Staff Frontend Engineer - Mapping & Spatial Platform
About The Position
Verkada is seeking a founding Staff Engineer to lead the technical architecture of its next-generation Spatial Platform. The role will build a high-performance, interactive, collaborative 3D engine to replace static floor plans and support more than eight product lines. The engineer will own a core platform pillar, addressing geospatial projections and rendering thousands of interactive assets at 60 FPS. The position combines rendering architecture, spatial editing UX, performance optimization, spatial analysis tools, and collaborative editing infrastructure. The engineer will partner closely with Design to deliver precise, polished interactions and develop offline-first, multi-user editing capabilities.
Requirements
- At least 5 years of experience building complex, customer-facing web applications or high-performance graphics engines.
- Strong JavaScript fundamentals, including scoping, closures, contexts, prototypes, and classes.
- Expertise in React and common state and data libraries such as React Query and Zustand.
- A degree in Computer Science or a related field.
- Strong intuition for data structures, memory management, and linear algebra.
- High attention to visual detail and the ability to deliver pixel-perfect interfaces and polished interactions.
- Ability to bridge CAD-level precision and consumer-grade UX, partnering with Design to turn rough specifications into production-grade experiences.
- Understanding of coordinate system conversions, geospatial projections, and 3D geometry.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with Deck.gl, MapLibre, Three.js, or raw WebGL/WebGPU.
- Experience with real-time sync architectures such as Yjs, Automerge, or Operational Transforms.
- Proficiency in high-performance 2D/3D graphics, including the Canvas API, low-level buffer management, or custom shaders.
- Familiarity with PostGIS, vector tiling (MVT), and GIS workflows.
Responsibilities
- Design a high-performance rendering architecture for high-density geospatial visualization and precision editing with real-time vertex manipulation.
- Partner with Design to define spatial editing interactions, including easing curves, snapping behavior, cursor states, and loading transitions, and maintain pixel-level polish across the platform.
- Optimize rendering latency using partial GPU buffer updates and custom shaders to support sub-millisecond input latency during real-time vertex manipulation.
- Develop spatial tools such as real-time 3D line-of-sight analysis, signal strength heatmaps, and AI-driven hardware placement suggestions.
- Own the client-side CRDT architecture for offline-first, multi-user editing, including the document model, local persistence, presence, and conflict resolution.
Benefits
- Healthcare programs with at least one plan offering 100% employee premium coverage and all plans offering 80% family premium coverage.
- Nationwide medical, vision, and dental coverage.
- Health Savings Account (HSA) with annual employer contributions.
- Flexible Spending Account (FSA) with tax-saving options.
- Expanded mental health support.
- Paid parental leave.
- Fertility benefits and a fertility stipend.
- Paid holidays, firmwide extended holidays, flexible PTO, and personal sick time.
- Professional development stipend.
- Wellness and fitness benefits.
- Healthy lunches provided daily.
- Commuter benefits.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
