About Mainboard

Mainboard, the platform powering top model and talent agencies in 28 countries for over 28 years. Our platform powers agencies around the world, and our Client Delivery team builds bespoke websites and digital products for those agencies and their talent.

The Role

We are looking for a skilled and motivated Web Developer to join our Client Delivery team. You will be responsible for building, maintaining, and continuously improving client-facing websites for talent and model agencies on the Portfoliopad platform. You will work closely with the product, design, and support teams to deliver polished, performant, and accessible web experiences.

This role sits at the intersection of modern frontend engineering and AI-assisted development. You will be expected not only to write clean, production-ready code, but also to leverage AI tooling effectively, knowing how to direct, prompt, and validate AI-generated output to accelerate delivery without sacrificing quality.

Core Responsibilities

• Design and build responsive client websites using React and Next.js (App Router and Pages Router)

• Write fully typed code in TypeScript, adhering to team conventions and code quality standards

• Integrate with GraphQL APIs to fetch, mutate, and cache data efficiently across client sites

• Style interfaces using MUI (Material UI) and TailwindCSS, delivering pixel-accurate, accessible UIs

• Deploy and manage client sites on Netlify, including environment configuration, deploy previews, and CI/CD pipelines

• Collaborate with the backend and platform team to consume Portfoliopad APIs and data

• Use AI coding assistants effectively, steering prompts, reviewing output critically, and integrating AI-generated code responsibly

• Participate in sprint planning, code reviews, and daily standups using Jira and Bitbucket

• Maintain documentation for client site architectures, deployment processes, and component libraries

• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks, accessibility issues, and cross-browser compatibility problems

Required Skills & Experience

TypeScript

• Strong, idiomatic TypeScript across React components, hooks, and utility modules

• Comfort with generics, discriminated unions, type guards, and strict mode

React

• Deep understanding of component architecture, hooks, context, and state management patterns

• Experience with performance optimization (memorization, lazy loading, code splitting)

Next.js

• Hands-on experience with both the App Router (server components, layouts, streaming) and Pages Router

• Understanding of SSR, SSG, ISR, and when to apply each strategy

• Familiarity with Next.js middleware, API routes, and image optimization

Netlify

• Experience deploying Next.js applications to Netlify

• Familiarity with Netlify environment variables, deploy previews, branch deploys, and build hooks

GraphQL

• Ability to write queries, mutations, and fragments; experience with Apollo Client or similar

• Understanding of caching strategies, optimistic updates, and error handling in GraphQL clients

MUI & TailwindCSS

• Proficiency with MUI component customization using themes and the sx prop

• Strong command of Tailwind utility classes, responsive breakpoints, and configuration

AI Tooling & Prompting

• Practical experience using AI coding assistants as a development accelerator

• Ability to craft clear, scoped prompts that produce reliable, relevant output

• Critical eye for reviewing AI-generated code, catching hallucinations, subtle bugs, and security issues

• Understanding of where AI assistance adds value and where human judgement must lead

Nice to Have

AWS

• Working knowledge of core AWS services: S3, CloudFront, Lambda, API Gateway

• Experience reading or writing basic CloudFormation or CDK configurations

Atlassian Suite

• Comfortable managing and updating Jira tickets throughout the sprint lifecycle (backlog, in-progress, review, done)

• Experience with Bitbucket for source control, pull requests, and branch-based workflows (GitFlow or trunk-based)

• Familiarity with Confluence for documentation and team knowledge management

What We Offer

• A technically interesting product used by real agencies around the world

• A small, focused team where your work has visible impact

• Hybrid working arrangements from our office in Gardens, Cape Town

• A culture that embraces AI tooling and encourages continuous learning

• Competitive remuneration commensurate with experience