Staff Software Engineer - Kilo Code

Anaconda is an AI and open-source software company focused on Python, data science, and enterprise AI solutions. The Staff Software Engineer will lead the evolution of Kilo Code, a widely used AI-assisted coding VS Code extension, by setting technical direction, building advanced features, optimizing performance, and mentoring engineers. The role also involves driving cross-team initiatives across the extension, backend services, and AI infrastructure while owning features through production delivery.

Responsibilities:

• Set technical direction for performance optimization initiatives across startup time, memory footprint, and CLI communication, establishing patterns and instrumentation that the team can leverage
• Design, build, and ship advanced features including granular auto-approval rules, context optimization, and Smart Apply workflows, then extract the patterns so the team can reuse them
• Drive cross-team initiatives that span the extension, backend services, and AI infrastructure, translating business priorities into technical roadmaps and breaking down complex problems into shippable increments
• Mentor engineers on the team through code review, architectural discussions, and pairing sessions, raising the bar for code quality, testing practices, and performance rigor
• Own end-to-end delivery of high-impact features from technical design through production deployment, including rollout strategy, telemetry design, and post-launch iteration based on user feedback
• Establish engineering standards for AI coding workflows including context window optimization, token compression strategies, and chat interface patterns that serve 6T+ tokens per month
• Identify and prioritize technical debt and performance bottlenecks proactively, balancing feature velocity with long-term system health on a mature codebase serving millions
• Partner with Product and Design to shape roadmap priorities, advocating for technical feasibility and incremental delivery while representing engineering constraints and opportunities

Requirements:

• 10+ years of professional software development experience with demonstrated technical leadership on production systems serving large user bases
• Proven track record of setting technical direction for complex projects, making architectural decisions under uncertainty, and delivering results through both hands-on contribution and technical leadership
• Deep experience building developer tools, IDE extensions, or similar productivity software with 100K+ users, including performance optimization and scale considerations
• Expertise in TypeScript and modern JavaScript including asynchronous patterns, event-driven architectures, and Node.js runtime optimization
• Track record of performance optimization work at scale including profiling, instrumentation, and measurable improvements in startup time, memory usage, or throughput
• Experience working with AI-assisted coding tools, chat interfaces, or agent-based development workflows, including context window management and LLM integration patterns
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical decisions across teams, mentor other engineers, and elevate engineering practices through code review, documentation, or tooling
• Strong product sense and ability to partner with non-engineering stakeholders to translate business needs into technical solutions and tradeoffs
• Based in and willing to work Eastern TimeZone hours
• You've set technical direction for developer tools at companies building IDE extensions, AI coding assistants, or productivity platforms, with measurable impact on product quality or team velocity
• You have deep expertise in performance optimization for high-scale systems, with specific experience profiling and optimizing VS Code extensions, Electron apps, or similar runtime environments
• You've led cross-functional initiatives in fast-paced startup environments where you balanced technical leadership with hands-on contribution and shipped with minimal process overhead
• You've mentored engineers through architectural decisions, code review, or technical design, with clear examples of engineers leveling up through your guidance
• You've contributed to open-source projects as a core maintainer or technical lead, navigating community dynamics while maintaining code quality and project direction
• You have experience working at AI or data science-focused companies building tools for technical audiences, with deep understanding of developer workflows and pain points