Principal Frontend Engineer

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Rhode Island.

📋 Description

• Design and develop frontend systems that efficiently manage high-frequency, real-time data at scale.

• Create production-ready methodologies for data ingestion, transformation, state management, and rendering.

• Architect transport-to-render systems that prevent the UI from being overwhelmed by high-frequency telemetry.

• Implement strategies for batching, throttling, caching, workers, and state isolation.

• Ensure predictable behavior during intermittent or degraded connectivity, including reconnection, state reconciliation, and offline tolerance.

• Identify architectural and performance risks early and devise solutions to prevent them from becoming production issues.

• Oversee the architecture and development of HavocAI’s real-time geospatial interfaces.

• Create scalable strategies for map layers, feature identity, interaction state, rendering, and lifecycle management.

• Develop high-performance experiences for large and dynamically changing geospatial datasets.

• Optimize rendering as tracked entities, telemetry rates, and visual complexity increase.

• Directly contribute to complex geospatial functionalities and set patterns for other engineers.

• Profile and enhance browser rendering, memory, CPU, network, and GPU performance.

• Leverage measurement and profiling to inform architectural decisions.

• Create client-side architectures that separate high-frequency ingestion and processing from user-facing rendering tasks.

• Anticipate scaling challenges and strategically sequence technical investments as the platform evolves.

• Collaborate with the Head of Frontend and senior engineers on architecture, technical strategy, and scaling decisions.

• Remain actively involved in complex and technically significant frontend implementations.

• Establish standards for code quality, architecture, testing, maintainability, and performance.

• Lead design reviews and formulate technical proposals, communicating trade-offs and recommendations.

• Mentor senior engineers in real-time systems, geospatial engineering, performance optimization, and frontend architecture.

• Foster alignment across teams through technical insight and effective communication.

• Assist in establishing a frontend architecture that supports more autonomous assets, telemetry streams, and real-time updates.

• Enhance the performance, responsiveness, and reliability of HavocAI’s geospatial interfaces.

• Develop scalable methodologies for real-time ingestion, state management, geospatial rendering, and handling degraded connectivity scenarios.

• Proactively identify and mitigate architectural risks before they hinder product or platform growth.

• Elevate the technical standards through hands-on engineering, design reviews, architecture, and mentorship.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 10 years of frontend engineering experience, including substantial experience at the Staff, Principal level, or equivalent technical scope.

• Extensive production experience in building and scaling high-volume, real-time applications.

• Expert-level proficiency with React and TypeScript, including a foundational understanding of React’s rendering model and frontend performance.

• Significant experience in developing map-based geospatial applications using technologies such as MapLibre, Mapbox GL, Deck.gl, or equivalents.

• Proven experience in optimizing large and dynamic geospatial feature sets.

• Hands-on experience in scaling a real-time application in response to substantial growth in tracked entities, update frequency, or data volume.

• Familiarity with various real-time communication technologies, including WebSockets, MQTT, gRPC-web, SSE, or similar protocols.

• Deep expertise in browser performance concerning rendering, memory, CPU, networking, and GPU bottlenecks.

• Experience designing client-side data architectures that utilize workers, batching, caching, state boundaries, and other techniques to isolate high-frequency workloads.

• Background in designing applications for degraded or intermittent connectivity, including reconnection and state reconciliation protocols.

• Strong fundamentals in software architecture and systems design.

• Proven ability to make informed technical trade-offs and sequence architectural changes within a production environment.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence technical direction without formal authority.

• High ownership mentality and adeptness in a fast-paced, ambiguous engineering setting.

• Preferred: experience with scalable multi-tenant products, D3 or custom charting, WebGL, Three.js, custom shaders, terrain visualization, 3D geospatial applications, autonomous systems, robotics, command-and-control software, defense, aerospace, mission- or safety-critical environments, distributed systems, telemetry platforms, or backend architectures that support high-frequency frontend applications.

• Must be a US Citizen.

• Must be eligible for a US security clearance.

🏝️ Benefits

• 100% Employer paid Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance for you and your families.

• Life Insurance (Employer Paid).

• Opportunity to participate in the company's 401k program (Matching).

• Unlimited PTO policy with a mandatory 2-week minimum.

• Equity Package.

• Work / Home Office Stipend.

• Global Entry.

• 16 Weeks Paid Parental Leave.

• Monthly Health and Wellness Stipend.

• Offers Bonus.