Engineering Team Lead (React) (LATAM)

Lateral stands for technology excellence. We’re a profitable, award-winning design and technology company with over 20 years of experience launching bold ventures and transforming businesses. A globally distributed team of 200+ experts united by a shared purpose: the continuous pursuit of quality. Our clients come to us for results, quality and craft - and stay because we keep raising the bar. We Do Things Differently at Lateral Our mission is simple: design and build great products.

What sets us apart isn’t just the talent of our team - it’s the way we work:

• We Have A Bias For Action & Results.
• We are doers - we spot the gaps, connect the dots, anticipate what’s around the corner and take action. We move fast, stay focused, and let the results - not the effort - speak for themselves.
• We Work On Time, On Budget, On Quality
• Discipline is our edge - a commitment we make to each other, to our clients, and to the standards we hold ourselves to.

We Care Deeply.

• We care about our work and about each other. Care Is A Competitive Advantage.
• Every detail matters. Every design, every line of code, every decision. Thoughtful by default.
• We Do Things Right - Because It’s the Right Thing to Do
• Right over easy. Integrity isn’t up for negotiation. We hold the bar high even when no one’s watching. We take pride in doing great work the right way - not the easy way.

We Keep Improving

• The best teams keep improving and we’re never done learning.
• We iterate. We reflect on what’s working and what’s not. Feedback fuels us, we receive it openly, and adapt quickly. Progress over perfection.
• We’re Obsessed With Agility, Not The Agile Manifesto
• We don’t chase dogma or rituals - we chase momentum. We adapt processes to fit problems, not the other way around.

We Take Ownership Everyone leads something here. You will have room to run with ideas, and the trust to execute. That trust is built on how you show up: thinking things through, sweating the details, and following through. What You’ll Do

• As an Engineering Team Lead (Frontend React) at Lateral, you will lead a team of frontend engineers responsible for building fast, accessible, reliable user experiences for a global marketplace.
• You’ll be both a technical leader and a hands-on contributor, helping the team move quickly while maintaining high quality.
• Partner Deeply with the Client & Key Stakeholders
• Serve as the primary frontend technical voice in client conversations, articulating decisions, constraints, and opportunities clearly.
• Communicate proactively with product managers, designers, user researchers, and business stakeholders to ensure alignment and remove ambiguity.

Represent engineering during roadmap, planning, and prioritization discussions, providing clear feasibility input and realistic timelines. Advocate for the frontend perspective in cross-functional decisions while balancing product goals, technical needs, and user experience. Explain complex UI/UX trade-offs in ways that help non-engineers make smart decisions quickly. Build strong trust with the client through reliability, transparency, and consistent follow-through. Surface risks early, guide expectation-setting, and help stakeholders understand the impact of changes before they are made.

Lead Cross-Disciplinary Communication & Alignment Ensure smooth communication between frontend, backend, QA, design, content, and product teams. Lead discussions on design fidelity, performance constraints, usability risks, and component architecture. Keep everyone aligned on UI standards, UX guidelines, shared components, and best practices. Drive clarity in requirements: ensuring they are actionable, testable, and aligned with user goals. Promote a communication culture that is concise, open, respectful, and anchored in problem-solving.

Lead the Frontend Engineering Team Mentor, coach, review, and support React engineers. Set engineering standards, enforce best practices, and guide architectural choices. Help the team stay focused, aligned, and productive.

Contribute Hands-On Build and maintain high-quality React applications using TypeScript, modern tooling, and scalable component patterns. Own critical UI flows: search, catalog, discovery, checkout, dashboards, or marketplace tools. Improve performance, accessibility, and design implementation fidelity.

Own Quality & Delivery Partner with QA, backend, design, and product teams to define high-quality deliverables. Ensure components are tested, reusable, and maintainable. Advocate for performance budgets, error monitoring, and robust testing practices.

Partner with Product & Design Translate product requirements into intuitive and scalable UI architectures. Spot UX issues early and give thoughtful, informed feedback. Represent engineering interests in product planning.

Improve the Team & Codebase Evolve design systems, component libraries, frontend tooling, and documentation. Improve developer experience, CI pipelines, and code clarity. Foster a supportive, high-performing culture.

How We Measure Success

In the first 2 weeks:

• You understand the marketplace frontend architecture.
• You deliver your first component or fix.
• You establish open, clear communication with the team.

In the first 3 months:

• You own the technical direction of a major UI area.
• Your team is shipping reliably and predictably.
• You’ve improved frontend code quality, performance, or consistency.
• You provide structured, actionable feedback in reviews and design discussions.

After 3 months:

• You are the go-to person for frontend architecture decisions.
• You help others grow through thoughtful coaching.
• You introduce improvements that increase developer velocity or reduce defects.
• You elevate the overall craft and quality of the UI experience.
• What We’re Looking For

Must-Haves 7+ years of frontend engineering experience, including 2+ years in a lead role.

