Founding Design Engineer

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.