Frontend Engineer (JavaScript, API)

About Tailscale

Tailscale is pioneering the future of the Internet by providing innovative software solutions that facilitate secure interconnectivity among people and their devices, regardless of geographical location. Our platform simplifies network security and access management, enabling teams of all sizes—from hobbyists to multinational corporations—to protect their networks, share internal tools, and collaborate seamlessly. Since our founding in 2019, we have maintained a fully distributed workforce, backed by prominent investors including Accel, CRV, Insight, Heavybit, and Uncork Capital. Our mission is to build an Internet that is easy to use, sensible, and secure, restoring the simplicity and safety of early Internet experiences.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled and dedicated full-time Frontend Engineer to join our expanding team. In this role, you will be instrumental in shaping the technical direction and architecture of Tailscale’s next-generation web console. Your expertise will enable you to develop and maintain a robust frontend infrastructure and platform capabilities that support multiple Tailscale products within a unified console experience. A key focus involves building identity-adjacent frontend systems, including authentication, session management, secure cross-origin integrations, and multi-service product surfaces. As a fully remote organization building a highly technical product, you will operate at the intersection of product engineering and platform engineering, requiring strategic thinking, pragmatic architecture decisions, and collaboration across various teams. Your work will influence user experience, browser security, developer tooling, and internal platform design, making your contribution vital to the company’s success.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience building and maintaining production-level React applications at scale
• Deep understanding of web platform fundamentals, including HTTP semantics, browser security boundaries, authentication flows, cookies, storage, CORS, and CSRF
• Proven experience developing internal platforms, frameworks, or shared libraries to enable other teams to ship products efficiently and securely
• Experience leading a unified console or platform vision across multiple frontend codebases
• Strong judgment in frontend architecture, including standardization, abstraction, and system maintainability
• Expertise in designing scalable frontend testing strategies, including integration and end-to-end testing
• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-disciplinary teams such as design, growth, infrastructure, and developer tooling
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical tradeoffs and influence team decisions
• High level of ownership and autonomy, with a proven ability to identify critical problems and drive solutions amidst ambiguity

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the frontend architecture for Tailscale’s next-generation console, focusing on application structure, routing, state management, and long-term maintainability
• Design and maintain cross-origin authentication and session management infrastructure, including auth flows, CORS policies, CSRF protections, cookie/session strategies, and multi-environment support
• Build and operate a frontend platform capable of hosting multiple products under a unified development workflow
• Establish shared infrastructure, conventions, and design patterns to unify diverse product experiences into a cohesive console platform
• Create frontend architecture patterns, tooling, and abstractions that empower non-frontend engineers to build accessible, high-quality UI components safely and efficiently
• Partner closely with Product Design to translate complex infrastructure and identity concepts into intuitive user interfaces
• Collaborate with growth, design, product, and engineering teams on experimentation, analytics, A/B testing, and feature rollout strategies
• Define and improve frontend testing strategies, including integration, end-to-end testing, and local developer ergonomics
• Work with infrastructure and tooling teams to enhance development workflows, build pipelines, preview deployments, and operational reliability
• Mentor and review frontend engineering work to elevate quality standards across the organization
• Participate in our on-call rotation to address incidents, troubleshoot issues, and ensure platform stability

Benefits

• Inclusive and flexible work environment that values diversity and authentic self-expression
• Competitive total compensation package including base salary, equity incentives, and variable commissions for quota-based roles
• Comprehensive benefits plan covering health, vision, dental, and more, with no waiting period
• Remote-first work policy with opportunities for in-person collaboration through team retreats and local co-working spaces
• Employer-funded retirement contributions with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 0.75% of eligible compensation
• Opportunities for professional growth with an annual $1500 USD stipend for development activities
• Paid time off and flexible leave policies to support work-life balance
• Support for creating a personalized home office setup, including equipment and internet reimbursement
• Paid parental leave program with top-up benefits for new parents
• Participation in company social events, team off-sites, and collaborative projects across multiple countries