Principal Software Architect (Frontend)

OPERATIVE OVERVIEW Operative builds the software that powers the business of advertising for the world's leading media companies. Our platforms manage the full advertising lifecycle — from sales planning and order management to trafficking, analytics, and billing — across linear TV, streaming, and digital channels. Built on a modern, cloud-native SaaS architecture with microservices at its core, the Operative platform is engineered to handle the scale and operational demands of the world's largest broadcasters and publishers. Operative is actively developing AI Agents — both to enhance the capabilities of our platform and to augment how our engineering teams work. Engineers at Operative have access to AI tooling as a standard part of their workflow, and we are investing in building increasingly autonomous agents that accelerate development. Position Overview Operative is seeking an experienced architect with a strong hands-on engineering background and a demonstrated ability to operate independently and drive the technical quality of the teams and codebases they engage with. This individual will serve as the primary technical authority for frontend engineering, working at the intersection of UX, Product, and Engineering to ensure that design intent is realized through sound, scalable architecture. Frontend engineering is a priority area for investment at Operative . The successful candidate will bring clarity, direction, and technical leadership to this domain — assessing the current state, identifying improvements, and building the patterns and standards the broader team will follow. Key Responsibilities Define and own the frontend architecture, including component models, state management patterns, build tooling, performance standards, and testing strategy Collaborate closely with UX and Product teams to develop a deep understanding of design systems and user workflows, translating that understanding into clean, maintainable implementation patterns Drive the adopt