Lead Shopify Software Engineer

We're looking for a hands-on Lead Shopify Software Engineer to oversee technical execution, maintain code quality, and manage engineering delivery for complex e-commerce solutions built on Shopify Plus. You'll collaborate closely with Solution Architects and Product Managers to turn architectural plans into production-ready, high-performing systems. This role involves guiding development teams through an AI-enhanced software development lifecycle, which includes writing essential code, developing custom apps and headless storefronts, promoting agentic engineering practices, and coaching developers on the modern Shopify stack.

Responsibilities

• Spearhead the build-out of custom Shopify Plus solutions, including headless storefronts (Hydrogen and Remix), custom middleware apps, and Liquid-based Online Store 2.0 themes where appropriate
• Create and ship custom platform extensions using Shopify Functions, Checkout UI Extensions, Customer Account UI Extensions, and Shopify Admin extensions
• Build solid backend services, webhook consumers, and data sync pipelines that connect Shopify with third-party enterprise systems (ERP, PIM, OMS, CRM)
• Work alongside the Shopify Solution Architect to translate high-level system designs into concrete engineering tasks, technical specs, and sprint deliverables
• Set and enforce engineering standards, covering thorough PR/code reviews, automated testing (unit, integration, E2E), and CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, Shopify CLI workflows)
• Push forward storefront and API performance improvements, handling edge caching strategies on Shopify Oxygen, optimizing GraphQL query costs, and keeping Core Web Vitals green
• Advocate for AI-native development workflows across the team (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) to speed up feature delivery, scaffolding, and complex refactoring
• Define codebase-level context rules, custom prompts, and project guidelines so AI-generated code stays within Shopify API boundaries, TypeScript standards, and architectural patterns
• Use AI tooling to automate unit/E2E test generation, GraphQL schema validation, PR pre-reviews, and living technical documentation
• Apply strict quality, security, and verification guardrails to AI-assisted code generation to avoid hallucinations, performance regressions, or security vulnerabilities
• Take charge of technical debugging, root-cause analysis, and incident resolution across storefront, middleware, and integration layers
• Make sure all deliverables meet security standards, data privacy regulations, and Shopify API rate-limit constraints
• Proactively manage technical debt and steer refactoring efforts to keep the codebase maintainable long-term
• Coach and develop mid-level and senior engineers in modern TypeScript, React/Remix patterns, Shopify extensibility frameworks, and strong AI-assisted engineering practices
• Partner with QA engineers, UI/UX designers, and delivery managers to support accurate estimation, smooth sprint execution, and predictable releases
• Serve as the main engineering 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, including 2+ years in a Lead or Senior role on Shopify Plus projects
• Strong hands-on skills in TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Remix, and Node.js, plus modern build tools (Vite) and styling frameworks (e.g., Tailwind CSS)
• Solid, hands-on experience with the Shopify GraphQL Admin API and Storefront API, including bulk operations, reliable webhook handling, and Shopify's data models (Metafields, Metaobjects)
• A track record of building Shopify Functions, Checkout UI Extensions, custom Shopify apps (using Shopify App Bridge / Polaris), and high-performance Online Store 2.0 architectures
• Real-world experience weaving AI coding assistants and agentic CLI/IDE tools into daily workflows, including context management, prompt engineering for code generation, AI-assisted testing, and reviewing AI-authored pull requests
• Strong grasp of Git workflows, automated testing frameworks (e.g., Vitest, Jest, Playwright), CI/CD automation, and application observability/logging
• Shown ability to lead engineering pods, run constructive code reviews, and clearly communicate technical progress and blockers to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• English proficiency at B2 Upper-Intermediate level

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 with 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