Principal Software Engineer (Front-end)

EVERFI

5d•$140,000 - $155,000•Remote

About The Position

We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer (Front-end) to join our team. This role involves designing, building, and maintaining complex components of our software platform, ensuring high standards of quality, performance, and maintainability. You will analyze system performance, evaluate new tools and methodologies, and define engineering best practices. The position also requires owning the technical design of major initiatives, partnering with leaders on roadmap decisions, and ensuring security, reliability, and compliance are integrated into system designs. Additionally, you will serve as a primary technical mentor for less experienced engineers, contribute to onboarding and learning resources, and model our engineering culture. You will also collaborate with Product, QA, and Operations stakeholders to translate requirements into production-ready solutions and represent software engineering in cross-functional discussions.

Requirements

Minimum of a bachelor's degree in computer science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field
8 -10 years of progressive experience in software engineering or a closely related discipline, with a demonstrable record of designing and building complex, production-grade software systems in a SaaS or technology environment
Expert-level proficiency in system design, including distributed systems, microservices architecture, API design, cloud infrastructure patterns, and reliability engineering
Experience with component-based frameworks like React or Vue and an ability to identify and architect reusable components for varied use-cases is required
Experience writing front end code using JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, ARIA and other related user interface technologies is required
Understanding of asynchronous request handling, partial page updates, HTTP, AJAX, and REST
Understanding of fundamental design principles behind a scalable web application
Proven track record of mentoring and elevating less experienced engineers through technical engagement, feedback, and knowledge-sharing without requiring formal management authority

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred
Experience with front-end build/config management, such as yarn/npm, webpack (or similar tools like rollup/parcel), and testing tools like Jasmine, Karma, Mocha, Enzyme, Jest, etc is preferred
Experience or interest in AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude Code) is a nice to have; we support and encourage growth in this area

Responsibilities

Design, build, and maintain the most complex components of the software platform — including core system services, high-reliability infrastructure, critical APIs, and integration architecture — with a standard of quality, performance, and maintainability that serves as the benchmark for the team
Analyze system performance, scalability constraints, and technical debt, and develop and execute remediation plans that improve reliability and long-term maintainability
Evaluate emerging software engineering tools, architectural patterns, and methodologies, making well-reasoned recommendations to leadership on when and how to adopt them
Define and champion engineering best practices, code standards, testing frameworks, and architectural guidelines to govern the quality of work produced by the team
Conduct rigorous code and design reviews, providing specific, constructive technical feedback that elevates the quality of outputs at every level of the team
Develop and maintain authoritative technical documentation — including architecture decision records, system design documents, and engineering runbooks — that builds institutional knowledge and reduces operational risk
Own the technical design of major platform initiatives, from initial architecture through implementation and operationalization, ensuring solutions are scalable, cost-efficient, and aligned with the company's engineering strategy
Partner closely with peers and technical leaders on platform roadmap decisions, contributing deep technical perspective to investment priorities and architectural trade-offs
Ensure that system design decisions account for security, reliability, observability, and compliance requirements from the outset rather than as retrofits
Serve as the primary technical mentor for less experienced engineers on the team, providing guidance on architecture approaches, debugging complex problems, and developing sound engineering judgment over time
Contribute to onboarding frameworks and internal technical learning resources that accelerate the development of engineers at all levels
Model engineering culture and professional standards expected at the highest IC level — curiosity, rigor, generosity with knowledge, and a bias toward durable solutions
Partner with Product, QA, and Operations stakeholders on technical requirements and translate those requirements into well-designed, production-ready solutions
Represent the software engineering function in cross-functional technical discussions, contributing authoritative perspective on system feasibility, complexity, and trade-offs
Contribute software engineering insight to planning conversations where platform architecture or system decisions have significant product or operational implications