---
title: 'Senior Frontend Engineer at Smallpdf'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-frontend-engineer-smallpdf-zurich-xp8zkwvy0hj8'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Senior Frontend Engineer at Smallpdf

- **Company:** Smallpdf
- **Location:** Zurich, Switzerland
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-09-11
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/smallpdf/dbb2d75c-6e82-46f3-bcaf-bc8b417db535

## Job description

Who Are We Founded in 2013, Smallpdf has been simplifying PDF management for millions globally. We've combined Swiss engineering with a deep understanding of our user's needs, leading us to join forces with Pdftools in 2022. Today, our diverse team of over 100 professionals from 34 nationalities operates across Zurich, Belgrade, and Barcelona. We're committed to making PDF and life just a bit easier for over a billion users in 24 languages.

## About the role

As a Senior Frontend Engineer, and a product engineer at heart, you’ll help shape user experiences for millions of people, with real ownership from idea to production. You’ll be an active voice in product and design discussions, contributing not just how we build things, but what we build and why. We’re not looking for someone who just picks up tickets and writes code - we really want someone who is keen to learn and work in a cross functional environment. You’ll help turn ideas into quick MVPs, run A/B tests or other validation techniques, and use what you learn to guide future decisions. We value pragmatic trade-offs and fast feedback over perfection. Beyond your product team, you’ll contribute to our Frontend Guild, helping evolve shared standards and practices that keep our frontend codebase healthy, scalable and able to support our future product and experimentation endeavours. Previous experience working on SaaS products with a global audience is highly appreciated, but not a hard requirement.

## What you will do

- Play a major part in delivering complex product features, experiments, or systems, from discovery and planning all the way to rollout and analysis
- Build fast, reliable, and user-friendly interfaces using modern frontend technologies
- Create experiments and prototypes to quickly validate assumptions and guide product decisions
- Look at problems deeply, identify patterns, and propose solutions that are both scalable and maintainable
- Work closely with Product, Design, and Data to align on goals and deliver meaningful outcomes, even in ambiguous problem spaces
- Influence product direction through technical insight and user empathy
- Contribute to how we work as a team, including our engineering standards, rituals, and processes
- Support teammates, share knowledge, and help maintain a collaborative, open, and inclusive culture
- Communicate clearly and thoughtfully, explaining decisions, trade-offs, and risks in an approachable way

## About you

- Strong experience building modern web applications at scale
- Deep knowledge of React and TypeScript, combined with a pragmatic approach to architecture
- Able to bring clarity to ambiguous situations and move work forward with confidence
- Comfortable making decisions based on context and data
- You actively question whether we are solving the right problem, propose alternatives, and help the team course-correct early
- Passionate about product and motivated by solving real user problems
- Keen to work closely with Product, Design, and Data to help shape what we build
- Enjoys iterative work, simplifying scope, and learning through experimentation
- Strong communicator (in English) who thrives in cross-functional collaboration
- Humble, open and eager to help others succeed
- Energized by ownership and motivated to create real impact
- Based in Zurich or willing to relocate (this is an on-site role, 2-3 days in office min.)
- Swiss or EU passport holder (or another permit that allows you to work in Switzerland)

## Nice to have’s

- Some comfort and interest in working across the stack (Node.js or simple backend work in Go)
- Experience writing SQL queries and doing basic analysis, for example checking how a metric behaves across A/B segments to validate an experiment (not running a full experiment analysis with significance calculations etc.)
- Familiarity with common metrics relevant to SaaS companies, such as MAU, ARR, conversion rates, or churn

What success looks like in this role

- Regularly ships meaningful product increments and experiments with measurable impact
- Influences product direction through technical insight and user empathy
- Improves the frontend codebase beyond the scope of assigned work
- Is a trusted partner for Product and Design in ambiguous problem spaces

## How we work

- We value curiosity over defensiveness
- We expect engineers to seek feedback early and often
- We prefer simple, understandable solutions over clever ones
- We treat mistakes as learning opportunities, not blame assignments

We use the latest technologies

- React (with hooks)
- TypeScript (through Babel)
- Redux
- NodeJs
- styled-components
- Redshift
- Backend: Go, Python, AWS, Hetzner, Cloudflare

Check our stack via https://stackshare.io/smallpdf/frontend

Our benefits 🌍 You get to impact how over 30 million people get work done monthly. 🚀 Push boundaries and dare to fail - that’s how we learn! 🏝️ 30 vacation days - yep, you read that right - you can take them whenever you need them. 🕘 Flexibility: we have flexible working hours. 🧳 Need a long break? We offer sabbatical leave to employees who’ve been with us for over two years. 👶 16 weeks parental leave - 100% of your salary - for all new parents. 🐶 Don’t leave your four-legged friends at home; our Zurich office is pet-friendly. 📚 A well-being budget of up to 2,000 CHF every year that can be used for training and development (plus days off for courses or training) and for physical and mental well-being purposes. 👩‍💻 Hack days to challenge you and your team, plus build amazing things.

How to Apply Please apply using the form below and upload your CV - in English, as it’s the standard working language at Smallpdf. A PDF format is preferred.

