Principal Frontend Engineer chez Code Metal

Description

Role: Principal Front-End Engineer
Location/Time zones: US-based (East Coast preferred; Mountain works).
Work setup: Remote (high-ownership, small team).
Mission: Lead the front-end technical direction for a geospatial product used in a fragile/mission-sensitive deployment environment.

What you’ll do

• Set front-end architecture and technical standards for a TypeScript/React application.
• Design scalable UI patterns for complex geospatial workflows (Cesium) and surrounding app features.
• Establish best practices for state management, component architecture, performance, testing, and maintainability.
• Partner with engineering leadership to plan, prioritize, and deliver high-impact product work.
• Mentor engineers through code reviews, architecture discussions, and practical implementation guidance.
• Drive execution: this role is hands-on and coding-heavy, not a “pure strategy” position.

What we’re looking for

• 8+ years building and scaling front-end systems; deep React + TypeScript expertise.
• Strong architectural judgment: you can balance “build fast” with “don’t paint us into a corner.”
• Track record leading complex UI work (interactive, data-heavy apps; performance matters).
• Experience working with design systems / component libraries (we’re using MUI; Tailwind is optional/uncertain).
• Ability to operate in a fast-moving environment with minimal process overhead.
• Excellent communication: you can align teammates around patterns and decisions without slowing delivery.

Nice-to-haves

• GIS / geospatial domain experience (Cesium, mapping frameworks, geo interactions, coordinate systems, etc.).
• Experience with visualization libraries (not required; product is more geospatial + UI workflows than pure D3).
• Backend familiarity (API design, debugging cross-stack issues).
• Prior work on simulation platforms, gaming-adjacent UI paradigms, or real-time systems.

Why this role / why now

As the product grows, we want a principal-level front-end leader who can keep the system coherent while still shipping quickly—especially around geospatial UX and performance.

Interview process (example)

• Intro call (context + scope)
• Architecture + deep-dive interview (with FE + leadership)
• Practical exercise or portfolio/work-sample review focused on real product complexity
• Final discussions / references