---
title: 'Software Engineer, Core Product at Tin Can'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-core-product-tin-can-seattle-xgt6tr6sdv7s'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-28'
---

# Software Engineer, Core Product at Tin Can

- **Company:** Tin Can
- **Location:** Seattle, WA
- **Compensation:** $145k–$175k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-15
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-28
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tin-can/f72ddcbc-f2ba-431b-81c1-a1e7f4a9f13e

## Job description

## About Tin Can

Tin Can is building a safer, simpler way for kids to connect — without smartphones. We’re creating screen-free, delightful devices and services that let families call the people who matter most, free from the noise of today’s digital world. We’re building a bold, authentic, nostalgic, and kinda quirky brand that resonates with folks who want something simpler & better for their kids than the tech-infused lives we’re currently living (and who have a sense of humor about it). As we gear up to scale to thousands of families, we’re ready to bring on two engineers to help make it happen.

## The Role

A Tin Can earns its spot on the kitchen counter when a kid keeps picking it up. Because we build both ends of the call, we get to make things no other phone can, and the next ones are the kind families ask us for: an easier way to fill the contact book, even more speed dials, more a kid can do without waiting on a grown-up. We’re hiring two Software Engineers to own the core product — the features that give a kid someone to call, a reason to call, and an easy way to do it. You’ll build across the whole product: the app parents live in (Flutter), the TypeScript services on AWS Lambda behind contacts, plans, call logs, and voicemail, and the call-routing service that gates every call. You’ll sit with the Head of Product and the core experience’s PM and designer, alongside the engineers who own our voice platform, firmware, and account portal. When a feature reaches into the call path — a new hotline number, the voicemail menu — you’ll go there, with our voice engineers reviewing anything on the SIP and media plane.

## What You’ll Do

- Make it easier to hear who called and call them back — on the phone itself, in our services, and in the parents’ app
- Give kids more of the phone: even more speed dials, and more a kid can set up alone, with a parent’s say-so
- Make the first week count — improved contact syncing, faster contact approvals, and a first run that has a family calling on day one
- Build the fun, weird features no other landline can, the kind a kid tells their friends about
- Own the call-routing rules a feature needs — what a speed dial or a hotline number does, who a kid can reach — in the service every call goes through
- Build the tooling behind hotlines — scheduling, uploading, playback — with the engineers who own our voice platform
- Spec and build the service side of features whose other half is firmware — what the phone plays, how it rings — with the firmware engineer
- Instrument what you ship — event schema, dashboard, alarm — so we can see kids calling more, week by week
- Take a turn in our on-call rotation, because nobody knows a feature like the person who built it

## What We’re Looking For

- 3+ years building user-facing software, including a feature you took from idea to production and kept running
- Strong TypeScript; you’ve built and run an API in production (ours run on AWS Lambda with Postgres) and can model contacts, permissions, and call history
- You’ve shipped a mobile or web client people use every day; our app is Flutter, and we’ll teach you Dart
- You think about the kid and the parent at once — what a kid can do alone, what needs a grown-up, and how fast “no” takes effect
- Fluency using AI as a multiplier across prototyping, build, and analysis; this is how we work, not a nice-to-have
- Hands-on and scrappy; you’d rather prototype the flow on a real Tin Can than wait for a perfect spec
- A clear communicator who writes things down, and a collaborative, low-ego approach — everyone here sweeps the floor
- Based in Seattle and ready to work from our office Monday through Thursday; this isn’t a remote role
- Bonus: Flutter or Dart; curiosity about telephony (dial plans, IVRs, text-to-speech); a product for kids or families; or Stripe, Shopify, or IoT integrations

## Why Join Tin Can

- We’re building tech that protects childhood: We’re on a quest to give kids a more analog childhood — one with real conversations, real connection, and way less screen time. No doomscrolling, data mining, or dopamine traps — just a simpler, better way for kids to stay in touch. This is a rare opportunity to build something that truly matters.
- You’ll own the reason a kid picks up the phone: Reliability makes a call connect; you’ll build what makes a kid want to make one — easier ways to call back, more speed dials, more to do when no one’s around — and see it in how often families call.
- Small, high-trust team: Every company says “team,” but at Tin Can it means something different. We’re a small, mission-driven group that genuinely has each other’s backs — professionally and personally. You’ll be joining a tight-knit crew where your ideas and instincts matter from day one.
- Room to explore, not just execute: You’ll have the space to challenge assumptions, solve hard problems, and build systems that reflect our values of trust, simplicity, and care.

If you’re excited by making a Tin Can the thing a kid reaches for when they’ve got something to tell someone — and building what makes that call easy to make and return — we’d love to meet you.

