Front End Engineer - Confidential High-Growth Startup (Hybrid | Chicago) Location: Chicago, IL Work Environment: Hybrid Recruiting Partner: Next Step Recruitment About the Opportunity Next Step Recruitment is supporting a confidential, private equity-backed startup in stealth mode in their search for a Front End Engineer . This is a chance to join a high-impact team at a pivotal moment-building modern web applications from the ground up in a fast-paced, product-driven environment. We're looking for an engineer with strong front-end fundamentals and a passion for crafting intuitive, performant user interfaces. You'll work closely with product, design, and backend teams to deliver features that power real-time, scalable tools for thousands of users. Why This is a Great Opportunity Ground-floor access to a stealth startup backed by a major private equity firm-your work will have direct impact on the product and user experience. Start-up speed, without chaos : Join a small, focused team where things move fast but intentionally, with thoughtful design and clear goals. Technical ownership without isolation : You'll own scoped features, contribute to architectural discussions, and work closely with experienced engineers who value quality. Career growth : A strong role for someone looking to level up their impact and visibility, while still in a hands-on, builder's seat. Build something real : The product is solving complex problems at scale-this isn't one-off landing pages or marketing sites. What You'll Be Doing Build and maintain scalable front-end components using React and Next.js. Translate UI/UX designs into functional, responsive, and performant user interfaces. Collaborate with designers, product managers, and backend developers to deliver seamless, integrated product features. Optimize web application performance using techniques like lazy loading, memoization, and modular architecture. Contribute to and maintain CI/CD pipelines for front-end testing and deployment. Troubleshoot and resolve front-end bugs and cross-browser issues. Write clean, maintainable code and help build a library of reusable components. What You Bring 4-7 years of experience in front-end development roles. Strong hands-on experience with React and Next.js in production environments. Comfortable working with REST APIs and collaborating across full-stack teams. Familiarity with AWS , testing tools (Jest, React Testing Library), and version control. Experience with performance optimization and mobile responsiveness. Strong communication skills and a collaborative mindset. Appetite for growth and problem-solving in a fast-moving, early-stage environment. Interested? Apply immediately, as we will be interviewing soon. #J-18808-Ljbffr