Remote Applications Engineering Manager Jobs in Kentucky

Engineering Manager / Tech Lead - Distro

Location: Remote Reports to: CEO Team: 2-3 engineers

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About the role

Distro is an AI-powered recruiting platform. We connect to our customers' existing ATS, sync their jobs and candidates, and run an automated multi-stage pipeline that parses, scores, and interviews applicants using LLMs. AI isn't a feature bolted onto the product - it's the flow the product runs on.

We're looking for someone to lead that engineering effort: own the architecture, own the AWS environment it runs on, and grow a small team. This is a hands-on, full-stack role. You'll be writing code across the stack, not just reviewing it.

What you'll own

• The AI processing pipeline. A chained, asynchronous, multi-stage system built on queued jobs. Every stage depends on the last, and every stage involves a non-deterministic model call that can fail or return something subtly wrong. Keeping it correct, observable, and cost-efficient is the core technical challenge of the job.
• Full-stack feature work. Laravel on the backend, React on the front. You'll move between both - this isn't a backend role with occasional UI tickets.
• AWS infrastructure end to end. ECS, Aurora, S3 and supporting services. You're the person accountable for it, including keeping the bill under control.
• SOC 2 Type 2 compliance. We're certified and intend to stay that way. Expect evidence collection, control remediation, access reviews, and backup restoration testing as part of the normal rhythm.
• A small team. Two engineers today. Code review, technical direction, unblocking, and growth conversations are yours.
• Product input. Our engineers argue about what we build, not just how. If you want a seat at that table, it's here.

Stack

Backend: PHP / Laravel, Laravel Horizon, Redis, Aurora (MySQL)Frontend: JavaScript / TypeScript, ReactInfrastructure: AWS - ECS, Aurora/RDS, S3, CloudWatch, CloudFormation; DockerAI: OpenAI API - completions, structured outputs, vector stores, prompt caching, evaluationTooling: GitHub Actions, Jira, Claude Code

What we're looking for

Required

• 5+ years building and running production systems as a full-stack engineer - genuinely comfortable in both Laravel and React, not strong in one and passable in the other
• Strong PHP/Laravel, or strong equivalent experience in another modern backend framework with a real willingness to work in Laravel
• Hands-on AWS ownership - ECS, Aurora/RDS, and the operational side: monitoring, incident response, and cost optimization. Not "I've used AWS," but "I've been the person who gets called when it breaks and the person who noticed the bill was too high."
• Experience with asynchronous job processing: queues, workers, retries, idempotency, dead-letter handling
• Production experience with the OpenAI API - completions, structured outputs, vector stores - including handling non-deterministic output and controlling token cost at scale
• Fluent with AI-assisted development. We use Claude Code daily, and we expect you to work the same way: not just chat prompts, but planning, review, and repo-level context. You should be able to raise the team's ceiling here, not just keep up.
• Experience leading or mentoring engineers, formally or informally
• Professional working English

Nice to have

• SOC 2 or similar compliance experience
• ATS, HR tech, or recruiting domain knowledge
• Infrastructure as code (CloudFormation, Terraform, CDK)
• Experience building or integrating MCP servers or agentic workflows

Who does well here

• Owns outcomes, not tickets. The most valuable work anyone has done in this role wasn't assigned to them. If you need a fully specified backlog to be effective, this isn't the right fit.
• Thinks about the product, not just the implementation. Understands why we're building something and pushes back when the "why" doesn't hold up.
• Explains trade-offs clearly. Can say why one approach was chosen over another and what the long-term cost of that choice is.
• Comfortable being the most senior person on a problem. The team is small. There often isn't someone above you to escalate to.
• Uses AI with judgment. Knows when to reach for it and when not to, and owns whatever ships regardless of what wrote it.
• Coaches instead of blames. When something breaks, the first question is what made it possible, not who did it.

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Distro is a product company. You'd be building and owning what we ship, not staffing someone else's roadmap.

 

#DISTRO

#LI-PROMOTED

#LI-Remote

$4,000 - $5,000 a month

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.