diff --git a/crates/kild-core/src/process/operations.rs b/crates/kild-core/src/process/operations.rs
index f68af5bb..cdd9a4d3 100644
--- a/crates/kild-core/src/process/operations.rs
+++ b/crates/kild-core/src/process/operations.rs
@@ -103,14 +103,31 @@ pub fn kill_process(
                 });
             }
 
-            if process.kill() {
-                Ok(())
-            } else {
-                Err(ProcessError::KillFailed {
+            if !process.kill() {
+                return Err(ProcessError::KillFailed {
                     pid,
                     message: "Process kill signal failed".to_string(),
-                })
+                });
+            }
+
+            // Best-effort wait: give the process up to 500ms to exit after
+            // SIGKILL. Reuses the existing `system` to avoid repeated allocations.
+            let start = std::time::Instant::now();
+            while start.elapsed() < std::time::Duration::from_millis(500) {
+                system.refresh_processes(ProcessesToUpdate::Some(&[pid_obj]), true);
+                if system.process(pid_obj).is_none() {
+                    return Ok(());
+                }
+                std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(10));
             }
+
+            debug!(
+                event = "core.process.kill_wait_timeout",
+                pid = pid,
+                message = "process did not exit within 500ms after SIGKILL"
+            );
+
+            Ok(())
         }
         None => Err(ProcessError::NotFound { pid }),
     }
diff --git a/crates/kild-core/src/process/pid_file.rs b/crates/kild-core/src/process/pid_file.rs
index e97d6d23..b14ef9f5 100644
--- a/crates/kild-core/src/process/pid_file.rs
+++ b/crates/kild-core/src/process/pid_file.rs
@@ -41,11 +41,18 @@ pub fn ensure_pid_dir(kild_dir: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf, ProcessError> {
 ///
 /// The PID file is written by `echo $$ > file && exec cmd` before the
 /// agent process starts, so it typically appears within milliseconds.
-/// Polls at 100ms intervals with a 3s timeout.
+/// Polls at ~100ms intervals (with +/-20% PID-based jitter to decorrelate
+/// simultaneous `kild create` launches) with a 3s timeout.
 pub fn read_pid_file_with_retry(pid_file: &Path) -> Result<Option<u32>, ProcessError> {
-    const POLL_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_millis(100);
+    const BASE_INTERVAL_MS: u64 = 100;
     const MAX_WAIT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(3);
 
+    // Compute jitter once — deterministic per-process, varies across concurrent launches.
+    // Maps PID to [0, 40], subtracts 20 → poll_interval in [80, 120] ms (no underflow).
+    const JITTER_RANGE_MS: u64 = BASE_INTERVAL_MS / 5; // 20ms
+    let pid_offset = (std::process::id() as u64) % (JITTER_RANGE_MS * 2 + 1);
+    let poll_interval = Duration::from_millis(BASE_INTERVAL_MS + pid_offset - JITTER_RANGE_MS);
+
     let start = std::time::Instant::now();
     let mut last_error: Option<ProcessError> = None;
 
@@ -82,7 +89,8 @@ pub fn read_pid_file_with_retry(pid_file: &Path) -> Result<Option<u32>, ProcessE
                 path = %pid_file.display()
             );
         }
-        std::thread::sleep(POLL_INTERVAL);
+
+        std::thread::sleep(poll_interval);
     }
 
     // Timeout reached — surface errors encountered during polling