**Full Stack Engineer
**WhiteWater Express Car Wash — Houston, TX | Full-Time | On-Site
Location: 106 Vintage Park Blvd. Houston, TX 77070
Reports to: Senior Director of Data Engineering
Salary: $100,000 – $130,000, commensurate with experience

Position Overview

We are seeking an innovative and detail-oriented Full Stack Engineer to lead the design, development, and deployment of internal web applications, reporting tools, and middleware services. Reporting to the Senior Director of Data Engineering, you'll own our internal portal, middleware, and reporting platform—building the tools that turn car wash operations and CRM data into intuitive, actionable applications that drive day-to-day and strategic decisions across the company.

This is a full-stack Node.js role with meaningful ownership of the front-end data stack, middleware, and APIs. You'll work alongside our Data Engineer, who partners with you on the cloud infrastructure—you bring strong application and integration skills, and the two of you cover the AWS environment together. A key component of this role is leveraging AI tools—such as Claude.ai and other generative AI platforms—to accelerate development and deliver production-ready solutions.

What You'll Build

Our POS middleware, internal portal and new reporting features power operational and business decision-making across a fast-growing, multi-site car wash company. You'll design intuitive interfaces, maintain the middleware and APIs that connect our internal systems and CRM data, and partner with the Data Engineering team to deliver a reliable, well-structured front-end data stack.

Key Responsibilities

Design, build, and maintain a scalable internal portal (Next.js) and new reporting features using Node.js and Fastify.
Build type-safe APIs and middleware using Fastify with Zod for schema validation.
Develop responsive, data-rich front-end interfaces using React and Next.js.
Use AI tools (e.g., Claude.ai, MCP) to accelerate development of web applications, middleware, and back-end features.
Critically review, test, and validate all AI-generated code and output to ensure it is secure, performant, and production-ready—treating AI as an accelerator, not a substitute for engineering judgment.
Apply strong UI/UX practices to create intuitive, clear, and actionable interfaces.
Develop and maintain middleware and APIs, integrating internal systems and CRM data sources.
Build and operate cloud-based application services on AWS, including containerized deployments on Fargate, partnering with the Data Engineer on infrastructure as needed.
Handle CRM and operational data responsibly, following least-privilege and secure-by-default practices (e.g., Secrets Manager for credentials, scoped access to data).
Collaborate closely with the Data Engineer to define and own the front-end data stack.
Collaborate with business leaders and the Data Engineering team to gather requirements and deliver solutions.
Document applications and provide training and support to business users.
Use Python as needed for scripting, data processing, or integration tasks alongside the Data Engineering team.
Maintain and extend existing PHP-based systems and integrations as needed.

Required Qualifications

5+ years of full-stack software development experience.
Advanced Node.js skills, including building and maintaining production web applications and APIs.
Strong skills in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for web application and data-input interfaces.
Strong SQL and data modeling knowledge (PostgreSQL; facts, dimensions, star schema).
Working knowledge of AWS application services and a willingness to grow into our environment (you won't need to own every service).
Experience using AI tools in a development workflow, including the ability to validate, test, and refine AI-generated code rather than accepting output at face value.
Experience with Git/GitHub version control.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Proof of U.S. citizenship is required; this position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with any of the following is a plus, but not required—you'll work with our Data Engineer across the broader environment:

Hands-on AWS experience across some of: ECS/Fargate, ECR, Lambda, Application Auto Scaling; RDS (PostgreSQL), S3; SNS, SQS, EventBridge; Elastic Load Balancing, API Gateway, CloudFront; EC2 networking (VPC, subnets, security groups, route tables, gateways); Secrets Manager; CloudWatch.
Experience deploying and managing infrastructure with CloudFormation.
AWS certifications are a plus such as AWS Certified Developer – Associate or AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate.
Experience with CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation.
Experience designing middleware and event-driven architectures.
Working knowledge of Python and/or PHP is a plus.

Benefits

Comprehensive Health Benefits (Medical, Dental & Vision)
Paid Time Off in addition to Company Paid Holidays
401(k) Retirement Plan with Company Match
Company-Paid Life Insurance
Free Weekly Car Washes