning ideas into action.
• You think strategically but aren’t afraid to roll up your sleeves for tactical work.
• You communicate clearly, aligning teams and explaining technical things in a way everyone gets.
• You’re a self-starter who takes initiative and enjoys a fast-paced, ever-evolving environment.
• You’re data-driven, constantly using insights to validate your next move.
• You’re passionate about creating user-centric solutions that drive growth and make a real impact.

Bonus points

• Examples of using AI tools to do data analysis, boost your productivity, or solving interesting problems.
• Previous experience as a founder or in a highly entrepreneurial environment.

$160,000 - $170,000 USD per year

The cash compensation range shown is a starting point. In addition to equity, benefits and perks, your cash compensation is subject to an annual review and increase on a once per year basis.

 

The fun stuff

• 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.
• Check out our Careers page for more.

*Your role, location and unique circumstance may affect this.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

As a fully-remote international company, diversity is baked into our DNA. Here’s how our CEO, Sid Yadav, frames our hiring mission: “let’s find talent in underserved and under-represented corners of the world, set them up to do the best work of their lives, and in turn, change their life.” To achieve this hiring mission, we offer competitive U.S. benchmarked compensation no matter where someone’s located in the world, and we proactively seek candidates who expand representation of backgrounds, cultures and lived experiences in our teams.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Circle is an equal opportunity employer and as such, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. If you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.