## Compensation philosophy

At Smallpdf, we believe compensation should be fair, transparent, and thoughtfully aligned with the value each person brings to our team. Our approach balances several key factors - current market trends, role expectations, seniority, experience, and geographic location - to ensure every offer is both competitive and equitable. We review our salary ranges regularly to stay in step with the evolving market, and we make decisions based on skills, impact, and responsibility rather than negotiation strength. Our goal is simple: to recognize and reward great work, support long-term growth, and create a compensation structure that feels fair, consistent, and grounded in integrity. We want everyone at Pdftools to feel valued, supported, and empowered to do their best work - and our compensation philosophy is designed to reflect exactly that.

Hiring policy Smallpdf is an equal-opportunity employer, and we believe our strength comes from a team that reflects a wide range of backgrounds, identities, perspectives, and lived experiences. We welcome applicants of all genders, ethnicities, ages, abilities, orientations, and life paths. You’ll also have the option to share your pronouns and answer an anonymous demographic questionnaire when you apply. This information is completely voluntary, but it helps us stay accountable in building an inclusive and equitable hiring process. We use AI thoughtfully in our day-to-day work, but we value human curiosity, creativity, and integrity above all. We’re excited to meet candidates who bring genuine expertise, real stories, and authentic experience to the table. By submitting your application, you agree to Smallpdf handling and storing your data in accordance with our privacy guidelines.

## About Smallpdf

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Smallpdf makes PDF easy by offering a suite of online tools to compress, convert, edit, sign, and manage PDF documents for individuals and teams.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A funded; acquired Pdftools in 2022)
- **Headquarters**: Zurich, Switzerland
- **Founded**: 2013
- **Founders**: Manuel Stofer, Mathis Büchi, Lino Teuteberg

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Software Development – Document Management / Productivity Tools
- Target customers: B2C and B2B (individuals, freelancers, SMBs, enterprises)
- Mission: To make PDF software simple, secure, and accessible to everyone – “the first and only PDF software you’ll love.”

## Products & Services
- **[Smallpdf Web Platform](https://smallpdf.com/)**: Over 20 PDF tools (compress, convert, merge, split, e-sign, edit, protect, unlock) available in 24 languages. Freemium model with Pro and Business subscriptions.
- **[Smallpdf Desktop App](https://smallpdf.com/)**: Offline access, batch processing for Pro subscribers.
- **[Smallpdf Mobile App](https://smallpdf.com/)**: PDF scanning, viewing, annotation, and management on iOS and Android.
- **[Integrations](https://smallpdf.com/)**: Chrome Extension, Google Workspace, Dropbox – all free to use.
- **Smallpdf Pro** and **Smallpdf for Business**: Paid plans with unlimited access, priority support, and team features.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company; raised $5M Series A in 2013, acquired Pdftools for $30M in 2022)
- **Key Metric**: 60+ million monthly users (source: [Smallpdf Careers](https://smallpdf.com/careers)) and over 1 billion total users served (source: [About Smallpdf](https://smallpdf.com/about))
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: CapitalOven (lead investor in Series A); partners include Dropbox, Google Workspace
- **Growth Signals**: Most visited website in Switzerland; consistently in the top 200–300 most visited websites globally; 100+ million monthly tasks processed; headcount of 110+ employees across 3 office hubs (Zurich, Barcelona, Belgrade).

## Competitive Advantages
- Simplicity and user experience: Removes complexity of traditional PDF software.
- Security: ISO/IEC 27001 certified, GDPR/CCPA/nFADP compliant, 256-bit TLS encryption.
- Global reach: Available in 24 languages, used in 195 countries.
- High trust ratings: 4.7/5 from over 300 product reviews on independent platforms (Capterra, G2, Trustpilot).

## Strategic Focus
- Continuing to expand AI-powered features (e.g., “Head of SEO and AI Visibility” job posting).
- Deepening enterprise and team offerings (Smallpdf for Business).
- Growing integrations with popular productivity platforms.
- Maintaining top-tier performance and global infrastructure.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “You is WE” – emphasis on ownership, curiosity, data-driven decision making, and team success.
- **Flexible Work**: Flexible working hours, choice of platform (Mac, Windows, Linux), and hybrid/remote-friendly culture across three locations (Zurich, Barcelona, Belgrade).
- **Perks**: 30 vacation days, full-salary parental leave, personal development budget and dedicated time, weekly team lunches, unlimited coffee, and stocked fridge.
- **Diversity**: 30+ nationalities among a team of 110+ employees.
- **Open Positions**: Currently hiring for Head of SEO and AI Visibility and Technical Business Development Manager (source: [LinkedIn](https://ch.linkedin.com/company/smallpdf) and [jobs page](https://smallpdf.com/jobs)).
- **Employee Rating**: 3.4/5 on LinkedIn (58 reviews) – with strengths in work-life balance (3.4) and compensation (3.5).

## Sources
1. [About Smallpdf](https://smallpdf.com/about)
2. [Smallpdf Careers](https://smallpdf.com/careers)
3. [Smallpdf LinkedIn](https://ch.linkedin.com/company/smallpdf)
4. [Smallpdf Homepage](https://smallpdf.com/)
5. [Smallpdf Jobs](https://smallpdf.com/jobs)

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