Director, Full Stack Developer Lead

Horizon Media•New York, NY

About The Position

Who We Are Horizon Media, founded in 1989 by Bill Koenigsberg, is recognized as one of the most innovative marketing and advertising firms. We are headquartered in New York City, with offices in Los Angeles and Toronto. A leader in driving business solutions for marketers, Horizon is known for its highly personal approach to client service. Renowned for its incredible culture, Horizon is consistently named to all the prestigious annual Best Places to Work lists published by Fortune, AdAge, Crain’s New York Business and Los Angeles Business Journal. Together we are building a place of belonging. At Horizon, we understand the value that different perspectives can bring to our clients and culture, so we strive for an environment where our employees feel welcomed, safe and empowered. We value YOU and believe that your authentic voice and unique perspective allows us to create a more rewarding culture, and experience, together. Our simple recipe for success? We hire talented people (thinkers, doers, dreamers, makers), challenge them and give them every opportunity to grow. Job Summary Are you a visionary developer and leader who thrives on building products that don't just work, but matter ? Are you ready to take ownership of a platform that is core to our business and directly drives revenue? We are seeking a Director of Full Stack Application Development to lead, innovate, and expand blu, Horizon's mission-critical, client-facing operating system. This is not a back-office role; you will be at the helm of a revenue-generating product, shaping its future and ensuring it delivers a world-class user experience. Your mission is to guide a multidisciplinary team of engineers in transforming complex business needs into an intuitive, elegant, and powerful platform. You will be the technical authority responsible for not only extending blu’s capabilities but also for championing a culture of ownership, quality, and user-centric design. If you are passionate about building beautiful, scalable applications and leading teams to do their best work, this is your opportunity to make a tangible impact on our clients and our bottom line.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related field
10+ years of software/UI development experience
6+ years of full-stack development experience, with a proven track record of leading development teams.
Demonstrated experience in managing and mentoring offshore/nearshore development teams.
Expert proficiency with React, JavaScript/TypeScript, and modern front-end tooling (e.g., Webpack, Vite, Babel).
Strong experience with Node.js, Express, or similar server-side frameworks.
Extensive experience in building and integrating RESTful APIs.
Familiarity with cloud services (e.g., AWS, GCP, or Azure).
Proficient in working with SQL and/or NoSQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MongoDB).
Deep understanding of CI/CD principles and version control systems (e.g., Git, GitHub Actions, Jenkins).
Experience with vibe-coding platforms such as cursor, replit, lovable, and bolt
Excellent problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the media or adTech industry.
Experience building UI for conversational platforms leveraging ChatGPT/ Claude/Gemini APIs
Experience with AI frameworks (A2A, MCP)
Familiarity with GraphQL or WebSockets.
Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
Background in building internal developer tools or player-facing dashboards.
Exposure to internationalization (i18n) and accessibility best practices.

Responsibilities

Own the Core Product: Architect, develop, and scale the blu platform, using React and Node.js to build a robust and high-performance application.
Champion User Experience: Partner closely with UX, Creative, and Product leaders to translate ambitious wireframes and designs into functional, beautiful, and intuitive user-facing features.
Build for Scale: Design and maintain resilient, scalable RESTful APIs and microservices that form the backbone of the platform.
Ensure Excellence: Implement and advocate for front-end components built with a relentless focus on performance, accessibility, and responsiveness across all devices.
Lead a team of onshore and offshore/nearshore developers, providing technical guidance, mentorship, and support to foster their growth and ensure high-quality deliverables.
Establish and enforce engineering best practices by writing clean, testable, and well-documented code.
Lead code reviews, architecture discussions, and sprint planning sessions to ensure the team is aligned and productive.
Work closely with DevOps and QA teams to support and improve continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) pipelines.
Ensure all applications meet security, scalability, and maintainability standards, taking ownership of the technical quality.
Guide a talented team of onshore and offshore/nearshore developers, fostering their growth through mentorship, code reviews, and providing clear technical direction to ensure high-quality, on-time deliverables.
Establish and enforce engineering best practices for writing clean, testable, and impeccably documented code. You are the standard-bearer for quality.
Lead architecture discussions, sprint planning, and technical strategy sessions, ensuring the team is aligned, productive, and focused on the most impactful work.
Cultivate a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, empowering the team to explore new technologies and approaches that can enhance the blu platform.