Principal Front End Engineer

Early Warning® • Chicago, IL

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze℠, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses. Positions located in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York follow a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment. Candidates responding to this post must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship. Overall Purpose The Principal Front End Engineer is the highest-level front-end individual contributor and serves as the enterprise or product technical leader. This role is responsible for defining and advancing the organization’s front-end engineering vision, setting standards for technical excellence, and shaping major architectural and strategic initiatives across teams. The Principal Front End Engineer is a recognized thought leader, trusted advisor, and catalyst for technical and organizational change, reflecting the source Principal profile’s emphasis on enterprise standards, architecture ownership, mentoring, cross-functional partnership, and future-state technical vision.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or related technical field, or equivalent experience.
• Typically 15 or more years of progressive experience designing and developing complex software or web-based systems.
• Deep expertise in front-end architecture, web platform engineering, application design, and enterprise-scale delivery.
• Proven success leading cross-functional teams to create technical solutions and drive strategic initiatives.
• Advanced knowledge of SDLC best practices, software development methodologies, DevOps practices, and automated testing approaches.
• Strong experience with modern web technologies, front-end frameworks, API integration, CI/CD, source control, and cloud-aligned delivery models.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence all levels of the organization.
• Background and drug screen.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science or related technical field.
• Experience leading major modernization efforts involving cloud migration, platform transformation, or large-scale architecture redesign.
• Expertise in design systems, performance engineering, front-end observability, and enterprise web governance.
• Broad exposure to related technologies such as monitoring, orchestration, and cloud infrastructure, consistent with the Principal source profile’s preferred qualifications.

Responsibilities

• Defines and advances enterprise front-end engineering strategy, architecture, and standards across multiple teams and initiatives.
• Establishes principles and guardrails for quality, accessibility, maintainability, operational readiness, testing, and scalability.
• Owns technical product design and architecture for critical front-end platforms and strategic initiatives.
• Partners with product management, software engineering, UX, and architecture to shape engineering approaches and align with technology roadmaps.
• Identifies and drives adoption of industry best practices, emerging technologies, and modernization opportunities.
• Provides enterprise-level guidance on cloud alignment, CI/CD, automated testing, and sustainable engineering practices.
• Acts as a senior point of expertise on difficult engineering issues and strategic technical decisions.
• Mentors engineers and technical leaders across the organization and serves as a role model for engineering excellence.
• Builds trusted relationships across functions and influences change that improves engineering outcomes, delivery capability, and organizational maturity.
• Represents the organization in high-impact technical discussions with senior stakeholders, customers, or executive leadership as appropriate.

Benefits

• Healthcare Coverage – Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans as well as company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre-tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.
• Paid Time Off – Flexible Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees, plus 11 paid company holidays and a paid volunteer day.
• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Maven Family Planning – provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal