Lead Front-End Developer (ReactJS)

Lead Front-End Developer

At Smith, we develop world-class experiential commerce solutions to help brands architect the most relevant, frictionless commerce experiences possible. We work at a high tempo, we collaborate, we’re passionate about our work with clients, and we deliver.

The market demand for our services has fueled our growth. We're currently seeking a talented lead software engineer, focused on frontend technologies, that thrives in a fast-paced environment to join our team.

As a Lead Front-end Developer at Smith, you’ll be counted on to do a few things across the full lifecycle of designing, developing, testing, and deploying solutions. You’ll work closely with cross-functional teams and clients’ technical teams to develop and implement features and enhancements that enable the user experience layer of our clients’ offerings. You’ll be a technical thought leader. But you’ll also be a team player with exceptional leadership and interpersonal skills. You’ll manage a development team and take the initiative to mentor our talented, hungry lesser-experienced developers.

The Lead Front-end Developer will play a significant role on our team, developing user facing applications for our clients along with other members of the development and User Experience disciplines, including Front-End Developers, QA, Interaction Designers and Creative Designers, as well as Program Managers. You will participate in our UI development processes by establishing and documenting development standards and common components for common usage across all web applications.

What You’ll Do

Develop and document detailed technical specifications for assigned frontend components and integrations.

Lead development team scrum sessions.

Conduct code reviews for the development team.

Work with Solution Architects, Technical Architects, Project Managers, and Developers to estimate the level of effort required to implement assigned work.

Develop, customize, and debug components and extensions, conforming to best practices and Smith development standards, using various frontend technologies and frameworks.

Mentor and guide technical team members in all project activities on multiple small to medium sized projects or one large project

Provide best practice solution details and implementation guidance using the frontend framework to solve complex designs and interactions that reflect the creative and art direction provided

Be able to shift between a creative and a technical focus depending on the project need and/or the type of project

Participate in scoping and planning work

Be a thought leader in Front-End technologies and ecosystem

Optimize application for maximum speed, accessibility, and scalability.

Assure security best practices in front-end integration and back-end.

What We Look For

At least 10+ years of experience in Software Application Development

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, or equivalent working experience

Extensive experience (5+ years) in creating applications using the following technologies/tools:

JavaScript (ES6) & TypeScript

ReactJS and React frameworks (such as Next.js, Remix, etc.)

Common JavaScript / TypeScript transpilers, bundlers, & toolchains (such as Webpack, Babel, Rollup, Vite, etc.)

Experience with monorepo build tools (such as Turborepo, Nx, etc.)

HTML & CSS and rich web UI behaviors – pixel perfect execution for all major browsers and viewports

Knowledge of version control systems like Git and Git merging strategies

Design and implementation of REST APIs and documentation

Modern authentication protocols (OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0)

REST-based integrations

Expertise in ReactJS fundamental concepts and best practices, such as handling state, using hooks, handling events, and building pure functions.

Conceptual knowledge of common React framework conventions, such as routing, data hydration, data mutations, and error boundaries.

Ability to drive best practices for building best-in-class UI libraries, such as proper component encapsulation and modeling typed React props.

Good understanding of web fundamentals and Progressive Web Application (PWA) concepts, such as asynchronous request handling, partial page updates, and AJAX

Expertise developing and testing across multiple browsers, platforms, DOM implementations, etc.

Experience developing accessible websites (Section 508, W3C WAI Guidelines, etc.)

Experience with automated build systems, log aggregation tools, and troubleshooting issues in hosted environments.

Understanding of good design principles and ability to adhere to complex design specifications during implementation.

Ability to multitask in a fast-paced, Agile environment

Ability to collaborate with other developers and architects to determine optimal solution architecture, efficiency, maintainability, and scalability.

Ability to manage expectations with a positive attitude that fosters collaboration.

Experience leading development efforts including organization, documentation, delegation, and communication with developers, architects, project managers, and clients

Complete projects/tasks in a timely fashion while meeting sprint goals and commitments

Proven team leadership skills

The desire and skills to mentor junior colleagues and interact closely and constructively with other senior technical resources

Experience working with remote teams is a plus

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders

Demonstrated ability to accurately estimate and scope development work

Strong attention to detail

Excellent written and verbal communication skills as well as presentation skills with the ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders

What Grabs Our Attention

Experience with headless, API-first commerce software, such as commercetools or Kibo

Experience with headless, API-first content management systems (CMS), such as Contentful, Contentstack, or Builder.io

Understanding and/or experience leveraging backend serverless architectures, microservices, and related architectural patterns

Experience with GraphQL, or other modern API patterns for handling data queries and mutations

Experience with Front-End cloud hosting and CI/CD platforms, such as Vercel or Netlify

Experience with React Native and/or native mobile application development

Smith Commerce Reimagined. Performance Realized.

Smith goes beyond the traditional digital agency. We focus on converting our clients’ potential into performance. With over 20 years of commerce experience at our core, we bring deep expertise, coupled with an unparalleled passion for results, to every engagement. By working hand-in-hand with our clients and key partnerships with technology platforms including SAP Commerce (formerly Hybris) and Salesforce, we consistently produce commerce experiences that help brands and businesses do more than simply improve. We help them thrive. By combining our strategic, creative, analytical, and technical capabilities, we consistently enhance customer experiences, accelerate sales, and optimize operations, enabling over 500,000 transactions every day and driving over $38 billion in annual revenue for our clients. Our unique ownership structure is based on a philanthropic foundation which allows us to focus on client outcomes before quarterly earnings reports and empowers us to make decisions focused on helping our clients with our profits enabling socially beneficial programs. Smith has offices in Columbus, OH; Ottawa-Gatineau, Canada; and Santiago, Chile along with our remote workforce distributed throughout the United States and Canada. We are the performance commerce company. Learn more at