Lead Full Stack Engineer

Genies is an avatar technology company powering the next era of interactive digital identity through Smart Avatars. With the Avatar Framework and intuitive creation tools, Genies enables developers, talent, and creators to generate and deploy game-ready Smart AI companions. The company’s technology stack supports full customization, AI-generated fashion and props, and seamless integration of user-generated content (UGC). Backed by investors including Bob Iger, Silver Lake, BOND, and NEA, Genies’ mission is to become the visual and interactive layer for the LLM-powered internet.

Genies is seeking a Lead Full Stack Engineer to guide the technical direction, architecture, and execution of our avatar-driven digital products. You’ll be a player-coach, leading by example as a hands-on contributor while mentoring a team of talented engineers. Reporting directly to the Developer Platform Engineering Manager, you’ll drive technical excellence, promote engineering best practices, and ensure scalable, performant solutions across the stack.

This is a high-impact role for an engineer who thrives on mentorship, system design, and building cohesive teams that deliver complex, user-facing systems blending AI, game technology, and UGC creation tools.

What You’ll be Doing: 

• Technical Leadership: Define and own the architectural vision and implementation strategy for full-stack systems supporting Genies’ Smart Avatar ecosystem. Establish technical standards, patterns, and scalable frameworks for both frontend and backend components.
• Mentorship & Team Development: Act as a player-coach for a growing team. Provide structured mentorship, code review guidance, and ongoing feedback to foster career growth and engineering excellence.
• Hands-on Contribution: Contribute directly to the codebase with a focus on maintainability, reliability, and performance. Prototype, iterate, and deliver features across our stack using technologies such as React, Next.js, Node, and Go.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with product managers, designers, and other engineering teams to translate high-level goals into technical deliverables that delight users and scale gracefully.
• Strategic Impact: Drive initiatives that improve developer velocity, operational efficiency, and code quality across the organization. Proactively identify technical risks, scalability challenges, and long-term architectural needs.
• Process and Culture Building: Champion best practices in code quality, security, and performance. Help shape a culture of learning, accountability, and collaboration within the engineering org.

What You Should Have: 

• 7+ years of professional full stack development experience, including at least 2 years in a technical leadership or mentorship role.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proven ability to design and scale distributed, high-performance web applications.
• Expertise with modern web technologies: React, JavaScript (ES6+), TypeScript, Node.js, Next.js.
• Strong backend development experience with Go, Python, or similar languages.
• Experience building and consuming RESTful and GraphQL APIs, and familiarity with event-driven architectures.
• Solid understanding of cloud infrastructure (AWS) and CI/CD pipelines.
  Strong communication skills, with the ability to guide both technical and non-technical discussions.
• Demonstrated ability to balance hands-on engineering with people leadership.

Bonus:

• Experience with real-time systems, web sockets, or multiplayer architectures.
• Exposure to AI/ML systems, LLM integration, or digital identity platforms.
• Passion for mentoring, technical strategy, and cultivating a high-performing team culture.

How Genies will support you

• Competitive salary and equity packages
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
• Unlimited PTO and parental leave
• Hybrid work structure (minimum 4 days in office weekly)
• Monthly wellness reimbursement

Genies is a well-funded, fast-growing start-up that values innovation, creativity, and ownership. Our roles and their responsibilities are created with a breadth of scope that introduces each employee to exciting new challenges and opportunities that a growing start-up encounters. The actual base pay is dependent upon a number of factors, including: professional background, training, transferable skills, work experience, education, location, business and product needs, and market demand. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. 

Starting Salary Range: $210,000 - $260,000 if annualized 

Here's why you'll love working at Genies:

• You’ll lead and mentor a talented, mission-driven team while still shipping impactful code.
• You’ll shape the technical foundation of next-gen avatar systems built for the LLM-powered internet.
• You’ll join a startup with enterprise-level stability and visionary leadership, including seasoned operators and industry pioneers.