• Deep expertise with React, TypeScript, modern state management, and frontend build systems.
• Experience leading engineers, reviewing code, and making architectural decisions.
• Strong grasp of performance optimization, accessibility, and frontend testing.
• Clear communication and organizational skills, able to align cross-functional teams.
• An ownership mindset and a bias for action.
• Backend services knowledge

Bonus Points

• Experience with large-scale e-commerce or marketplace frontends.
• Experience with design systems, Storybook, or component libraries.
• Exposure to Node.js, Next.js, SSR/SSG, or micro-frontends.
• Experience with analytics, feature flags, and experiment frameworks.
• Why You’ll Love Working Here
• Real Impact: You’ll work on meaningful products that make a measurable difference - from healthcare and commerce to sustainability and next-gen tech.

Remote-First, Office Friendly: Work from wherever you’re most productive - whether that’s your home, a co-working space, or one of our offices. We’re a remote-first company, but if you’re near an office, you’re welcome to drop in, collaborate in person, or work onsite regularly.

We prioritize async collaboration, respect your time zone, and focus on outcomes over hours.

An Outstanding Team: Talented, kind, and hard-working people who care deeply about their craft - and about each other. No egos. No politics. Just professionals doing their best work.

Growth: You’ll be supported in growing your craft, exploring new paths, and stepping into greater responsibility - at your own pace

A Culture of Excellence: We care deeply about doing the right thing - for our clients, our team, and ourselves. No burnout. No crunch. Just high-quality work, delivered sustainably.

Variety & Stability: We’re profitable, independent, and over a decade strong. Yet every project brings a fresh challenge. You’ll never be bored here. This Role Might Not Be for You

We want to respect your time by being clear about what this role isn’t. You should skip this opportunity if:

• You prefer well defined structure. If you gravitate towards a clear hierarchy, well defined roles and swim lanes, you may find our self-managed style challenging.
• Distributed work isn’t your thing. If you find async communication, design documentation and being proactive without a manager nearby difficult, our setup won’t suit you.

Feedback doesn't excite you. We’re obsessed with quality and believe in continuous improvement. That means we give feedback that’s sometimes nitpicky. If refining the work until it’s excellent feels over the top, you are likely going to find working here frustrating.

Change makes you uncomfortable. We’re scaling and maturing. That means not everything is perfect yet. Priorities shift. Processes evolve. If ambiguity is uncomfortable, this may feel bumpy.

However, If this sounds like fuel, we’d love to talk!

How to apply and what to expect in the interview process Our hiring process is structured as a sequence of steps. Moving forward is based on how well the previous step goes. This helps us stay focused, fair, and respectful of everyone’s time.

We will always:

Let you know clearly what the next step is Share updates and feedback wherever possible Invite questions if anything feels unclear

• Not everyone progresses through every stage. That doesn’t mean you’re not great at what you do. Sometimes it’s about timing, team fit, or simply what we’re looking for at the moment.
• Step 1: Express Your Interest
• If this sounds like your kind of team and you’re ready to bring your craft to Lateral, we want to hear from you.

Please send us:

Your resume A short note about what excites you about this role Links to your work: GitHub/ Code snippets, portfolio, architecture /design docs, blog posts, or anything that shows us how you think and build

Please don’t include anything sensitive or proprietary. If you’re sharing team projects, let us know what your specific contributions were. We review every application with care. If there’s a fit, we’ll reach out to schedule next steps. Step 2: Talent Partner Conversation Purpose: A structured discussion with our People Experience team to delve into your career trajectory, motivations, and alignment with Lateral's values.

What to Expect:

• In-depth questions about your past experiences and decision-making processes.
• Exploration of your career goals and how they align with the role.
• Discussion about our company culture, availability, compensation and other logistics
• Motivators and demotivators.
• Your life outside coding.

Preparation Tips:

• Reflect on your career journey and pivotal moments.
• Be ready to discuss challenges you've overcome and lessons learned.
• Familiarize yourself with the Job Description, Lateral's mission and values.
• Step 3: Technical interview
• Purpose: Assess your technical proficiency and problem-solving abilities.
• Format: A collaborative session with our engineering team, focusing on real-world scenarios relevant to the role.

What to Expect:

• Problem-solving exercises/questions that mirror tasks you'd encounter in the position.
• Discussions around your approach, reasoning, and solutions.

Preparation Tips:

• Practice articulating your thought process clearly and concisely.
• Be prepared to discuss in depth past projects and the technologies used.
• Step 4: Take Home Assignment
• Purpose: Provide a practical demonstration of your skills through a task resembling real work at Lateral.
• Format: A paid take-home assignment or a live session, depending on the role.

What to Expect:

• Tasks designed to reflect actual challenges faced in the position.
• An opportunity to showcase your problem-solving and technical skills.

Preparation Tips:

• Set aside uninterrupted time to focus.
• Explain your decisions and assumptions.
• Step 5: Operational interview
• Purpose: Understand your approach to prioritizing, collaborating, shipping, and iterating.

What to expect:

• How you prioritize and break down work.
• How you collaborate across disciplines.
• How you handle blockers, feedback, and iteration.

Preparation Tips:

• Pick 1-2 meaningful projects you led or heavily contributed to.
• Walk through your process: what worked, what didn’t, what you’d do differently.
• Think about how you manage time, scope, and changing requirements.

Step 7: Offer

• What Happens: If selected, you'll receive a comprehensive offer detailing compensation, and other pertinent information.
• Our hiring process is designed to be thorough yet respectful, ensuring a mutual fit. We encourage candidates to engage actively, ask questions, and view this as a two-way exploration.
• Join us and let’s build something extraordinary.