Lead Shopify Software Engineer

We are seeking a hands-onLead Shopify Software Engineer to drive the technical execution, code quality, and engineering delivery of complex e-commerce solutions on Shopify Plus. Working in close partnership with Solution Architects and Product Managers, you will translate architectural blueprints into production-ready, high-performing systems. You will lead development teams through an AI-augmented software development lifecycle—writing critical-path code, building custom apps and headless storefronts, championing agentic engineering workflows, and mentoring developers across the modern Shopify stack.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of custom Shopify Plus solutions, including headless storefronts (Hydrogen and Remix), custom middleware apps, and Liquid-based Online Store 2.0 themes where appropriate
• Build and deploy custom platform extensions using Shopify Functions, Checkout UI Extensions, Customer Account UI Extensions, and Shopify Admin extensions
• Develop robust backend services, webhook consumers, and data synchronization pipelines integrating Shopify with third-party enterprise systems (ERP, PIM, OMS, CRM)
• Partner with the Shopify Solution Architect to break down high-level system designs into actionable engineering tasks, technical specifications, and sprint deliverables
• Establish and enforce engineering best practices, including rigorous PR/code reviews, automated testing (unit, integration, E2E), and CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, Shopify CLI workflows)
• Drive storefront and API performance optimization—managing edge caching strategies on Shopify Oxygen, optimizing GraphQL query costs, and ensuring green Core Web Vitals
• Champion the adoption of AI-native development workflows across the team (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) to accelerate feature delivery, scaffolding, and complex refactoring
• Establish codebase-level context rules, custom prompts, and project guidelines to ensure AI-generated code strictly adheres to Shopify API boundaries, TypeScript standards, and architectural patterns
• Leverage AI tooling for automated unit/E2E test generation, GraphQL schema validation, PR pre-reviews, and living technical documentation
• Enforce rigorous quality, security, and verification guardrails around AI-assisted code generation to prevent hallucinations, performance regressions, or security vulnerabilities
• Lead technical debugging, root-cause analysis, and incident resolution across storefront, middleware, and integration layers
• Ensure all deliverables adhere to security standards, data privacy regulations, and Shopify API rate-limit constraints
• Manage technical debt proactively and guide refactoring efforts to maintain long-term maintainability
• Mentor and upskill mid-level and senior engineers in modern TypeScript, React/Remix patterns, Shopify extensibility frameworks, and effective AI-assisted engineering habits
• Collaborate with QA engineers, UI/UX designers, and delivery managers to ensure accurate estimation, smooth sprint execution, and predictable releases
• Act as the primary engineering point of contact during technical standups, client demos, and release readiness reviews

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience in e-commerce or web application development, with at least 2+ years serving in a Lead or Senior capacity on Shopify Plus projects
• Advanced hands-on proficiency in TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Remix, and Node.js, alongside modern build tools (Vite) and styling frameworks (e.g., Tailwind CSS)
• Deep, hands-on experience building with the Shopify GraphQL Admin API and Storefront API, managing bulk operations, handling webhooks reliably, and working with Shopify's data models (Metafields, Metaobjects)
• Proven track record developing Shopify Functions, Checkout UI Extensions, custom Shopify apps (using Shopify App Bridge / Polaris), and high-performance Online Store 2.0 architectures
• Practical experience integrating AI coding assistants and agentic CLI/IDE tools into daily engineering workflows—including context management, prompt engineering for code generation, AI-assisted testing, and reviewing AI-authored pull requests
• Strong command of Git workflows, automated testing frameworks (e.g., Vitest, Jest, Playwright), CI/CD automation, and application observability/logging
• Demonstrated ability to lead engineering pods, conduct constructive code reviews, and communicate technical progress and blockers clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• English proficiency: B2 Upper-Intermediate

Nice to have

• Official Shopify certifications (e.g., Shopify App Developer or Theme Developer Certification)
• Experience building custom Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, agentic workflows, or automated CI/CD quality gates using LLM SDKs
• Experience with Rust or WebAssembly (Wasm) for building high-performance Shopify Functions
• Hands-on experience building middleware services, message queues, or containerized applications
• Familiarity with enterprise B2B e-commerce features, multi-currency/multi-market localization (Shopify Markets), and complex catalog migrations