Principal Software Front End Engineer

Type of Requisition: Regular Clearance Level Must Currently Possess: None Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain: None Public Trust/Other Required: Other Job Family: Software Engineering Job Qualifications: Skills: Problem Solving, Software Solutions, Solutions Development Certifications: None Experience: 5 + years of related experience US Citizenship Required: Yes Job Description: SOFTWARE DEVELOPER SENIOR What You’ll Do • Define and drive the strategic direction for frontend engineering practices, tooling, and skillset across the organization • Lead the development of accessible, performant, and user-centered web applications that serve government customers • Serve as the technical authority and thought leader for frontend architecture and engineering excellence • Design and implement modern frontend architectures, development pipelines, and deployment infrastructure • Deliver new features and improvements to our customer-facing applications with a strong focus on user experience and accessibility compliance (Section 508, WCAG) • Collaborate with product managers to ideate and balance optimal UI/UX experience with implementation effort, making pragmatic trade-offs that deliver value • Build and maintain component libraries, design systems, and shared frontend infrastructure that enable team velocity and consistency • Identify opportunities to modernize our frontend stack and take ownership of technical initiatives that improve developer experience and application quality • Establish and champion frontend best practices including mobile-first development, testing strategies, performance optimization, accessibility standards, and code quality patterns • Mentor and coach engineers at all levels on frontend technologies and establish career development pathways for frontend specialization • Influence technical decisions across teams and serve as a strategic advisor on frontend initiatives • Work across the full stack when needed to solve problems end-to-end – backend experience is valuable but frontend is your primary focus What We’re Looking For Evidence of Frontend Engineering Accomplishment • Demonstrated track record of leading and delivering multiple production-ready, accessible, • Proven experience architecting and implementing modern frontend applications at scale using React and/or Angular • Track record of establishing frontend engineering standards, practices, and tooling that improve team productivity and code quality • Working experience with frontend build tooling, bundling strategies, and deployment pipelines (Webpack, Vite, pnpm, npm, or similar) • Strong understanding of web accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 AA minimum, Section 508 compliance) with practical implementation experience including accessibility linting (axe-core, eslint-pluginjsx-a11y) and automated accessibility testing in CI/CD pipelines • Experience with automated frontend testing strategies including unit testing, component testing, and end-to-end UI testing with tools like Playwright, Cypress, or similar • Familiarity with frontend infrastructure, CDN strategies, asset optimization, and progressive enhancement patterns • Experience with design systems, component libraries, and maintaining consistency across multiple applications Technical Excellence • Strong proficiency in modern JavaScript/TypeScript and deep understanding of web platform APIs • Solid understanding of CSS architecture, mobile-first responsive design, and cross-browser compatibility • Working knowledge of automated testing strategies including unit testing (Jest, Vitest), component testing (React Testing Library, Angular Testing Library), and end-to-end UI testing (Playwright) 1 • Experience integrating accessibility validation into testing pipelines using axe-core or similar tools • Experience with state management patterns and asynchronous data handling in frontend applications • Practical knowledge of web performance optimization, Core Web Vitals, and frontend monitoring • Understanding of API integration patterns, GraphQL or REST, and working with backend services • Familiarity with cloud deployment patterns for frontend applications (CDN, static hosting) • Experience establishing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines with automated accessibility checks, linting, and testing Product Mindset & User Experience Product Mindset & User Experience • Strong product thinking with ability to balance user needs, business requirements, and technical constraints • Willingness to work closely with product managers to ideate on best UI/UX experiences, making pragmatic trade-offs between optimal user experience and implementation effort • Working knowledge of modern UI/UX principles, design patterns, and user-centered design methodologies • Experience collaborating with product managers and designers throughout the development lifecycle on customer-facing applications • Ability to provide technical input during design discussions and advocate for feasible, accessible solutions • Data-driven approach to measuring and improving user experience through analytics and user feedback Leadership, Ownership, & Communication • Demonstrated ability to lead large-scale technical initiatives from vision to production, influencing outcomes across multiple teams • Quality driven, sets the standard for excellence in communication, code, and documentation • Ability to communicate complex technical concepts and strategic vision clearly to engineers, designers, product managers, executives, and external stakeholders • Proven track record of mentoring and developing engineers at all levels, building organizational frontend capability • Recognized advocate for sound engineering practices who establishes patterns and influences engineering culture • Comfort leading cross-functional initiatives, making architectural decisions with organizational impact, and navigating technical/business trade-offs at