Principal Software Front End Engineer

General Dynamics Information Technology is a global technology and professional services company that delivers technology solutions to major U.S. government agencies. They are seeking a Principal Software Front End Engineer to lead the development of user-centered web applications, drive frontend engineering practices, and mentor engineers on best practices.

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

Requirements:

• 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