Lead Software Engineer - Web

Lead Software Engineer - Web

Paramount is looking for a Lead Software Engineer to join our Web Engineering organization. In this role, you'll own the technical direction and delivery of frontend experiences across Paramount+ and the other brands we support. You'll lead a team of engineers, drive execution on high-impact projects, and raise the bar on code quality, performance, and developer experience — all while shipping features that millions of users interact with every day. This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll spend meaningful time in the codebase while also mentoring engineers, unblocking teams, and partnering closely with Product, Design, and Backend Engineering to deliver great user experiences. If you thrive at the intersection of technical depth and people leadership, this role is for you.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the technical planning, execution, and delivery of frontend features for Paramount+ and Pluto.tv web applications
• Build and maintain high-quality React and Next.js applications with a focus on performance, reliability, and scalability
• Own and evolve frontend architecture decisions — component design, data fetching patterns, state management, and rendering strategies
• Develop and maintain a GraphQL API layer (Apollo Server) consumed by multiple frontend applications
• Contribute to and steward shared packages across a monorepo (pnpm workspaces, Turborepo)
• Lead and mentor a team of engineers — provide technical guidance, conduct code reviews, and foster a culture of continuous improvement
• Drive web performance optimization across the application, with a focus on Core Web Vitals, critical rendering path, and perceived load times
• Work with personalization and engagement teams to ship real-time recommendations, personalized artwork, sign-up flow optimization, and short-form video experiences across Paramount+ and Pluto.tv web surfaces
• Partner with Product and Design to translate requirements into well-scoped, well-executed technical solutions
• Collaborate with Backend Engineering and DevOps/SRE teams to build and deploy high-performing services
• Continuously improve CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins), testing infrastructure, and developer tooling
• Champion the adoption of modern AI-powered development tools and workflows to accelerate team velocity and code quality
• Communicate tradeoffs, technical decisions, and project status clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Write things down — RFCs, ADRs, Confluence pages, Slack threads — and default to async communication that scales

Basic Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in web application development
• 2+ years of experience in a technical leadership or lead engineer role
• BS degree in Computer Science, a similar technical field of study, or equivalent applicable experience
• Deep knowledge of web application development, best practices, and modern frontend architecture
• Deep knowledge of Object Oriented Programming and Design, data structures, and algorithms
• Expert-level JavaScript/TypeScript, CSS, Sass, HTML
• Strong experience building production applications with React (including SSR) and Next.js or similar frameworks
• Solid understanding of GraphQL — schema design, resolvers, federation
• Familiarity with monorepo tooling (pnpm workspaces, Turborepo or equivalent)
• Deep understanding of web performance, browser rendering, Core Web Vitals, and the critical rendering path
• Experience with Webpack, Rspack, and/or Turbopack
• Strong testing discipline — Jest, Cypress, or equivalent
• Good understanding of protocol and caching layers
• Solid knowledge of the HTML DOM and Event APIs
• Demonstrated ability to lead engineers, make architectural decisions, and communicate design concepts clearly — in writing, design reviews, and real-time discussions with engineers at all levels
• Experience using modern AI agents and tools (e.g., Copilot, Claude, Cursor) to improve personal and team productivity

Additional Qualifications:

• Familiarity with micro-frontend architectures, multi-zones, or platform/design system integration
• Experience with microservices and distributed systems
• Experience with GraphQL, PHP
• Experience with E2E testing frameworks — Cypress, Synergy, or similar
• Working knowledge of Docker and CI tools
• Observability experience (New Relic, Datadog, or similar)
• Understanding or experience with Atomic Design concepts
• You've integrated recommendation or personalization APIs into production frontend applications
• You've worked with streaming event pipelines or real-time decisioning systems
• Track record of inspiring and coaching engineers to adopt AI-powered tools and workflows, maximizing team efficiency
• Eagerness to collaborate with Product and Design to ensure a high standard of UX
• Passion for delivering without compromising standards
• Humility to speak up when lacking knowledge or experience in an area
• Experience working asynchronously across time zones

Hiring Salary Range: $164,640.00 - 246,960.00. The hiring salary range for this position applies to New York, California, Colorado, Washington state, and most other geographies. Starting pay for the successful applicant depends on a variety of job-related factors, including but not limited to geographic location, market demands, experience, training, and education. The benefits available for this position include medical, dental, vision, 401(k) plan, life insurance coverage, disability benefits, tuition assistance program and PTO or, if applicable, as otherwise dictated by the appropriate Collective Bargaining Agreement. This position is bonus eligible.

What We Offer:

• Attractive compensation and comprehensive benefits packages
• Generous paid time off
• An exciting and fulfilling opportunity to be part of one of Paramount's most dynamic teams
• Opportunities for both on-site and virtual engagement events
• Unique opportunities to make meaningful connections and build a vibrant community, both inside and outside the workplace

Paramount is an equal opportunity employer (EOE) including disability/vet. At Paramount, the spirit of inclusion feeds into everything that we do, on-screen and off. From the programming and movies we create to employee benefits/programs and social impact outreach initiatives, we believe that opportunity, access, resources and rewards should be available to and for the benefit of all. Paramount is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, creed, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, marital status, disability, gender identity, gender expression, and Veteran status.