[Remote] Principal Software Front End Engineer
Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. General Dynamics Information Technology is a global technology and professional services company that delivers consulting, technology and mission services to every major agency across the U.S. government. They are seeking a Principal Software Front End Engineer to lead frontend engineering practices and develop user-centered web applications for government customers.
Responsibilities
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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 the principal level
Skills
- 5 + years of related experience
- US Citizenship Required: Yes
- 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
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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 the principal level
- Must be a US Citizen and able to obtain and maintain Public Trust 6C
Benefits
- A variety of medical plan options, some with Health Savings Accounts
- Dental plan options
- A vision plan
- A 401(k) plan offering the ability to contribute both pre and post-tax dollars up to the IRS annual limits and receive a company match
- Full flex work weeks where possible
- A variety of paid time off plans, including vacation, sick and personal time, holidays, paid parental, military, bereavement and jury duty leave
- 15 days of paid leave per calendar year to be used for vacations, personal business, and illness
- An additional 10 paid holidays per year
- Paid leave and paid holidays are prorated based on the employee’s date of hire
- The GDIT Paid Family Leave program provides a total of up to 160 hours of paid leave in a rolling 12 month period for eligible employees
- Short and long-term disability benefits
- Life, accidental death and dismemberment, personal accident, critical illness and business travel and accident insurance
Company Overview