Principal Frontend Engineer

🏢 About HavocAI

Havoc is a leader in all-domain collaborative autonomy. Its software-defined hardware approach powers military and commercial-grade autonomous systems across sea, air, and land to sense, decide, and act together in complex and contested environments. Havoc connects assets, enabling them to share information, adapt in real time, and continue operating even when communications are disrupted or denied.

🎯 The Role

HavocAI is seeking a Principal Frontend Engineer to architect, build, and scale the real-time interfaces operators use to command autonomous systems across air, surface, and subsurface domains. Our operators interact with autonomous vehicles through a real-time geospatial interface where live position, telemetry, and system state continuously flow into a common operational picture.

You will work closely with the Head of Frontend and senior engineers to shape frontend architecture and technical direction while remaining hands-on with the most consequential engineering problems.

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Core: React, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3
• Geospatial & Visualization: MapLibre, Mapbox GL, Deck.gl, D3.js, WebGL, Three.js
• Real-Time Streaming: WebSockets, MQTT, gRPC-web, Server-Sent Events (SSE)
• Performance & State: Web Workers, batching, state isolation, CPU/GPU profiling

💼 What You'll Do

• Architect and build frontend systems capable of handling high-frequency, real-time data at scale without overwhelming the UI.
• Establish production-ready patterns for data ingestion, transformation, state management, and rendering.
• Guide the architecture and evolution of HavocAI’s real-time geospatial interfaces using MapLibre, Mapbox GL, and Deck.gl.
• Profile and optimize browser performance across rendering, memory, CPU, network, and GPU workloads.
• Design client architectures with offline tolerance, reconnection, and state reconciliation for degraded connectivity.
• Mentor senior engineers in real-time systems, geospatial engineering, performance, and frontend architecture.

✅ What You'll Need

• 10+ years of frontend engineering experience, with significant scope operating at Staff or Principal level.
• Deep production experience building and scaling high-volume, real-time client applications.
• Expert-level understanding of React, TypeScript, and first-principles browser rendering engines.
• Hands-on experience with map-based geospatial technologies (MapLibre, Mapbox GL, Deck.gl).
• Experience with real-time communication protocols (WebSockets, MQTT, gRPC-web, SSE).
• Proven ability to isolate high-frequency ingestion workloads using Web Workers and batching.

🌟 Nice to Have

• Deep data visualization experience using D3 or custom charting engines.
• Experience with WebGL, Three.js, custom shaders, or 3D terrain visualization.
• Familiarity with autonomous vehicles, robotics, defense, or aerospace command-and-control software.

🎁 Benefits

• 100% employer-paid Health, Dental, and Vision insurance for you and your family.
• 401(k) program with company matching.
• Competitive equity package and bonus incentives.
• Unlimited PTO policy (enforced 2-week minimum).
• 16-week paid parental leave.
• Home office stipend & monthly health/wellness stipend.