Founding Design Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Client-backed startup building the next generation of productivity tools — what Claude Code did for engineers, we're doing for every knowledge worker. We have paying users and are looking for a world-class Design Engineer to own our product experience from day one.

THE ROLE

As our Founding Design Engineer, you will:

• Own product design and frontend development end-to-end

• Ship production-level React code alongside design work in Figma

• Shape the UX of human-agent collaboration in AI

• Work directly with the founding team

• Drive decisions on product direction and company culture

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

Experience:

• 2–6 years of relevant experience (no recent grads)

• Designer who can code OR frontend engineer with strong design sense

• Proven ability to ship production-level React + Figma work

• Background in design school or computer science preferred

Mindset:

• Product-minded and pragmatic

• Strong bias to shipping over perfection

• Experience building 0-to-1 products

• Hands-on builder mentality

Ideal Background:

• Former design or frontend leads at high-quality product or productivity startups

• Bonus: Experience with AI/LLM products

NOT A FIT

• Designers or engineers without production-level coding experience alongside design

• Pure enterprise/B2B backgrounds (sales-led, non-product driven)

• Senior leadership or IC roles without hands-on building

• Recent graduates

• Candidates without 0-to-1 product experience

WHY THIS ROLE

• You'll be the sole design function — full ownership from day one

• Huge UX challenge: designing human + agent collaboration in AI

• Founding team with deep expertise

• Real product with real users and proven traction

COMPENSATION & DETAILS

Salary: $200,000–$250,000

Equity: 1–2%

Location: San Francisco, CA (4 days in-office)

Visa Sponsorship: Not available