Lead Frontend Engineer

We are seeking a Lead Frontend Engineer to be the technical anchor for our frontend capability. This role goes beyond feature delivery; you will define the frontend architecture, establish the component design system, own the Next.js application structure, drive performance standards, and mentor senior and mid-level frontend engineers. You will build the most complex, data-intensive UI surfaces: real-time attribution dashboards, AI-powered campaign builders, and platform-embedded intelligence widgets, all in a React + Next.js stack integrated with Elasticsearch-powered search and streaming AI responses.

Responsibilities:

• Own and evolve the frontend architecture: Next.js App Router structure, component boundaries, state management strategy (Redux), and data-fetching patterns, applying hexagonal UI principles where the component layer is decoupled from specific backend service contracts.
• Design and build the most technically complex UI surfaces: real-time attribution dashboards (streaming data), AI-powered campaign builder (LLM response streaming), Elasticsearch-backed customer search with faceted filtering, and platform-embedded opportunity cards.
• Define the component design system: Atomic component library, theming contracts, accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1), and Storybook-based documentation.
• Establish frontend performance standards: Core Web Vitals targets, bundle size budgets, SSR/SSG strategy with Next.js, lazy loading, and virtualisation for large data tables.
• Lead Next.js architecture decisions: App Router vs. Pages Router tradeoffs, RSC (React Server Components) applicability, streaming SSR for AI-generated content, and API route design.
• Integrate AI-native frontend patterns: streaming LLM responses into UI components, real-time score updates from Redis/Aerospike via SSE, and Elasticsearch typeahead search.
• Drive code quality through design reviews, code reviews, pair programming, and frontend-specific engineering standards.
• Mentor senior and mid-level frontend engineers, setting the bar for component design, test coverage, and performance discipline.
• Collaborate closely with backend staff engineers to define API contracts and with designers to implement pixel-perfect, accessible UIs.

Requirements:

• 8+ years of frontend engineering experience with deep React and Next.js expertise in production systems.
• Mastery of Next.js 14+ App Router, React Server Components, streaming SSR, and static generation, knowing when to apply each pattern.
• Strong TypeScript expertise: type safety across component props, API contracts, Redux store shape, and server/client boundaries.
• Deep Redux expertise: slice design, selector optimisation, middleware patterns, and RTK Query for data fetching.
• Proven experience building data-intensive dashboards with real-time data (WebSocket, SSE, or polling) and chart libraries (Recharts, D3.js ).
• Experience integrating Elasticsearch-powered search UIs: typeahead, faceted search, and result ranking display.
• Strong frontend performance engineering: bundle analysis, code splitting, memoisation, virtualisation, and Core Web Vitals optimisation.
• Experience in establishing and maintaining component design systems with accessibility standards.
• Must have proven experience leading front-end development teams, mentoring engineers, and driving technical decisions to deliver high-quality solutions.
• Experience mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar across a frontend team.

Good to Have:

• Experience streaming LLM/AI-generated content into React UI components (token streaming, partial rendering patterns).
• Familiarity with platform-embedded micro-frontend patterns (module federation or iframe-based embedding).
• Background in automotive retail, eCommerce analytics, or SaaS BI/reporting platforms.
• Experience with Storybook for component documentation and visual regression testing.