Design Systems Lead

Purpose in Every PositionPebl puts a world of talent at your fingertips. With our AI-powered Global Work Platform, companies can hire, pay, and manage employees in 185+ countries—removing risk, red tape, and guesswork from global growth. Backed by more than a decade of compliance leadership and local expertise, Pebl helps businesses move fast, stay compliant, and scale with confidence. With Pebl, companies everywhere can hire great talent anywhere.Where Your Work Moves the Needle.At Pebl, every team member drives our success. Joining us means more than filling a role—you’re accountable for results and impact. Our values guide how we operate, execute, and collaborate across borders. By putting them into action, you’ll help us scale faster, compete harder, and lead the future of global work.What Makes You a Great FitDesign systems are infrastructure. They determine how fast teams move, how consistent the product feels, and how much trust users place in every interaction. We're looking for a designer who understands this deeply — someone who brings both systems-level thinking and exceptional craft to the work.In this role, you'll own and evolve our design system end-to-end: the component library, the token architecture, the documentation, and the workflows that connect design to production. You'll work in close partnership with engineering and product to ensure the system scales across web and mobile surfaces — and that it stays useful, adoptable, and ahead of the curve as our product and tooling landscape evolves.This is a high-ownership, high-visibility role. You'll shape the shared language that every product team works from, and influence how designers and engineers across the org build together.This role will require in-office collaboration Monday-Wednesday in our Palo Alto, CA office.How You'll Make an Impact:Own the architecture, strategy, and evolution of the design system — components, tokens, patterns, and documentation — across web and mobile surfacesDesign and ship production-ready components with a high bar for craft: well-defined states, variants, interaction models, responsiveness, and accessibility baked in from the startPartner closely with frontend engineering to ensure system decisions translate cleanly into code — with shared ownership of quality, parity, and maintainabilityCreate clear, opinionated documentation and usage guidance: best practices, anti-patterns, decision frameworks, and contribution standards that teams can act on immediatelyBuild and maintain governance models that balance system integrity with the speed product teams needConduct regular audits to identify inconsistencies, gaps, and opportunities to improve component coverage and design-to-code parityLead the evaluation and integration of AI-powered design tooling — including Figma AI, MCP integrations, StoryBook MCP and generative workflows — into how the system is built and consumedAnticipate shifts in the product, platform, and tooling landscape, and evolve the system proactively towards an agentic workflow.Let’s Connect If You Have:7+ years of product design experience, with at least 3 years owning or significantly contributing to a design system at a product companyAn outstanding portfolio demonstrating systems-level thinking, component craft, and real impact at scaleExtraordinary visual design taste — a rigorous, opinionated eye for typography, color, spacing, and interaction quality that raises the bar across every surfaceExpert-level Figma skills: component architecture, variables, tokens, auto-layout, and the discipline to keep a shared library production-alignedComfort working across the design-to-code workflow — you know your way around design tokens, Storybook, and GitHub, and can collaborate closely with engineers on implementationStrong understanding of front-end fundamentals (HTML, CSS, React or equivalent) and how design decisions translate into codeKnowledge of accessibility standards and a commitment to inclusive design baked into every component by defaultStrong written communication skills — you write documentation that is clear, opinionated, and easy to act onTrack record of leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing senior stakeholders on system strategy and investmentBonus PointsExperience integrating AI tools into design and development workflows — AI-assisted prototyping, automated component generation, design-to-code pipelinesBackground building or contributing to open-source design systemsFamiliarity with design-to-code automation tools and AI-driven product development workflowsExternal thought leadership through writing, speaking, or open-source contributions in the design systems spaceExperience in enterprise SaaS, fintech, or other complex, data-dense product environmentsWhy This Role MattersA strong design system isn't just a component library — it's a force multiplier. It's what lets teams move faster without sacrificing quality. It's what keeps a product feeling coherent as complexity grows. And in an era where AI tools are increasingly part of the design and development workflow, a well-structured system becomes the foundation everything else is built on. We are a fast paced company, and impact is made fast.Our Commitment to YouAt Pebl, we’re committed to supporting our team with comprehensive rewards and benefits designed to meet diverse needs across roles and locations. Our core offerings include:Flexible Time Off – Take the time you need to recharge.Parental Leave – Support for growing families.Health and Dental Insurance – Where applicable, to cover you and your loved ones.Retirement Savings + Employee Incentive Plan – Plan for the future while sharing our success.Please visit our career page for more information.Pebl is an Equal Opportunity Employer.We power global teams and believe diverse perspectives drive innovation and impact. Employment decisions at Pebl are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. We’re committed to fostering an inclusive culture where every teammate can thrive and do the best work of their career—anywhere in the world.Compensation Range: $190K - $240KLocation Palo Alto, CA Employment TypeFull timeLocation TypeHybridDepartmentProduct & DesignCompensation$190K – $240K • Offers EquityOur job titles may span more than one career level. The base pay depends upon many factors, such as training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified.