Lead JavaScript Full-Stack Developer (Discovery Pod)

We are seeking a Discovery Pod Lead to serve as the technical lead for the largest pod in the portfolio — eight products sharing a common Sanity CMS + Next.js + Algolia backbone.

In this role, you will own sprint delivery across the newsroom, exhibitions, exploration walk, and main site products, drive the CMS platform migration on the main site, and lead the remediation of injection vulnerabilities and unauthenticated webhook pipelines.

The ideal candidate is a lead TypeScript engineer with strong headless CMS architecture experience who can maintain delivery momentum across a high product count without losing technical depth.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical direction across eight products sharing a common CMS + Next.js + search architecture
• Lead the CMS platform migration on the main site — migration planning, content model mapping, staged rollout, and cutover
• Own the GROQ injection vulnerability remediation and unauthenticated webhook pipeline hardening
• Conduct code reviews and uphold engineering standards across the pod
• Own sprint planning, backlog refinement, and delivery risk management for the Discovery Pod
• Manage the low-effort products (education blog, storytellers section, interactive storymap) as side responsibilities absorbed within the pod
• Track and report on pod-level delivery health to the Engagement Lead
• Coordinate with the Discovery Frontend Engineer on NGSUI dependency management and version alignment across pod products
• Ensure pod products consume the design system correctly and flag breaking changes early
• Mentor pod engineers and support their technical growth
• Collaborate with the Business Analyst to ensure stories are well-defined before sprint planning
• Participate in cross-pod architecture discussions with the Solution Architect

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience with proficiency in Node.js and TypeScript
• At least 1 year of relevant leadership experience
• Expertise in Next.js (App Router and Pages Router) and NestJS
• Background in headless CMS architecture with hands-on experience in Sanity Studio v5
• Skills in Algolia and Cloudinary integrations
• Knowledge of AWS services including ECS, Lambda, and SQS
• Familiarity with CloudFront and Terraform for infrastructure provisioning
• Understanding of GROQ injection vulnerability remediation and webhook pipeline hardening
• Capability to lead CMS platform migrations, including content model mapping and staged rollouts
• Competency in design system consumption and dependency management (NGSUI)
• Showcase of technical leadership across multi-product pods, including sprint planning, code reviews, and mentoring
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English (B2+ level)

Benefits

• International projects with top brands
• Work with global teams of highly skilled, diverse peers
• Healthcare benefits
• Employee financial programs
• Paid time off and sick leave
• Upskilling, reskilling and certification courses
• Unlimited access to the LinkedIn Learning library and 22,000+ courses
• Global career opportunities
• Volunteer and community involvement opportunities
• EPAM Employee Groups
• Award-winning culture recognized by Glassdoor, Newsweek and LinkedIn