Staff Frontend Engineer

TwelveLabs; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Open and inclusive culture

Flexible PTO and parental leave

Office closed during holidays

Job summary

A cutting-edge technology company in the US is seeking a Staff Frontend Engineer to enhance a video-centric creative tool. This design-forward role involves crafting fluid, polished UIs using React and TypeScript, ensuring a high quality of interactions and animations. Candidates should have over 5 years of experience in frontend applications, particularly in creative tools. The position requires quarterly travel to San Francisco and regular collaboration in Los Angeles. This role offers flexibility and a commitment to innovation.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in frontend applications, especially in creative tools.
• Deep knowledge of React and TypeScript.
• Strong command over animation and interaction libraries.

Responsibilities

• Build fluid, polished UIs using React and TypeScript.
• Implement interaction design and animations.
• Collaborate with designers for rapid prototyping.

Skills

React

TypeScript

Animation libraries

Design sensibility

Tools

Framer Motion

GSAP

Job description

At Twelve Labs, we are pioneering the development of cutting-edge multimodal foundation models that have the ability to comprehend videos just like humans do. Our models have redefined the standards in video-language modeling, empowering us with more intuitive and far-reaching capabilities, and fundamentally transforming the way we interact with and analyze various forms of media.

With a remarkable $107 million in Seed and Series A funding, our company is backed by top-tier venture capital firms such as NVIDIA’s NVentures, NEA, Radical Ventures, and Index Ventures, and prominent AI visionaries and founders such as Fei-Fei Li, Silvio Savarese, Alexandr Wang and more. Headquartered in San Francisco, with an influential APAC presence in Seoul, our global footprint underscores our commitment to driving worldwide innovation.

We are a global company that values the uniqueness of each person’s journey. It is the differences in our cultural, educational, and life experiences that allow us to constantly challenge the status quo. We are looking for individuals who are motivated by our mission and eager to make an impact as we push the bounds of technology to transform the world. Join us as we revolutionize video understanding and multimodal AI.

About the Role

We’re hiring a Staff Frontend Engineer to craft the interaction layer of Rodeo — a video-centric creative tool where microinteractions, animation, and polish define the product experience. This is a design-forward frontend role where you’ll own the feel of the product: transitions, motion, responsiveness, and the small details that make professional tools feel intuitive.

This role requires travel to our San Francisco headquarters on a quarterly basis for team offsites and company events, as well as approximately one week per month of in-person collaboration with the Rodeo team in the Los Angeles area. This travel is a requirement of the role and not optional.

This role may require participation in on-site interviews and/or completion of in-person onboarding processes.

In this role, you will

Frontend (Primary)

• Build fluid, highly polished UIs with React and TypeScript that feel fast and intentional
• Own interaction design implementation — microinteractions, transitions, animations, and motion using Framer Motion, React Spring, or GSAP
• Collaborate closely with the design team on rapid ideation and prototyping of new interaction patterns
• Translate high-fidelity Figma designs into production interfaces with pixel-level accuracy
• Build and maintain a component library and design system that enforces consistency and craft across the product
• Optimize rendering performance for complex canvases, timelines, and media-rich views
• Write reliable unit, integration, and E2E tests for complex interactive UI workflows
• Use AI-assisted development tools thoughtfully to accelerate implementation while maintaining quality
• Work embedded with the design team as a creative partner, not just an implementer
• Prototype interaction concepts quickly to validate design direction before committing to full implementation
• Advocate for and implement the micro-details that elevate product feel — loading states, error handling, empty states, and transitions between views

You may be a good fit if you have

• 5+ years building production frontend applications, with meaningful time in creative tools, editors, or media-rich products
• Deep experience with React and TypeScript
• Strong command of animation and interaction libraries (Framer Motion, React Spring, GSAP, or similar)
• A portfolio or body of work that demonstrates interaction design sensibility
• Experience with canvas-based or timeline-based interfaces
• Strong eye for design and a commitment to craft and polish
• Comfort working in fast-paced, iterative environments alongside designers
• Experience with Next.js and modern frontend tooling

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at creative tool companies (Descript, Runway, CapCut, Opus Clip, or similar)
• Background in generative art, creative coding, or interaction design
• Experience building editor or timeline UIs
• Side projects that show creative or interaction sensibility

Benefits and Perks

🤝 An open and inclusive culture and work environment.

🚀 Work closely with a collaborative, mission-driven team on cutting-edge AI technology.

✈️ Extremely flexible PTO and parental leave policy. Office closed the week of Christmas and New Years.