Lead Frontend Engineer

About the Role

We are seeking a highly experienced Lead Frontend Engineer with over 10 years of experience to spearhead frontend architecture, performance optimization, real-time communication systems, and UI development at scale. This position is ideal for a seasoned engineer who possesses a deep understanding of not only building user interfaces but also the underlying principles that ensure scalability and maintainability of styling, state management, and library choices over time. The role involves hands-on development, architectural design, and technical leadership within a dynamic environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable and maintainable frontend architectures for complex web applications.
• Establish clear application structures, define module boundaries, and strategize for shared component utilization.
• Make critical decisions regarding rendering models (SSR, SSG, ISR, CSR), styling approaches, and state/data flow management.
• Apply established architectural patterns such as component-driven architecture, feature/domain-based organization, and micro-frontend patterns where appropriate.
• Maintain comprehensive architecture documentation, including diagrams and Architecture Decision Records (ADRs).
• Develop and maintain production-ready applications utilizing Next.js (minimum 3 years) and modern React practices.
• Write clean, well-structured, and maintainable TypeScript code.
• Design, develop, and evolve reusable component libraries and comprehensive design systems.
• Lead code review processes, with a strong emphasis on architectural integrity, performance, and long-term code maintainability.
• Design and enforce scalable styling strategies using a combination of CSS Modules, Styled-components/Emotion, utility-first CSS frameworks like Tailwind, and traditional CSS/SCSS as needed.
• Make informed decisions on trade-offs between runtime and build-time styling, global versus scoped styles, and the use of design system tokens versus local overrides.
• Build and maintain robust theming systems, responsive and adaptive layouts, and ensure cross-browser and cross-device compatibility.
• Ensure consistent styling across the application and prevent CSS leakage and specificity conflicts.
• Architect sophisticated state management systems with clear separation of concerns for server state, client state, and UI state.
• Manage real-time and shared state effectively across different views and user sessions.
• Implement strategies to prevent unnecessary re-renders and decouple state dependencies.
• Develop real-time features leveraging WebSockets, Server-Sent Events (SSE), and WebRTC where applicable.
• Design client-side subscription models, implement robust reconnection logic, and establish data consistency strategies for real-time updates.
• Coordinate real-time data flow seamlessly with backend services and message brokers.
• Take ownership of the frontend performance strategy across the entire stack, including code splitting, dynamic imports, bundle size analysis and optimization, rendering optimization, memoization techniques, and virtualization for large datasets.
• Optimize for Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP) and utilize performance analysis tools like Lighthouse, Web Vitals, and browser profilers.
• Implement frontend security best practices, including mitigation for XSS, CSRF, and clickjacking, secure authentication flows (OAuth2 JWT, session-based), and safe handling of tokens and secrets.
• Understand browser security models, CORS, and Content Security Policies (CSP).
• Ensure the secure integration and usage of third-party libraries and SDKs.
• Demonstrate expertise in build and tooling ecosystems, including Webpack, Vite, Turbopack, Babel, ESLint, and Prettier.
• Utilize testing libraries such as Jest, Vitest, React Testing Library, and end-to-end testing tools like Playwright or Cypress.
• Collaborate with DevOps teams on CI/CD pipelines for frontend builds and deployments.
• Gain experience with CDN, caching strategies, and edge deployments.
• Partner with DevOps to implement observability solutions, including error tracking (e.g., Sentry), frontend monitoring, and logging.
• Establish and uphold frontend technical standards and best practices within the team.
• Mentor junior and mid-level frontend engineers and provide architectural design reviews.
• Collaborate closely with backend engineers and solution architects on integrated solutions.
• Represent the frontend team in cross-functional architectural discussions.

Requirements

• Extensive experience in evaluating and integrating various frontend libraries, including UI component libraries (e.g., MUI, Ant Design, Chakra, Radix, Headless UI), form handling libraries (e.g., React Hook Form, Formik), validation libraries (e.g., Zod, Yup), and data visualization tools (e.g., D3, Recharts, Chart.js).
• Proven hands-on experience with state management libraries such as Redux/Redux Toolkit, Zustand, Recoil, Jotai, and data fetching libraries like React Query/TanStack Query.
• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in frontend or web engineering.
• At least 3 years of production experience specifically with Next.js.
• Expert-level proficiency in React, TypeScript, and a deep understanding of browser fundamentals.

Additional Information

The Murugappa Group is a 125-year-old conglomerate with a significant presence across India and globally. With diverse business interests spanning agriculture, engineering, and financial services, the Group operates through 10 listed companies and numerous other major entities. Brands like Ajax, Hercules, BSA, and Chola are part of its esteemed portfolio. The Group's operations encompass a wide range of products and services, from abrasives and technical ceramics to electric vehicles and fertilizers. Guided by core values of integrity, passion, quality, respect, and responsibility, the Group fosters a culture of professionalism and innovation, employing a substantial workforce.