Lead Frontend Engineer / UX Systems Lead

Overview

Our clients, a rapidly growing/expanding AI-focused software development company supporting federal agencies, is seeking a Lead Frontend Engineer / UX Systems Lead to own frontend architecture and UX systems for a complex, operational creative platform.

The platform includes personas, generative media workflows, conversational agents, timelines, asset management, asynchronous generation pipelines, versioning, reviews, labs/experiments, and collaborative workflows. This role focuses on building scalable frontend systems and ensuring UX cohesion across dense, information-rich operational interfaces — not marketing-style frontend experiences.

About the Organization

Delivers mission-critical technology for those who protect what matters. Builds AI-enabled capabilities purpose-built for federal law enforcement and national security partners. Work sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, identity technology, and advanced generative workflows. Operates with a startup mentality focused on technical depth, creative problem-solving, and ownership.

Hybrid Work Location

• Hybrid role based out of Reston. Virginia location
• Collaborative engineering environment with close partnership between frontend, backend, and platform team

Role Summary

The Lead Frontend Engineer / UX Systems Lead will drive frontend architecture, interaction consistency, and UX cohesion across a rapidly evolving product suite. This role is responsible for ensuring architectural integrity and preventing UX sprawl as experimental features mature into core workflows.

The ideal candidate combines deep frontend engineering expertise with strong UX systems thinking, particularly for complex operational applications involving asynchronous processing, realtime systems, conversational interfaces, and dense workflow management.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive frontend architecture and interaction consistency across the product suite
• Build, maintain, and evolve a scalable design system shared across multiple applications
• Own UX cohesion across complex workflows, including long-running jobs, uploads, and batch actions
• Design and refine conversational and agent-based interfaces
• Support editors, inspectors, timelines, and version histories
• Enable effective comparison and review workflows
• Establish and maintain standards for:
  • State management
  • Accessibility
  • Keyboard navigation
  • Layout systems
  • Information hierarchy
• Prevent product and UX sprawl as experimental features mature into core workflows
• Collaborate closely with backend and platform engineers to deliver system-level frontend solutions
• Design truthful asynchronous UX patterns, including:
  • Partial progress states
  • Retries and recovery flows
  • Optimistic updates
  • Server-authoritative updates
  • Streaming and realtime feedback

Required Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading frontend architecture for complex operational applications
• Strong background building and maintaining large-scale React and TypeScript applications
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement cohesive UX systems across multiple product areas
• Experience working with realtime or websocket-heavy applications
• Ability to translate ambiguous or early-stage product concepts into clear, structured workflows
• Comfortable collaborating closely with backend and platform engineering teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep understanding of UX consistency, interaction design, and mental model stability
• Experience designing dense, information-rich interfaces prioritizing operational clarity
• Familiarity with AI- or agent-integrated user interfaces
• Experience using and extending MUI component systems
• Strong proficiency with Figma and design-to-engineering workflows
• Preference for capability-driven applications over traditional CRUD-style dashboards

What Success Looks Like

• First 30 days: Gain deep understanding of platform architecture, workflows, and UX challenges while identifying areas of inconsistency and technical debt
• First 90 days: Deliver architectural improvements and establish scalable frontend standards across key product areas
• First 6 months: Drive a unified UX system across the platform, improving workflow consistency, operational clarity, and frontend scalability