Principal UI Engineer

Lightbeam; India; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Early stage startup equity

Competitive pay and benefits

Opportunities for learning

Job summary

A forward-thinking tech company in India is seeking a Principal UI Engineer to architect its React ecosystem. In this pivotal role, you will define how dashboards are built and ensure high performance and scalability of the frontend. You will also lead the implementation of modern practices and tools, enhancing developer velocity. The position offers competitive pay, equity options, and a dynamic learning environment.

Qualifications

• Strong experience with React and frontend architectures.
• Ability to simplify complex API contracts.
• Experience with performance monitoring tools.
• Familiarity with accessibility and TS-safe design systems.

Responsibilities

• Own the implementation of modern React patterns.
• Drive the design of frontend-friendly APIs.
• Architect high-performance build pipelines.
• Lead design system engineering with strict TS safety and accessibility.

Skills

React Architecture

API design

TypeScript

Performance Monitoring

AI integration

Tools

Vite

Webpack

GraphQL

Turbopack

TypeScript

Job description

At Lightbeam, we’re building a next-gen AI-based privacy platform. Our Data Privacy Automation (DPA) solution connects sensitive data discovery, cataloging, and access so the right (sensitive) identity-centric data is available to the right people and teams. With a 360-degree view across sprawling data environments, we help privacy and security teams set policies and automate enforcement.

About the Position

We are seeking a Principal UI Engineer to serve as the architect of our React ecosystem. In this role, you won’t just build features; you will be the “Engineer for the Engineers,” responsible for the scalability, performance, and developer velocity of our entire frontend organization.

Your mission is to ensure our developers can ship world-class interfaces with high confidence and zero friction.

Location

India

Key Responsibilities

• React Architecture & Evolution: Own the transition and implementation of modern React patterns, including React Server Components (RSC), streaming SSR, and advanced data-fetching patterns (e.g., Next.js App Router or Remix).
• API Contract Simplification: Act as the primary bridge between UI and Backend/Platform teams. Drive the design of “frontend-friendly” APIs, advocating for BFF (Backend-for-Frontend) patterns or GraphQL layers to aggregate complex microservices into simple, flattened contracts.
• Developer Experience (DX) Tooling: Architect and maintain a high-performance build pipeline, including migrating legacy Webpack/Babel setups to Rust-based tooling (Vite, Biome, or Turbopack) to achieve sub-second hot reloading and fast CI builds.
• Design System Engineering: Lead the technical implementation of our headless UI component library. Ensure strict TypeScript safety, accessibility (ARIA compliance), and seamless integration with token-based design workflows.
• AI-Augmented Productivity: Evaluate and integrate AI coding assistants (e.g., Cursor, GitHub Copilot, or custom LLM agents) into the team’s workflow to automate boilerplate, unit test generation, and documentation.
• Performance Observability: Build dashboards to monitor Core Web Vitals and React-specific metrics (render counts, commit times). Own keeping “Time to Interactive” (TTI) best-in-class.

Success Metrics for the First Year

• Build Performance: Reduce local development startup time and CI pipeline duration by >50%.
• Onboarding Velocity: Reduce “Time to First PR” for new hires from days to hours through improved scaffolding and CLI tools.
• System Adoption: Achieve 90%+ adoption of the core Design System across all product squads.
• Code Health: Lower Change Failure Rate by implementing automated guardrail tooling that catches architectural drift before production.

How This Differs from a Senior Role

Unlike a Senior React Developer, you aren’t assigned to a product squad to build “a dashboard.” You are horizontal. You decide how the dashboard page is built, which version of React we use, and how we measure its success.

What’s In It for You

• Early stage startup equity: Ownership in the company, aligning your success with Lightbeam’s growth.
• Competitive pay and benefits: We value our team and reward dedication and impact.
• A ton to learn: Exposure to company building and valuable skills in a dynamic environment.