Principal Engineer -- Full-Stack TypeScript (Node.js, React, Cloud)
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- Remote
- Work setup
- Remote
- Seniority
- Principal
- Employment
- Contract
- Experience
- 5+ years
- Category
- Fullstack
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 5 years writing production TypeScript/JavaScript as your primary language
- Expert-level TypeScript: advanced types and generics, strict-mode codebases, type-safe API contracts, and a strong grasp of the JavaScript runtime (event loop, async patterns, modules, gotchas)
- Deep Node.js experience: building and maintaining production HTTP APIs and back-end services with Express or a comparable framework, including auth, validation, error handling, background jobs, and pe
- Deep React expertise: component architecture, hooks, state management, data fetching, and performance optimization for complex, highly interactive, multi-user applications, CSS solutions
- Production Next.js experience: App Router, server components, server-side rendering, routing, and caching
- Strong hands-on Google Cloud Platform or AWS experience — you have personally deployed and operated production applications, not just consumed them. For example:
- Containers and delivery: Docker for development and production, CI/CD pipelines, and environment/secrets management
- Databases: strong SQL (PostgreSQL or similar) and working knowledge of document databases, including schema design and query performance
- Testing discipline: unit, integration, and end-to-end testing (e.g., Vitest/Jest, Playwright) as a normal part of how you ship
- Software engineering fundamentals: you write secure, reliable, maintainable code and make well-reasoned architectural trade-offs without over-engineering
Nice to have
- Infrastructure as code (Terraform, Pulumi, or AWS CDK)
- Experience building internal tools, workflow automation, or developer/creative productivity platforms
- Familiarity with plugin or extension development for creative tools (e.g., Figma, Adobe UXP) — in TypeScript
- Python or Bash for scripting and automation
- Experience with LLM APIs, AI agents, or AI-powered product features
- Experience working in an agency, studio, or other creatively driven, fast-paced environment
- Open-source contributions
Full description
WHO WE ARE
We're Hook, an award-winning creative content agency. With a collaborative, maker-centric team, and an emphasis on production-led design, we make ads, campaigns, and experiences that drive growth for the world's most innovative brands.
Our mission is to integrate creative and production to help grow brands faster. But we believe what's most important are the people who work with us and the experience they have along the way. We want clients to think of us as the best agency they've ever worked with, and we want everyone at Hook to feel like this is the best job they've had yet.
THE ROLE
We're looking for a senior full-stack engineer who lives in TypeScript. You write clean, well-typed, well-tested TypeScript on both sides of the stack — React and Next.js on the front end, Node.js services and APIs on the back end — and you deploy and operate what you build on Google Cloud or AWS.
As a Principal Engineer, you'll own Hook's internal applications and platform end to end: architecture, implementation, testing, deployment, and long-term health. You're self-directed, comfortable owning complex products from first idea through continued development, and you make confident architectural decisions without needing a roadmap handed to you. When a client project needs a strong technical lead, you step in with that same ownership mindset.
OUR STACK
- Language: TypeScript, end to end
- Front end: React, Next.js
- Back end: Node.js, Express (or similar: Fastify, NestJS, Hono), REST and GraphQL APIs
- Cloud: Google Cloud Platform and AWS (serverless, containers, managed databases, queues, storage), plus Vercel
- Data: PostgreSQL / relational databases and document stores (Firestore, MongoDB, or similar)
- Tooling: Docker, CI/CD (GitHub Actions or similar), modern TypeScript tooling (Vite, Vitest/Jest, ESLint, pnpm/npm workspaces)
- AI: LLM APIs and AI-assisted development (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot)
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Architect, build, and ship production full-stack web applications in TypeScript, from React/Next.js front ends to Node.js services and APIs
- Design and own back-end services, APIs, and integrations with third-party platforms
- Deploy, operate, and monitor applications on Google Cloud or AWS, including infrastructure, CI/CD, task queues, observability, security, and cost
- Own product areas end to end: problem discovery, technical design, implementation, testing, deployment, and ongoing improvement