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Salary: USD 185,000 - 265,000 / annual
Verkada is seeking a founding Staff Frontend Engineer to lead the technical architecture of a next-generation Spatial Platform. The company provides an integrated, AI-powered platform for physical security and access control, serving 30,000+ customers including 100+ Fortune 500 companies, with a $5.8B valuation and $1B+ in annualized bookings.
In this greenfield role, you will architect a high-performance, interactive 3D engine that transforms static floor plans into a dynamic spatial platform supporting 8+ product lines. You'll own multiple critical technical pillars:
**Core Responsibilities:**
- Design and build a high-performance rendering architecture supporting both an interactive viewer for dense geospatial visualization and a precision editing surface for real-time vertex manipulation
- Partner with Design to define the interaction model for spatial editing—easing curves, snapping behavior, cursor states, loading transitions—and maintain pixel-level polish across the platform
- Solve performance challenges like the "500-element wall" through partial GPU buffer updates and custom shaders, ensuring sub-millisecond input latency during real-time vertex manipulation
- Develop power-user tools including real-time 3D line-of-sight analysis, signal strength heatmaps, and AI-driven hardware placement suggestions
- Own the client-side CRDT architecture (Yjs/Automerge-class) powering offline-first, multi-user editing with document model, local persistence, presence tracking, and conflict resolution
This is a foundational role for a builder who wants to own a core infrastructure pillar before the company goes public. You'll work on the "hard math" of geospatial projections and "hard graphics" of rendering thousands of interactive assets at smooth 60 FPS.
**Requirements:**
- 5+ years of experience building complex, customer-facing web applications or high-performance graphics engines
- Mastery of JavaScript fundamentals (scoping, closures, contexts, prototypes, classes) and React expertise (state management libraries like React Query, Zustand)
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field with strong intuition for data structures, memory management, and linear algebra
- Pixel-perfect execution mindset—you notice half-pixel misalignments, 16ms jank, and easing curves that feel off; you hold a high bar for visual polish
- Ability to bridge CAD-level precision with consumer-grade UX, partnering closely with Design to turn rough specs into production-grade experiences
- Understanding of coordinate system conversions, geospatial projections, and 3D geometry
**Nice to Haves:**
- Experience with graphics libraries: Deck.gl, MapLibre, Three.js, or raw WebGL/WebGPU
- Experience with real-time sync architectures (Yjs, Automerge, Operational Transforms)
- Proficiency in high-performance 2D/3D graphics (Canvas API, low-level buffer management, custom shaders)
- Familiarity with PostGIS, vector tiling (MVT), and GIS workflows
