Senior Engineer at Frontman
About Us
Frontman is building the first browser-native AI visual layer for real codebases. We help designers and product managers ship UI changes directly in a running app (not in Figma handoffs, not via tickets), with instant, valid code updates.
Role
As the first Staff Engineer, you will be the top-level technical owner of our product platform. You’ll design and ship the core architecture, define engineering standards, and move the product from “strong prototype” to “reliable, scalable platform” while keeping the design-first experience sharp.
What you’ll do
Own Frontman’s core middleware architecture across Next.js/Astro/Vite integrations.
Build and harden the browser-to-source mapping pipeline (DOM/event context -> code changes -> hot-reload feedback).
Define robust LLM invocation, guardrails, diff validation, and rollback/revert safety.
Improve runtime performance and latency of edit cycles from request to preview.
Create reliable, observable engineering systems (logging, tracing, metrics, error handling, reproducible bug reports).
Lead quality and security practices for code-generation workflows (schema validation, safety checks, tests, versioning).
Translate ambiguous product ideas into implementable technical plans with PM/design partners.
Set the engineering bar for a small team: patterns, testing strategy, review standards, and onboarding docs.
Must-have
8+ years of software engineering; proven ownership of complex developer-facing systems.
Deep experience with TypeScript/JavaScript and building framework integrations or plugin-style tooling.
Strong systems design mindset for real-time, event-driven product flows.
Experience with AI-assisted coding/workflow tooling, AST-based edits, or code-generation pipelines.
Comfortable owning production architecture end-to-end (not just feature delivery).
Ability to communicate architecture clearly to non-technical teammates (design/product-first culture fit).
Nice-to-have
Experience with ReScript and/or Elixir.
Deep knowledge of browser dev tooling (runtime instrumentation, HMR, DOM/CSS mapping, source maps).
Familiarity with Next.js, Astro, Vite plugin ecosystems.
Experience in startup environments with undefined product/market dynamics and fast pivots. What we value
Pragmatic execution over over-engineering.
Clean abstractions that preserve speed for first users.
Design empathy: every technical decision should improve the “click, describe, see instantly” loop. Impact goals (first 6 months)
Launch a reliable production-grade editing pipeline for at least one additional framework path.
Reduce edit-preview failure rate and improve recovery/rollback confidence.
Establish baseline observability, automated quality checks, and a repeatable release process.
Compensation
Competitive salary + meaningful equity.
Early founder-stage ownership and the chance to shape the product stack from day one.