Engineering Manager / Principal Engineer – MERN Stack

Job Title: Engineering Manager / Principal Engineer – MERN Stack

Location: Pune

Experience: 10+ Years

Role Overview

We are looking for a high-caliber Engineering Manager / Principal Engineer with deep expertise in the MERN stack who can drive technical architecture, hands-on development, and team leadership. This role is ideal for someone who leads from the front — actively coding, solving complex problems, and guiding teams to deliver scalable, high-performance web applications.

Key Responsibilities

1. Technical Leadership & Hands-on Development • Architect and build scalable full-stack applications using MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and Node.js • Stay actively involved in hands-on coding, especially in critical modules and system components • Drive engineering best practices across code quality, performance, security, and scalability • Solve complex technical challenges and guide teams on implementation strategies

2. System Design & Architecture • Design high-performance, scalable, and resilient web applications • Define and enforce frontend and backend architecture standards • Lead design discussions and ensure alignment with long-term platform vision • Optimize applications for high concurrency, low latency, and responsiveness

3. Team Leadership • Lead a team of full-stack/backend/frontend engineers • Conduct code reviews, design reviews, and technical mentoring • Establish engineering standards and ensure adherence across teams • Drive a culture of ownership, accountability, and engineering excellence

4. Delivery Ownership • Own end-to-end delivery of features and modules • Define sprint goals, plan releases, and ensure timely execution • Identify risks, bottlenecks, and dependencies proactively • Ensure delivery quality aligned with business and client expectations

5. DevOps & Cloud • Work closely with DevOps teams on CI/CD pipelines and deployment strategies • Ensure proper monitoring, logging, and application performance tracking • Contribute to cloud-native architecture on AWS / GCP / Azure • Drive containerization using Docker and orchestration via Kubernetes (preferred)

6. Stakeholder Collaboration • Collaborate with product managers, clients, and cross-functional teams • Translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions • Provide regular updates, architectural insights, and recommendations

Required Skills & Qualifications • Strong hands-on expertise in Node.js, Express.js, React.js, and MongoDB (MERN stack) • Proven experience designing and building scalable distributed web applications • Strong experience with REST APIs, GraphQL, and microservices architecture • Expertise in frontend performance optimization and state management (Redux/Context API) • Experience leading engineering teams while staying hands-on • Strong understanding of system design, scalability, and performance tuning • Experience with real-time/event-driven systems (Kafka, WebSockets, etc.) • Familiarity with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitLab CI, etc.) • Strong problem-solving and debugging skills

Preferred Qualifications • Experience with micro-frontend architecture • Hands-on experience with Docker & Kubernetes • Exposure to high-traffic, consumer-scale applications • Understanding of security best practices (OWASP, authentication, authorization) • Experience with serverless architecture (Lambda, Firebase, etc.)

Experience Requirements • 10+ years of overall software development experience • Proven experience leading engineering teams (3–8 members or more) • Strong track record of recent hands-on technical contributions (must-have)

Key Competencies • Leadership with a hands-on mindset • Strong ownership and accountability • High-performance system thinking • Ability to balance delivery and technical excellence

Strong communication and stakeholder management