Founding Design Engineer

About this role

ABOUT THE ROLE

This is a founding-level, high-ownership position sitting at the intersection of design and engineering. You'll be the sole bar-raiser for frontend UX across a fast-moving, early-stage B2B SaaS company building an AI-powered pricing optimization platform. Your work will ensure that human-authored and agent-written UIs feel like one coherent, polished product — covering everything from the design system and component library to conversational surfaces on platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams.

You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the founders and a small, tight-knit engineering team, with enormous scope and direct influence over the product's quality and direction from day one.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

- Own the design system end-to-end: design tokens, a shadcn/ui-based component library, and Tailwind CSS conventions applied consistently across the product suite.

- Define and enforce frontend patterns using React Query, React Hook Form, and Zod — ensuring agent-written PRs land consistent and polished by default.

- Shape conversational agent interfaces for constrained platforms (Slack Block Kit, Microsoft Teams Adaptive Cards), bringing the same visual and interaction quality as the core product.

- Codify accessibility standards — implement WCAG contrast rules and guardrails directly into brand guidelines and the codebase.

- Maintain and improve frontend tooling and quality: Biome configuration, Playwright E2E test coverage, and frontend performance optimization.

- Translate design intent into code: reusable component abstractions, motion (e.g., Framer Motion, Radix transitions), and tactile micro-interactions.

- Partner cross-functionally with founders and engineers to keep the frontend a thin, polished layer over the API.

- Integrate AI coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor) and custom lint/agent rules into the frontend workflow.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

Must-haves (dealbreakers):

- 5+ years building product interfaces, with a portfolio of shipped features demonstrating high polish.

- Primary ownership of a production design system or component library (public repo, portfolio, or detailed walkthrough required).

- Deep expertise in React, strict TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and component primitives (shadcn/ui, Radix UI).

- Authorized to work in the US — visa sponsorship is not available.

Required skills & experience:

- Strong systems thinking: ability to translate visual decisions into tokens, component abstractions, and lint rules.

- Experience enforcing WCAG accessibility standards and integrating them into a living codebase.

- Hands-on experience with AI coding tools in production workflows (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor).

- Comfort acting as the sole frontend UX standard-setter across a company — you raise the bar, you own it.

Nice to have:

- Experience building non-standard AI interfaces: streaming responses, generative canvases, human-in-the-loop views.

- Experience designing and shipping conversational interfaces or chatbots for B2B end-users.

- Familiarity with Slack Block Kit, Microsoft Teams Adaptive Cards, or CLI design patterns for constrained UI spaces.

- Experience with animation and UI state transition tooling (Framer Motion, Radix) to enhance perceived speed and polish.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

- Salary: $180,000 – $220,000 USD annually

- Founding team equity commensurate with early-stage, high-ownership role

- Direct impact on product direction and technical culture from day one

LOCATION

This role is on-site in San Francisco, CA. The team works together in person; remote-only candidates are not a fit for this position.

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