UI Staff Engineer

As a UI Staff Engineer at Zinnia, your primary responsibilities include designing and developing a modern UI architecture that supports our strategic goals, mentoring fellow developers, maintaining high code quality through best practices, and engaging in technical discussions. You will also drive engineering excellence and work collaboratively with team members to enhance productivity.

To qualify for the UI Staff Engineer role at Zinnia, candidates should have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, along with over 10 years of enterprise software development experience. Expertise in the React framework and proficiency in building accessible, performant front-end experiences are essential, as well as strong coding skills and experience with automated testing.

A successful UI Staff Engineer at Zinnia should possess strong front-end development skills, particularly in React, and have in-depth knowledge of CSS frameworks. Additional skills include the ability to write organized, readable code, experience with automated CI/CD processes, and a passion for creating intuitive user interfaces that enhance the user experience.

Zinnia is committed to the professional growth of its employees, offering excellent career progression opportunities, competitive compensation, and a supportive work environment. We provide access to training programs, mentorship, and resources to help our UI Staff Engineers advance their careers and enhance their skill sets.

Zinnia offers a comprehensive benefits package for UI Staff Engineers, including health and dental insurance, parental leave, profit sharing, a 401(k) plan, and incentive bonuses. We also have tuition reimbursement programs to support ongoing education and professional development.

When discussing your experience with React, focus on specific projects where you've utilized the framework. Highlight any challenges you faced and how you overcame them. Share your understanding of React's core principles and how they guide your decisions while developing user interfaces.

Use this question to showcase your leadership skills. Describe a mentoring scenario where you guided a team member through a challenging project, highlighting the specific skills you helped them develop and the positive outcomes from that experience.

Explain your approach to maintaining code quality, focusing on best practices like code reviews, unit testing, and automated testing frameworks. Mention any specific tools or methodologies you've employed to track and improve code quality over time.

Discuss specific tools or techniques used for performance testing, such as Lighthouse or WebPageTest. Highlight how you apply the results to optimize loading speed and overall user experience, ensuring that applications meet modern performance standards.

Share your experience with continuous integration and deployment processes, outlining the tools you've utilized and the workflows you've implemented. Emphasize how these practices have improved development efficiency and code quality in your previous roles.

Demonstrate your awareness of web accessibility standards, such as WCAG. Discuss techniques you use to ensure your UI components are accessible to all users, including color contrast, keyboard navigation, and ARIA attributes.

Highlight your communication skills and collaborative mindset. Discuss how you involve designers early in the development process, share feedback effectively, and iterate on designs to create intuitive and engaging user interfaces.

Share your approach to ongoing learning, such as attending conferences, participating in online forums, or following industry blogs and influencers. Mention how staying current with trends benefits your work and the projects you contribute to.

Use this opportunity to illustrate your problem-solving skills. Outline the challenge, your thought process in addressing it, and the positive impact your solution had on the project and user experience.

Discuss your knowledge of common design patterns in front-end development, such as MVC, MVVM, or component patterns. Describe how you've applied these patterns in your work and the benefits they provide in developing scalable and maintainable applications.