Lead Frontend Software Engineer (Next.js & React)

Cars.com•Chicago, IL

2d•Remote

About The Position

Join us in shaping a future of Automotive Commerce. Cars Commerce builds solutions for automotive dealerships, manufacturers, and consumers. Our driving force is to deliver a single platform that simplifies everything about buying and selling cars. This is an exciting and high-impact, greenfield opportunity to drive the development of our newest dealer-facing product. You will architect how we surface actionable insights to enable dealers to sell more cars and how dealers manage their business through self-service—from instant onboarding and product configuration to complex user permissions (RBAC). We are an AI-first engineering organization. We leverage Claude Code and Next.js/React to ship at a velocity that traditional teams can’t match. If you want to build a "must-have" product from the ground up using the most advanced developer toolchain available, this is your role.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.
8+ years of front-end software engineering experience
Expert proficiency in Next.js, React, and TypeScript. Demonstrated experience building accessible, themeable design systems and familiarity with Server Driven UI (SDUI).
Proven ability to design scalable front-end architectures for SaaS or B2B enterprise tools. You have experience building complex, state-heavy applications where self-service workflows and data clarity are paramount.
High proficiency with Claude Code (or similar LLM-based development tools). Demonstrated history of integrating AI into your workflow to multiply velocity and automate the routine aspects of software development.
Deep knowledge of browser fundamentals (HTML/CSS, DOM, rendering) and Core Web Vitals optimization. Solid understanding of RESTful APIs and secure authentication/authorization patterns (OAuth, JWT, RBAC).
Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, build consensus, and partner with product and design to turn a vision into a "must-have" product.
Experience with modern CI/CD (GitHub Actions), UI testing frameworks, and instrumenting observability (Datadog). Willingness to participate in an on-call rotation, providing prompt incident resolution.

Responsibilities

Lead Greenfield Architecture & Development: Own the development of our newly launched Hub website. You will architect high-performance interfaces in Next.js and React, establishing the foundational patterns for our authenticated experience—including data insights, automated onboarding, product configuration, and user management.
Author and Evolve Component Libraries: Lead design and development of shared UI components and design systems, with attention to accessibility, theming, maintainability, and developer ergonomics.
Drive Product Value & Insights: Partner with data and product teams to turn raw data into "Must-Have" insights that help dealers sell more cars and operate more efficiently.
Cross-Team Collaboration: Work closely with engineering, design, and product partners across teams to align on front-end strategies and standards, elevate UI consistency, and reduce duplication.
AI-Orchestration: Multiply the team’s output by leveraging Claude Code to rapidly scaffold new features, automate boilerplate, and enhance test coverage, ensuring that speed never compromises architectural integrity.
Engineering Excellence: Own the long-term health of the product by implementing robust testing, observability, and CI/CD pipelines. You will participate in an on-call rotation, providing prompt incident resolution and conducting postmortems to ensure our product remains stable and performant.
Mentorship & Technical Leadership: Set the technical standards for the team, coaching other engineers in AI-assisted workflows and "platform-thinking" to level up the entire team.