Principal Full Stack Engineer (Front-End Focus)
About The Position
Grand Circle Corporation is the leader in international travel, adventure and discovery for Americans aged 50+. Headquartered in Boston, MA, and with more than 45 offices globally, more than two million Americans have traveled with our award-winning travel brands: Grand Circle Cruise Line, Overseas Adventure Travel, and Grand Circle Travel. We're looking for a Principal Full Stack Engineer (Front-End Focus) to lead the strategy, architecture, and execution of modern web development across our digital ecosystem. This role will spearhead front-end excellence at GCC, with deep expertise in React, Next.js, and headless CMS integration-while also partnering closely across the full stack to deliver seamless, high-performing customer-facing experiences. The ideal candidate is a technical leader with a strong product mindset, a passion for modern web development, and a desire to elevate our global brand through world-class digital experiences.
Requirements
- Extensive experience in front-end engineering within full stack environments.
- Deep expertise with React and Next.js in production, including SSR, SSG, routing, performance optimization, and TypeScript.
- Experience integrating with headless CMS platforms (Ideally Optimizely); strong understanding of content modeling and API delivery.
- Proficiency in JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML5, CSS3, responsive design, and state management solutions (Redux, Context API, Zustand, etc.).
- Experience with modern front-end tooling (Webpack, Vite, etc.) and testing frameworks (Jest, React Testing Library, Playwright, Cypress).
- Strong understanding of accessibility (WCAG), SEO, and web performance optimization.
- Full stack experience in C#/ .NET, Node.js, or Java, and strong understanding of API design.
- Proven ability to architect scalable and secure front-end frameworks, component libraries, and design system integrations.
- Experience mentoring developers and elevating team capabilities.
- Excellent communication skills with ability to influence across technical and non-technical teams.
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent experience.
- Experience deploying in Azure (or AWS/GCP).
- Strong understanding of Domain-Driven Design, SOLID principles, and design patterns.
- Comfort working in fast-paced environments, managing ambiguity, and adapting quickly to new technologies.
Nice To Haves
- Experience contributing to or building design systems.
- GraphQL and modern API patterns.
- Experience enhancing content editing/preview experiences in a headless CMS.
- Familiarity with Core Web Vitals and Web Performance Analytics.
- Open-source contributions or conference speaking/technical writing.
Responsibilities
- Lead the end-to-end technical delivery of modern web solutions, from architecture and design through development, testing, deployment, and ongoing optimization.
- Architect and build advanced customer-facing applications using Next.js and React, leveraging SSR, SSG, API routes, performance optimization, and modern UI patterns.
- Drive decision-making around component libraries, styling systems, build tools, development standards, and front-end best practices.
- Design scalable integrations with our Optimizely headless CMS, optimizing content delivery and editorial workflows.
- Develop full stack solutions in collaboration with back-end teams using C#, .NET Core, SQL, Docker, Redis, and related technologies.
- Build and optimize CI/CD pipelines in Azure, ensuring performance, reliability, and smooth deployment processes.
- Perform code reviews, solution reviews, and architectural assessments to maintain high engineering standards.
- Mentor engineers on React, TypeScript, state management, front-end architecture, headless CMS patterns, and web performance.
- Work closely with design, product, and content teams to translate business needs into intuitive, performant digital experiences.
- Support agile process improvements and contribute to a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and technical excellence.
- Continuously evaluate emerging front-end technologies, patterns, and tools-challenging the status quo and advocating for better ways of building.
- Champion accessibility, performance, SEO, and front-end quality standards.
- Provide ongoing support to internal stakeholders while advocating for modern UX and front-end best practices.
Benefits
- Health & wellness: Comprehensive and heavily subsidized medical, dental, and vision plans, on-site gym access, holistic wellness sessions, and group fitness classes.
- Time for you: Substantial Paid Time Off (PTO), 11 paid holidays-including Juneteenth, Memorial Day, and Labor Day-and Summer Fridays. Extensive parental leave with up to 12-16 weeks paid at 100% of base salary.
- Travel more, spend less: 50% off trips for you and a companion, 25% for immediate family members, and exclusive quarterly associate travel discounts.
- Your future, secured: 401(k) with company match, life insurance, and disability coverage.
- Continuous growth: Tuition assistance, professional development opportunities including overseas travel, and access to Pinnacle Leadership & Team Development.
- Extra perks: Commuter benefits, FSA options, pet insurance, home & auto discounts, and paid volunteer time off.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
Industry
Administrative and Support Services
Number of Employees
1,001-5,000 employees
