Software Engineer, Front-End Lead

Department: Engineering

Location: SF Headquarters

Compensation: $200K – $265K • Offers Equity

Employment Type: FullTime

About Us

We’re building the AI infrastructure powering the future of financial operations - starting with automating the most painful and complex workflows in loan servicing.

• Backed by a16z and Y Combinator, with $65M raised in Series A funding.

• 8-figure ARR < 2 years already serving > 20% of the auto lending industry, and processing millions of real customer calls and transactions daily.

• Fully deployed with major financial institutions - not just PoCs.

• We are expanding into new financial services segments!

• In-person office culture in San Francisco, CA.

We're fully integrated with our customers, own the full stack, and are moving fast to bring modern AI into regulated industries where precision, reliability, and performance matter most.

About the Role

We’re hiring a Front-End Lead Engineer to own and scale the architecture behind the interfaces our customers rely on every day. You’ll lead front-end development, guide technical decisions, and build elegant, performant experiences that simplify complex operations.

This is a hands-on role that combines deep technical execution with leadership across design, product, and engineering.

What You’ll Do

• Lead front-end architecture and development for major product areas

• Design and implement high-quality, responsive interfaces using React + TypeScript

• Define technical direction and best practices for front-end performance, testing, and accessibility

• Partner with our engineering team and customers to turn complex workflows into intuitive user experiences

• Build and evolve a shared component library and design system

• Mentor other engineers through code reviews, technical design, and hands-on collaboration

• Work closely with backend leads to shape API contracts and integration standards

• Contribute to engineering culture, process, and hiring as we scale the team

What You’ll Bring

• 7+ years of professional experience building production-grade web applications

• Deep expertise in React, TypeScript, and modern front-end tooling

• Strong understanding of performance optimization, scalability, and maintainable architecture

• Experience leading technical initiatives and mentoring other engineers

• Familiarity with data visualization libraries (Chart.js, D3, etc.)

• Customer-obsessed mindset - you actively engage with users, understand their workflows, and translate their pain points into product improvements

• Strong sense of ownership and bias for action - you move quickly, make pragmatic trade-offs, and care deeply about delivering value to real customers

• Thrives in an environment where product feedback comes directly from production users and enterprise partners

• Excellent communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally

• Located in (or willing to relocate to) San Francisco, CA

At Salient, we’re building at the edge of AI - fast, focused, and with real ownership. Sprints and major launches move quickly, and we look for people who are energized by that pace and ready to collaborate in person 4 days a week in our San Francisco office.

We also offer a benefits package designed to support our full-time employees: medical, dental, and vision coverage, a generous 401(k), and catered lunches.