Principal Frontend Engineer

Role overview A principal-level individual contributor role focused on architecting and scaling the real-time geospatial interfaces operators use to command autonomous systems across air, surface, and subsurface domains. The product streams live position and state data onto a map where decisions directly affect vehicles operating in the real world, so performance, scalability, and reliability of the frontend are mission critical. The role partners with the Head of Frontend and senior engineers to shape architecture and mentor the team.

Responsibilities - Define production-tested patterns for high-frequency real-time data in React applications, including transport-to-render design, update throttling, and keeping telemetry off the render path - Guide the evolution of the map layer system: layer lifecycle, interaction state, feature identity, and rendering performance on large feature sets - Make and sequence architectural decisions that hold up as tracked entities, update frequency, and data volume grow - Identify performance and architectural risks early, before they become incidents - Communicate technical decisions clearly through design reviews, proposals, and code - Mentor senior engineers in real-time and geospatial engineering

Requirements - 10+ years of frontend engineering experience, with significant time at Staff, Principal, or equivalent scope - Expert-level React and TypeScript, with a first-principles understanding of React's rendering model and frontend performance - Deep experience building map-based geospatial applications using MapLibre, Mapbox GL, Deck.gl, or equivalent - Hands-on experience scaling real-time applications through significant growth in entities, update frequency, or data volume - Familiarity with real-time communication technologies such as WebSockets, MQTT, gRPC-web, or SSE - Strong browser performance expertise across rendering, memory, CPU, networking, and GPU - Experience designing for degraded or intermittent connectivity, including reconnection and state reconciliation - Excellent written and verbal communication with the ability to influence technical direction without relying on formal authority

Nice to have - Background in 3D visualizations, WebGL, or game-engine-based asset rendering - Experience in defense, aerospace, robotics, or other operationally critical systems

Benefits and work setup - 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and families - Employer-paid life insurance - 401(k) with company match - Unlimited PTO with a mandatory 2-week minimum - Equity package - Work-from-home stipend and monthly health and wellness stipend - Global Entry reimbursement - 16 weeks of paid parental leave