Senior Full-Stack Developer for Enterprise VFX & Animation Pipeline Platform

About Us: We are Levitate Media, an award-winning Animation and Visual Effects studio specializing in high-end feature films, AAA game cinematics, and immersive media. As our global operations and remote artist count continue to grow, our current patchwork of production tracking tools and local servers is no longer scalable. We are building a custom, cloud-native Enterprise Studio Platform to serve as the central nervous system of our pipeline - from asset management and render farm queuing to artist collaboration and production tracking. The Project: We are looking for a highly experienced Full-Stack Developer to lead the architecture and development of this custom Enterprise Platform. You will be building a highly scalable, secure, and responsive web application that integrates with our existing 3D software (Maya, Houdini, Nuke) and backend render infrastructure. Key Responsibilities: - Architecture & Design: Architect a scalable, microservices-based backend capable of handling thousands of concurrent requests (asset uploads, render queue updates, database queries). - Backend Development: Build robust RESTful and GraphQL APIs to connect the frontend dashboard with our database, storage solutions, and render farm manager (Deadline/Tractor). - Frontend Development: Create a highly responsive, intuitive, and visually polished single-page application (SPA) dashboard for producers, supervisors, and artists to track shots, review assets, and manage tasks. - Database Engineering: Design efficient database schemas for complex hierarchical data (e.g., Shows to Sequences to Shots to Assets to Versions) using PostgreSQL or similar. - Integration: Develop secure middleware to allow communication between the web platform and internal Python-based pipeline tools. - Security & RBAC: Implement strict Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to ensure artists, vendors, and clients only see authorized data. - DevOps: Containerize the application using Docker and set up CI/CD pipelines for seamless updates. Required Qualifications: - 5+ years of experience in full-stack enterprise-level software development. - Frontend: Deep expertise in React (or Vue.js), TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and state management (Redux/Zustand). - Backend: Proficiency in Node.js/Express, Python (FastAPI or Django), or Go. - Database: Strong experience designing relational databases (PostgreSQL) and working with caching layers (Redis). - Cloud & DevOps: Experience with AWS or GCP, Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD tools (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI). - API Design: Proven experience designing scalable GraphQL and REST APIs. - Communication: Ability to translate complex technical concepts to non-technical production staff. Fluent English is required. Bonus Qualifications (Highly Preferred): - Prior experience working in the Animation, VFX, or Video Game industries. - Familiarity with pipeline tools like ShotGrid, FTrack, or Kitsu. - Experience integrating with render farm software (AWS Thinkbox Deadline). - Knowledge of USD (Universal Scene Description) or OpenColorIO. Project Scope & Engagement: - Type: Long-term contract (9 to 12+ months), with potential for ongoing maintenance. - Commitment: 30–40 hours per week. - Timezone: Must have at least 4 hours of overlap with PST (Pacific Standard Time) for daily stand-ups.