Back to jobs
New

Principal Engineer

Remote

 

WHO WE ARE

We’re Hook—an award-winning creative content agency. With a collaborative, maker-centric team, and an emphasis on production-led design, we make ads, campaigns, and experiences that drive growth for the world’s most innovative brands.

Our mission is to integrate creative and production to help grow brands faster. But we believe what’s most important are the people who work with us and the experience they have along the way. We want clients to think of us as the best agency they’ve ever worked with, and we want everyone at Hook to feel like this is the best job they’ve had yet.

WHAT’S A PRINCIPAL ENGINEER AT HOOK?

You're happiest when someone on the creative team says "I don't know how we did this before." You build the tools that make that possible.

As one of Hook's principal pipeline engineers, you own the internal systems and tools that make our creative and production teams faster, smarter, and more capable, everything from web applications and workflow automation to plugins for the Adobe Creative Suite (UXP/CEP/Extendscript) and Figma. You hold yourself to a high bar across the entire development lifecycle: problem discovery, architecture, implementation, testing, deployment, and the long-term health of what you ship. You care about the craft of software as much as the outcome.

You're self-directed and comfortable owning complex products from the first idea through continued development, without needing a roadmap handed to you. You work at the intersection of engineering and creative practice, and you understand that a great tool in the right hands can change what's possible. When a client project needs a strong technical lead, you're ready to step in with that same ownership mindset.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

  • Design, build, and maintain internal pipeline tools and systems that help Hook's creative, production, and operations teams work more efficiently including web applications, workflow automation, and API integrations
  • Work closely and empathetically with Motion Designers, Art Directors, and Producers to deeply understand their workflows, gather requirements, and translate their creative challenges into technical solutions.
  • Develop plugins and extensions for Adobe Creative Suite applications (After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator) and Figma, primarily in TypeScript
  • Own product areas end-to-end: problem discovery, UX consideration, technical design, implementation, testing, deployment, and ongoing improvement
  • Identify workflow bottlenecks across departments and propose and execute technical solutions
  • Recommend and evaluate new tools, frameworks, and approaches, especially in areas where Hook has evolving or emerging needs
  • Serve as technical lead on select client projects (typically websites or small web applications), and occasionally manage freelance developers contributing to those engagements
  • Codify your knowledge through documentation, best practices, and internal guides that help the broader team level up
  • Participate in technical strategy as a craft leader, pushing Hook's capabilities forward

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

  • Deep expertise in TypeScript and the Node.js ecosystem, this is your primary language and environment
  • A demonstrated love of the whole development cycle: from proposal and planning through implementation, testing, optimization, and deployment
  • Proven experience building and shipping production-grade applications end-to-end, with a strong sense of ownership and accountability throughout
  • Experience developing plugins, extensions, or integrations for creative software — Adobe apps (After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator), Figma, or similar tools
  • Proficiency with Python, bash, and associated scripting and automation tools
  • Experience developing, deploying and operating applications on Google Cloud Platform, AWS, Vercel, or equivalent cloud environments. Use of Docker containers for development is a plus, deploying them to production even more so.
  • Working knowledge of relational databases or document-based databases
  • Must have deep proficiency in the React ecosystem, including component architecture, state management, hooks, and optimization, to build robust, highly interactive, multiuser web applications.
  • Comfortable with both frontend and backend engineering disciplines when developing applications. 
  • A strong foundation in software engineering principles — you write secure, reliable, maintainable code and hold yourself to a high standard of craft
  • The ability to work independently and make confident, well-reasoned architectural decisions without a lot of hand-holding
  • Strong communication and collaboration skills — you must be adept at translating complex technical information, such as system architecture and design, to a developer, while also clearly and concisely explaining the same concepts to non-technical stakeholders, including creatives or producers. Furthermore, you should approach problem-solving with a collaborative, "customer mindset" when working with the internal team, ensuring that you are responsive to their needs and focused on achieving shared goals.
  • An informed curiosity about AI and what it makes newly possible — not just as a coding aid, but as a creative and technical force you're actively exploring. You're excited about integrating AI capabilities into the products and pipelines you build. You stay curious about where the technology is heading and bring ideas to the table about how Hook can take advantage of it.
  • You integrate AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot) into your workflow seamlessly. However, your high standard of architectural craft remains central: you maintain deep system understanding, produce robust, scalable, and well-designed systems, and leverage these tools as powerful extensions of your abilities, not replacements for essential expertise. You are the ultimate arbiter of system design and architecture, viewing the AI as a powerful collaborator under your expert direction.
  • An intuitive understanding of how to work in a fast-paced, creatively-driven environment where production timelines are real and the work is always visible

 

WHAT ELSE

Qualified applicants will include a resume and a statement of interest that lets us learn a little more about you.

We are a remote first organization with a “work from wherever (within the US)” approach. We're a collaborative group of people who love the internet and want to create phenomenal work. Company benefits include health, dental, matching 401k, paid vacation and holidays, and more. 

At Hook we value what makes everyone different, we look for the best talent no matter the background. We know that great work requires diverse perspectives which is why we strive to create a place of belonging where everyone can express who they are. Come join us!

Hook believes in compensation transparency and equity. We’ve designed a 10-level advancement framework that’s applied consistently across disciplines and departments and aligns to location-based salary ranges. This role is leveled as a L6 or L7 depending on experience. During the interview process we’ll review your location, skills, experience, and other relevant factors to determine where you fall within our leveling framework and corresponding salary ranges. Please follow this link to learn more.

Please review our Transparent Compensation Philosophy. We are not currently considering candidates in the Tier 4 market band for this role at this time.

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Hook? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...

Please explain in no more than 2-5 sentences.

Select...

Please explain in no more than 2-5 sentences.

Select...
Select...

U.S. Standard Demographic Questions

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Hook’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.