## About Tin Can

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Tin Can builds a screen-free, Wi-Fi-enabled landline for kids that allows them to call approved contacts without the distractions of a smartphone.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Seattle, Washington, United States
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Chet Kittleson, Max Blumen, and Graeme (last name not publicly available)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Consumer Services / Kids’ Communication Hardware
- **Target customers**: B2C – parents of children aged 4–13 who want a safe, screen-free phone option
- **Mission**: “Bring back the freedom of the old-school landline, updated for today’s families.”

## Products & Services
- **[Tin Can Device](https://tincan.kids/)**: A custom-designed, Wi-Fi-connected landline handset with no screen, no apps, no camera, and no browser. It plugs into a wall and connects over Wi-Fi. Parents manage contacts and quiet hours via a companion mobile app.
- **[Can2Can Plan](https://tincan.kids/)**: Free unlimited calling between two Tin Cans, no subscription required.
- **[Party Line Plan](https://tincan.kids/)**: $9.99/month subscription that allows the child to call any regular phone number (grandparents, parents’ cells, etc.) in addition to other Tin Cans. Includes 911 emergency calling.
- **Parent App**: iOS/Android app for approving contacts, setting quiet hours, and managing Do Not Disturb schedules.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Total Funding**: $5.75 M
  - Pre-Seed (May 2025): Led by PSL Ventures (9 investors)
  - Seed (Oct 2025): $3.5 M led by Data Tech Fund and PSL Ventures (8 investors)
- **Notable Investors**: PSL Ventures, Data Tech Fund, Greylock (participated in a prior round)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Used by families in 30+ U.S. states with zero paid marketing (organic word-of-mouth)
  - Headcount grew from ~2 to 27 employees (+1,167% YoY)
  - Received 40 early prototypes hand-installed in one Seattle neighborhood; demand spread rapidly

## Competitive Advantages
- **True screen-free experience**: No apps, no texts, no browser – pure voice calling. Eliminates the risks of smartphones (social media, addictive apps, stranger danger).
- **Parental control without complexity**: Parents manage everything via a simple app; kids get independence without internet access.
- **Wi-Fi landline model**: Works with existing home Wi-Fi, no need for a cellular plan or smartphone.
- **Emergency calling**: 911 always available, even without a subscription.
- **Free Can2Can network**: Encourages peer-to-peer calling among friends who also have Tin Cans.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling production of the fully custom hardware (designed from the ground up)
- Expanding the user base beyond the initial 30 states through word-of-mouth and targeted marketing
- Building out the team (active job postings for engineering, design, marketing, and customer experience)
- Maintaining a mission-driven culture focused on intentional technology for kids

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Mission-driven startup focused on real human connection and “keeping childhood full of imagination, not notifications.” Team is passionate about intentional tech.
- **Work environment**: Hybrid/in-office options available. HQ is in Seattle with an in-office workspace; some roles are remote or hybrid.
- **Growth opportunity**: Early-stage company (27 employees) with rapid growth – employees can have outsized impact.
- **Perks**: Not detailed publicly, but typical startup perks (equity, flexible schedule) likely. The company emphasizes a “no surprises” approach to its product.
- **Team composition**: Small, cross-functional team with specialists in customer service, design, engineering, and operations.

## Sources
1. [tincan.kids](https://tincan.kids/)
2. [tincan.kids - About page](https://tincan.kids/pages/about-tin-can)
3. [Built In - Tin Can Careers](https://builtin.com/company/tin-can)
4. [LinkedIn - Tin Can](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tincankids)
5. [Jobs page - Ashby](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tin-can)

## Other roles at Tin Can

- [Senior Brand Marketing Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-brand-marketing-manager-tin-can-seattle-ejmhsf1de4cn) — Seattle, WA
- [Social Media Community Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/social-media-community-manager-tin-can-seattle-g6tqsajmapv0) — Seattle, WA
- [Community Experience Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/community-experience-specialist-tin-can-seattle-5ay5aztnq8s0) — Seattle, WA
- [Brand Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/brand-designer-tin-can-seattle-65jawa207ste) — Seattle, WA
- [IT & Systems Administrator](https://feeny.ai/job/it-systems-administrator-tin-can-seattle-4b548gnrvfds) — Seattle, WA
- [Software Engineer, Growth](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-growth-tin-can-seattle-92ex3dtn35zn) — Seattle, WA
- [Software Engineer, Communities](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-communities-tin-can-seattle-r0my5ze0et0r) — Seattle, WA
- [Director of Customer Experience](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-customer-experience-tin-can-seattle-yrfk1jmffstc) — Seattle, WA
- [Head of Legal](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-legal-tin-can-seattle-8gwhrqta68hs) — Seattle, WA
- [Senior VoIP Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-voip-engineer-tin-can-seattle-w5dxw7d2wg59) — Seattle, WA