React.js/Next Lead

Client: Photon
Position: React.js/Next Lead
Location: Dallas, TX (Hybrid -3 days Onsite - 2 Days remote)
Duration: Contract or Full time

Description for Internal Candidates

The React / Next.js Lead is responsible for driving the architecture, design, and technical leadership of large-scale, high-performance web applications using React, Next.js, TypeScript, and modern frontend tooling. This role oversees multiple developers, establishes coding standards, defines best practices, and partners with architects to modernize legacy web platforms into a modern, cloud-ready front-end ecosystem. The React Lead ensures the front-end codebase is scalable, accessible, performant, secure, and aligned with enterprise design systems and backend integration patterns.
Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Frontend Architecture

Lead the technical direction for the React and Next.js codebase, ensuring modularity, scalability, and maintainability.
Define architectural patterns including:
Component architecture and atomic design
Layout systems
State management strategy (Redux, RTK Query, Zustand, Recoil, Context API)
Routing and navigation patterns in Next.js
SSR, ISR, SSG strategies
Work closely with the Web Architect to align on frontend technical vision.
Establish standards for folder structure, naming conventions, code patterns, and component documentation.

Next.js Framework Ownership

Define the strategy for:
Server-Side Rendering (SSR)
Static Site Generation (SSG)
Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)
Edge rendering and caching policies
Optimize data-fetching using:
getServerSideProps, getStaticProps, getStaticPaths
New Next.js App Router features (server components, client components)
API routes, middleware, and edge functions
Ensure correct handling of hydration, loading states, caching, and route transitions.

UI Engineering & Design System Integration

Lead integration with enterprise design systems (e.g., Storybook, Material UI, Chakra UI, custom component libraries).
Ensure components follow accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.1 AA).
Enforce responsive design best practices across breakpoints, devices, and screen densities.
Conduct UI performance optimization related to UI rendering, layout shifts, and Core Web Vitals.

Performance Optimization & Core Web Vitals

Own performance tuning efforts for:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
First Input Delay (FID)
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Time to Interactive (TTI)
Memory usage and rendering speed
Optimize bundling and build processes:
Code splitting
Tree shaking
Lazy loading
Server and client-side caching
Monitor and diagnose performance issues using:
Lighthouse
Web Vitals reports
Chrome DevTools
Next.js analyzer

State Management & Data Flows

Define enterprise-grade state management strategies using:
Redux Toolkit
RTK Query
Zustand
Context API + Hooks
React Query / SWR
Implement data normalization, caching layers, prefetching, optimistic updates, and error boundaries.
Ensure predictable and traceable application state flows.

Integration with Backend and BFF Services

Partner with BFF developers to define efficient, secure data contracts.
Implement authentication and authorization flows:
OAuth2
JWT
SSO / SAML if applicable
Handle robust error handling, retries, fallbacks, and data validation.
Enforce secure API consumption patterns and CORS best practices.

Code Quality, Reviews & Mentorship

Lead code reviews with a focus on:
Performance
Security
Maintainability
Accessibility
Best practices and style standards
Mentor developers through pair programming, technical workshops, and architectural guidance.
Define coding standards for:
TypeScript
React hooks usage
Custom hooks development
Component reuse
API consumption patterns

Tooling, DevOps & CI/CD Collaboration

react AND next.js AND (frontend OR UI) AND web AND code AND hooks AND component AND custom AND typescript AND lead

Collaborate with DevOps to optimize:
CI/CD pipelines for web builds
Linting and formatting tools (ESLint, Prettier)
Automated testing frameworks (Jest, RTL, Cypress, Playwright)
Static analysis tools
Optimize build performance and environment configuration through Next.js settings.

Testing Strategy & Quality Assurance

Define test hierarchy:
Unit tests
Component tests
Integration tests
E2E tests
Implement testing frameworks:
Jest + React Testing Library
Cypress or Playwright for E2E
Ensure proper mocking of APIs, services, and data flows.
10. Security, Privacy & Governance
Enforce frontend security best practices:
Avoiding XSS vulnerabilities
Securing API tokens
Sanitizing inputs
Preventing CSRF
Using secure cookies
Implement role-based access controls and secure routing.
Ensure compliance with enterprise standards for:
Data separation
User access
Privacy policies
Logging & observability
11. Documentation
Document architectural decisions (ADR logs).
Maintain developer onboarding guides and coding standards.
Create reusable component documentation and Storybook setups.
Write technical specifications for complex front-end features.
Required Skills & Qualifications
Technical Skills
10+ years of frontend engineering with a specialization in React.
3+ years of experience with Next.js in enterprise or production settings.
Expert in:
React (Hooks, Context, Custom Hooks, Lifecycle)
Next.js App Router & Pages Router
TypeScript
HTML5, CSS3, Sass, Styled Components, Tailwind (or equivalent)
Node.js, npm/yarn
Strong understanding of:
SSR, SSG, ISR
Web performance optimization
Modern browser APIs
Responsive and accessible design
Experience integrating with REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket APIs.
Additional (Nice-to-Have) Skills
Experience with micro-frontends or monorepos.
Familiarity with:
NX
Turborepo
Webpack, Rollup, Vite
Experience building design systems and component libraries.
Experience with Azure DevOps pipelines or GitHub Actions.
Soft Skills & Competencies
Excellent communication and leadership skills.
Strong decision-making ability with architectural trade-offs.
Collaborative mindset with cross-team empathy.
Ability to mentor, coach, and elevate team capabilities.
Strong ownership mentality and attention to detail.
Ability to handle complex business requirements and break them into technical deliverables.

Education & Background
Bachelor s or Master s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
Portfolio of large-scale React/Next.js apps or open-source contributions preferred.