Staff Frontend Engineer (Europe)

polar; United States; Remote; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote‑first culture

Open source culture

Generous workspace allowance

High ownership

Team offsites

Job summary

Polar is hiring a Staff Frontend Engineer to shape architecture, standards, and UX for dashboards and SDKs. Lead design and implementation of open source libraries that empower developers to integrate and deploy seamless billing flows—from checkout to post‑purchase to customer portals.

You will also build end‑to‑end features in our dashboard to help developers manage billing, customers, and businesses, with significant autonomy and ownership shaping the future of billing for developers.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience building high‑quality front‑end applications, libraries, and SDKs.
• Highly proficient in JavaScript/TypeScript; comfortable across multiple frameworks.
• Deep experience with React and Next.js.
• Passionate about developer experience and designing world‑class SDKs/APIs.
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and a clear communicator.
• Proven track record in fast‑paced, high‑autonomy startup environments.

Responsibilities

• Shape the future of billing for developers by designing APIs and SDKs that feel like magic while aligning backend, infrastructure, and operations.
• Build and ship delightful UIs and dashboard features using TypeScript, React, and Next.js.
• Design and maintain open source packages—components, hooks, and libraries for developer‑built billing experiences.
• Define front‑end standards and architecture across our codebase.
• Continuously improve performance, reliability, and developer experience across surfaces.

Skills

JavaScript/TypeScript

React

Next.js

Developer experience

Communication

Open source

Job description

About Polar

It’s never been easier to build, ship, and scale software. We believe monetizing software and building a business around it should be just as easy.

We’ve been called “The Vercel of Billing,” and our mission is to build the world’s most beloved billing platform for developers - from open source maintainers and indie hackers to startups and large enterprises.

We’re built open source, remote-first, and focused on shipping high-quality software and innovative SDKs that empower developers to move faster and worry less about billing - entrusting it to us instead.

About the Role

We're hiring a Staff Frontend Engineer to help shape our architecture, standards, and user experience across both our dashboard and SDKs. You’ll lead the design and implementation of open source libraries that enable developers to integrate, customize, and deploy seamless billing flows - from checkout to post‑purchase to customer portals.

You’ll also build end‑to‑end features in our dashboard that help developers manage their billing, customers, and businesses. This is a high‑impact role with significant autonomy and ownership - your work will help define the future of billing for developers.

What You’ll Do

• Shape the future of billing for developers - starting by designing APIs and SDKs that feel like magic, and working backwards through backend, infrastructure, operations, and even business needs to make it real
• Build and ship delightful UIs and dashboard features using TypeScript, React, and Next.js
• Design and maintain open source packages - components, hooks, and libraries that developers use to build custom billing experiences (think Shadcn for billing)
• Define front‑end standards and architecture across our codebase
• Continuously improve performance, reliability, and developer experience across all surfaces

Engage directly with customers on Discord, Twitter/X, and at events - listening deeply to their pain points, feature requests, and ideas for improvement

About You

• 5+ years of experience building high‑quality front‑end applications, libraries, and SDKs
• Highly proficient in JavaScript/TypeScript; comfortable across multiple frameworks
• Deep experience with React and Next.js
• Passionate about developer experience and designing world‑class SDKs/APIs
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and a clear communicator
• Proven track record in fast‑paced, high‑autonomy startup environments

Bonus Points

• You’ve shipped your own open source libraries or contributed meaningfully to others
• You’ve built and monetized side projects or run your own startup
• You care deeply about your craft—delightful animations, thoughtful edge‑case handling, and developer‑first ergonomics
• Experience working with payments, billing, or developer tools

We Offer

• Competitive compensation.
• Remote‑first & open source culture. Work from anywhere in Europe (CET ±2 hours) and contribute to Polar in the open
• Generous workspace allowance. Budget for an initial home office setup or co‑working membership
• High ownership. Help shape our product, architecture, open source libraries, SDKs, and developer experience from the ground up
• Twice‑yearly team offsites. We gather in our teammates’ cities to experience their local life, brainstorm the future, and write pseudo‑code for what delightful billing should look like
• Fast‑moving and pragmatic environment. A small, senior team focused on momentum over perfection. We cut scope before we cut craft to keep shipping fast and iterating often
• Mission with leverage. Build tools that empower other builders; your work compounds through theirs

About the Team

We’ve written books on FastAPI, built Shop.app & Shop Pay, helped ship the Battlefield React UI, and contributed to (and maintained) a lot of open source. We’re ex‑founders and open source maintainers who care deeply about craft, velocity, entrepreneurship, and developer experience.

Process

Our entire process is fully remote, and all communication happens via email, GitHub issues/PRs, and video calls. Here’s what to expect:

• Application Review - We’ll review your application and may reach out for a 15–30 minute video call with Birk (Founder)
• Team Interviews - You’ll meet a few team members for a deeper technical and cultural conversation
• Open Source Assignment - We’ll follow up with a GitHub issue scoped within Polar or one of our open source dependencies. You’ll collaborate with us asynchronously—from your first PR draft to final merge
• Final Call - A video chat to discuss your work, your feedback, and suggestions on how to improve the DX of working with Polar
• Reference Calls. We believe reference calls are great and help us confirm our impression and ramp up our understanding and abilities to ensure we hit the ground running productively.
• Offer