Customer Engineer

Kernel is crazy fast, open source browser infrastructure for AI agents. We handle autoscaling, observability, and the messy details of web interaction, so developers can focus on what their agents do instead of how they do it.

Teams at Cash App, Rye, and 3000+ others use Kernel for deep research, QA automation, and real-time web analysis. We've raised $22M from Accel, YC, and Vercel.

If you're interested in building critical infrastructure for agents on the web, we'd love to chat.

About the role

Kernel is API infrastructure, not just software. Where Kernel code ends, a customer's code begins. Our customer engineers help bridge this gap.

Customer Engineering at Kernel is a hands-on engineering role split evenly between two core responsibilities:

50% Customer-Led Engineering & Debugging: You'll work directly alongside customers developing technical solutions and debugging their code—from SDK integration challenges to MCP server configurations, browser automation edge cases, and everything in between. You're not just answering questions; you're diving into code, shipping fixes, and shaping our product roadmap.

50% Automation & Tool Building: You'll build tools, automations, AI skills, and integrations that systematically eliminate the need for manual technical support. Think custom MCP tools, automated debugging workflows, AI-powered documentation generation, developer tooling that makes support feel like engineering, and anything else that makes technical support scale.
You'll be the Alex Albert of Kernel, pushing the AI industry forward by showing what is possible—and making support with a human touch feel like the most exciting engineering challenge in the ecosystem.

What you’ll do

• Develop solutions, debug technical customer issues, and drive our product roadmap based on customer feedback

• Build tools, automations, and AI skills that automate away technical support work (MCP tools, debugging workflows, documentation generators, etc.)

• Engage with our community on GitHub, Slack, and Twitter, answering questions and amplifying cool projects

• Contribute to Kernel's technical blog, developing content that educates, inspires, and grows developer adoption

• Build OSS tools, libraries, demos, and integrations that make Kernel's developer experience more powerful and easier to use

• Influence Kernel's culture, product, and direction as a founding team member

What we’re looking for

• You ship: tools, projects, and ideas that push the ecosystem forward

• You code (and vibe code): strong engineering background who cares about great devEx (our inspirations: Modal, Supabase, PlanetScale)

• You get developers: you know what excites them, what annoys them, and how to speak their language

• You want impact: you're energized by small, high impact teams and want to build something that delights software engineers

• You have strong opinions: about Agent skills, MCP servers, developer tools, and how technical support should work in 2026

• You think in systems: you see patterns in support requests and immediately start building the tool that eliminates them

• You're tool-obsessed: you might spend more time in Claude Code debugging support workflows than most engineers spend in their main editor

• You engage publicly: you share your thoughts on developer tools, support workflows, and the future of customer engineering

What you can expect as a Kernel

• Industry-competitive salary

• Above market equity

• Premium medical + dental coverage + dependent coverage

• Small, trusting team of senior + staff engineers

• Default async with minimal bureaucracy, only two meetings a week

• $1k / mo budget for LLM usage fees #vibecheck

• Daily lunches on us

• Unlimited PTO

• 401k + company match

• Relocation assistance

Hiring process

We have a simple process focused on real world collaboration and jointly getting to know each other:

1. 30-minute intro call with one of Kernel’s co-founders

2. 45-minute technical interview (virtual)

3. Half-day on-site (virtual or in-person) working with our team on relevant challenges.

4. Offer!