Senior Software Engineer

Senior-Level Software Engineer

DEPLOY has been retained to find a senior-level Software Engineer to join us on an hourly, flexible contract basis and help build the next generation of AI-first web and SaaS products.

You'll own significant workstreams across a portfolio of active client engagements — front-end first, with real full-stack range — and you'll operate with a high degree of independence: scoping your own work, making sound technical decisions without waiting for direction, and shipping polished, performant, accessible product remotely and largely on your own.

This role is ideal for an exceptionally self-motivated engineer with deep production experience in TypeScript and Next.js, the ability to extend into APIs, data layers, and infrastructure when the work calls for it, and AI-first tools like Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor already woven into their daily workflow.

What You Will Do

• Own the design, build, and delivery of user-facing features and full-stack slices of AI-first web and SaaS products using Next.js, React, TypeScript, and Node.js
• Take engagements from ambiguous requirements to shipped product with minimal guidance — scoping, sequencing, and driving the work yourself
• Translate Figma designs into pixel-accurate, responsive, accessible interfaces that hold up across browsers and devices
• Integrate headless CMS platforms — Sanity or other headless CMS — wiring up schemas, structured content, and preview environments
• Design, build, and consume REST and GraphQL APIs, including authentication, caching, data modeling, and error-handling patterns, extending into server-side code and databases where needed
• Leverage AI-first development tooling (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) to accelerate delivery while maintaining code quality and review discipline
• Own quality end-to-end — write component and end-to-end tests with Playwright, maintain CI quality gates, and prevent regressions without relying on downstream QA
• Set technical direction on your engagements — make and document architectural decisions, weigh trade-offs, and raise the bar in code reviews
• Drive front-end performance, accessibility, and SEO improvements using Lighthouse, axe, and Core Web Vitals tooling
• Maintain documentation for components, integrations, and handoffs in Jira, Confluence, and project repositories that is clear enough for others to pick up without you in the room
• Surface technical risks, trade-offs, and status proactively — on your workstreams, you are the primary signal

What We Definitely Need

Technical Requirements

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience with deep front-end expertise and meaningful full-stack range
• Expert-level TypeScript and modern JavaScript (ES2020+), including async patterns and type-safe API design
• Deep production experience with Next.js and React — App Router, server components, data-fetching and rendering strategy, and performance tuning at scale
• Full-stack chops: comfort building server-side code with Node.js, designing APIs, working with relational or document databases, and deploying to cloud platforms
• Hands-on experience with at least one headless or traditional CMS — Sanity, Gatsby preferred
• Fluency with AI-first development tools such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor, and a pragmatic sense of when to use them
• Experience writing automated tests with Playwright (or similar tools such as Cypress) and owning CI quality end-to-end
• Comfortable translating Figma designs into production-grade UI, with mastery of HTML, CSS (including Tailwind or CSS-in-JS), accessibility fundamentals (WCAG, ARIA), and responsive design
• Experience designing and integrating REST and GraphQL APIs, including debugging with browser DevTools and network inspection
• Familiarity with Git, pull-request-based workflows, and CI/CD systems such as GitHub Actions, Vercel, or Netlify
• A demonstrated history of working alone and remotely with little guidance — exceptionally self-motivated, self-managing time, deliverables, and communication across async, distributed teams

Communication

• Proactively send clear, concise written updates to project managers and engineering leads on a regular cadence — without being chased; over-communicate by default
• Join the ceremonies that matter for your engagements (planning, reviews, retrospectives) while protecting deep, independent work time — stand-up participation may be async
• Collaborate with designers and product during requirements and design reviews to flag feasibility and UX concerns early
• Write thorough pull request descriptions, commit messages, and inline documentation — your written record substitutes for hallway context
• Accurately track and report billable hours against tasks and tickets in Jira
• Raise scope changes, blockers, or conflicting requirements immediately so timelines, priorities, and contract hours can be adjusted
• Communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and client contacts without jargon or hand-waving

Tools & Technologies

Languages

TypeScript, JavaScript (ES2020+), HTML, CSS, SQL

Frameworks

Next.js, React, Node.js

AI Tooling

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot

CMS

Sanity, Gatsby

Styling

Tailwind CSS, CSS Modules, styled-components

APIs

REST, GraphQL, API design, Postman, browser DevTools

Testing

Playwright, Cypress, Jest, React Testing Library

CI / CD

GitHub Actions, CircleCI, Vercel, Netlify

Project Mgmt

Jira, Linear, Confluence

Design

Figma (design review and handoff)

Cloud

AWS, Azure, Vercel, serverless functions, managed databases

Other

Git, accessibility tools (axe, Lighthouse), Core Web Vitals