Chief Application Developer - Frontend Architecture

ADP•Florham Park, NJ

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

ADP Innovation Labs is seeking a Chief Application Developer to lead the design and development of next-generation experiences. This senior technical leadership role combines frontend architecture and engineering expertise with experience across backend services, API design, databases, and cloud-native application development. The successful candidate will help define technical direction, establish engineering standards, mentor development teams, and remain hands-on in the codebase. The role partners with Product, UX, Architects, and Engineering leaders to deliver scalable, secure, intuitive solutions that improve the client experience and accelerate product innovation. It involves leading teams and product development in an Agile environment, reviewing work, communicating with senior leaders and peers, and collaborating with teams across locations and departments.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent.
15+ years of software engineering experience, including demonstrated leadership of complex application development efforts.
Expertise in modern frontend technologies such as React, Angular, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS.
Strong understanding of UX principles, responsive design, accessibility standards, and web performance optimization.
Significant experience designing and developing RESTful APIs, GraphQL services, and distributed systems.
Strong backend development experience with Node.js, C# .Net, Java, or similar enterprise technologies.
Deep understanding of relational databases, data modeling, SQL optimization, and application performance tuning.
Proven experience building highly available, secure, scalable, and maintainable enterprise applications.
Strong understanding of software architecture patterns, domain-driven design, and modern application design principles.
Experience with CI/CD tools and practices, including Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Docker, and containerized deployments.
Expertise in test-driven development and automated quality practices.
Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.
Proven ability to influence technical direction across teams and organizations.
Familiarity with major AI platforms such as OpenAI and Anthropic, and ability to use them to enhance products and features.
Proficiency with AI-assisted coding tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot, Amazon Q, or Cursor.
Knowledge of AI best practices, including prompt engineering, performance optimization, and secure data handling.

Responsibilities

Lead the architecture, design, and development of modern software, emphasizing user experience and performance.
Collaborate with UX designers and product teams to translate customer needs into intuitive, scalable solutions.
Design and implement backend services, APIs, and integrations supporting business-critical workflows.
Define and evolve application, domain, and data architectures for scalability, maintainability, and performance.
Lead database schema, query, and data-access-pattern design and optimization.
Conduct architecture reviews and provide technical leadership across initiatives.
Establish engineering standards, coding practices, testing strategies, and development processes.
Mentor and coach engineers, fostering technical excellence and continuous learning.
Partner with DevOps teams to improve CI/CD pipelines, observability, deployment automation, and operational excellence.
Champion quality through automated testing, code reviews, and continuous improvement.
Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend solutions aligned with business objectives and engineering strategy.
Support production applications through troubleshooting, performance tuning, and root cause analysis.
Review team work and provide hands-on technical support in an Agile environment.
Communicate milestone achievements and initiatives to senior leaders, product owners, and peers.