Director, Front-End Engineer

hackajob is collaborating with BNY to connect them with exceptional professionals for this role.

We're seeking a future team member for the role of Director, Front-End Engineering & Senior Developer - Design System. This role is located in New York, NY.

Are you an innovative leader and expert front-end developer with a passion for building and evolving enterprise design systems? Do you excel in shaping technical architecture, driving strategic impact at scale, and empowering teams to deliver exceptional digital experiences? We are seeking a Director of Front-End Engineering & Senior Developer to lead the growth and adoption of our design system into our wide array of digital platforms.
In this influential role, you'll blend hands-on technical expertise with strategic leadership, setting the standard for usability, performance, and security. You'll champion the integration of AI-powered solutions, leverage modern tools and Model Context Protocol (MCP) services, and ensure best-in-class development practices. Your advanced problem-solving abilities, strong alignment with UX/UI principles, and commitment to collaboration will make you a trusted partner across design, product, and engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and hands-on leadership in the architecture, development, and evolution of our enterprise design system, focusing on robustness, scalability, reusability, and future-proofing.

• Architect, implement, and deliver innovative components in a multi-framework solution that serve as the building blocks for user interfaces, setting technical direction and actively contributing to high-impact codebases.

• Drive advanced theming and accessibility solutions to support seamless brand consistency, inclusive experiences, and user preferences, using CSS variables, color systems, and variable stacking.

• Champion and build the integration of AI-powered features and automation, leveraging MCP services and modern documentation practices to accelerate development and improve product quality.

• Manage the full lifecycle of design system components, including development, production deployment, versioning, ongoing maintenance, and library/package dependency management.

• Lead cross-functional collaboration with UX/UI, design, product, and engineering teams to translate strategic vision and design principles into compelling, user-centered technical solutions.

• Mentor and inspire teams, fostering a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and excellence in front-end engineering and design system implementation.

• Advocate for and influence best practices in performance, security, accessibility, and maintainability, setting the standard for technical excellence throughout the organization.

• Tackle complex challenges with advanced problem-solving skills, guiding teams through ambiguity and change with clarity and confidence.

• Develop, collaborate, and maintain solid documentation and guidelines for designers and developers, including working code demonstrations to showcase component usage and capabilities.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience as a Front-End Developer, with significant expertise in design system development and scaling large systems.

• Expert-level proficiency in JavaScript, Type Script, and deep expertise in modern front-end frameworks including Angular and React.

• Mastery of CSS, including pre-processors, advanced styling techniques, CSS variables, variable stacking, and robust color systems.

• Extensive experience with Web Components and their application in enterprise-scale environments.

• Strong understanding of version management, library and package dependency management in component library contexts, and packaged version control for design system assets.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills; able to articulate technical concepts clearly to technical and non-technical audiences alike.

• Demonstrates a sharp eye for visual and interactive detail, a solid grasp of user interaction patterns, and excels at collaborating with designers to translate design intent into intuitive, user-focused solutions.

• A passion for solid documentation and creating working code…