Founding Design Engineer
$180k - $220kClera
Job Description
Job Description
About the Role
This is a founding-level design engineering role at a seed-stage AI pricing platform, sitting at the intersection of design systems and frontend engineering. The team ships UI fast using a small crew and AI coding agents, and this role exists to own the coherence layer: the design tokens, component library, and interface patterns that make everything feel like one product regardless of who or what wrote it.
What You'll DoOwn and evolve the design system, including design tokens, a shadcn/ui-based component library, and Tailwind conventions applied consistently across the product suite.
Define and enforce frontend patterns using React Query, React Hook Form, and Zod so that agent-written pull requests land consistently by default.
Enforce WCAG accessibility standards and integrate brand guidelines directly into the codebase.
Audit and maintain frontend tooling and quality, including Biome configuration, Playwright end-to-end coverage, and frontend performance.
Translate design intent into component abstractions and lint rules to preserve UI coherence at scale.
Act as the sole bar-raiser for frontend UX quality across the company.
Integrate AI coding tools into frontend workflows and ensure they produce output consistent with established standards.
5 or more years building polished, production-grade product interfaces, with a portfolio of shipped features demonstrating high craft.
Demonstrated ownership of a design system or component library in production, verifiable via a public repo, portfolio, or detailed walkthrough.
Deep expertise in React, strict TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and component primitives such as shadcn/ui and Radix UI.
Hands-on experience with AI coding tools in production workflows (for example, Claude Code or Cursor).
Comfort operating as a hands-on Design/UX Engineer rather than a product designer.
Nice to have: experience building non-standard AI interfaces such as streaming responses or generative views, shipping conversational or chatbot interfaces for B2B users, familiarity with constrained UI environments, or experience with animation libraries like Framer Motion.
Must be authorized to work in the US; visa sponsorship is not available.
Salary range: $180,000 to $220,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is not available.
LocationOn-site, five days per week in San Francisco, California, USA. Candidates must be based in San Francisco or willing and able to relocate.
$125k - $225k
...slide deck, merchandise, or factory) should communicate the quality and ambition of our company behind it. As Orchard’s Founding Design Engineer, you will establish the design function and own design across product, brand, marketing, software engineering, hardware,...SuggestedWeekend workOrchard Robotics
San Francisco, CA22 days ago$180k - $220k
...Job Description Job Description 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-...SuggestedRemote workClera
San Francisco, CA16 days ago- ...of. We care obsessively about taste: in design, in product, in every detail. We're... ...founders of billion dollar companies. Design Engineering Video is the most powerful way humans... ...touch. It's the product. We're hiring a Founding Design Engineer who lives at that intersection...Suggested
$150k - $250k
Founding Design Engineer Location: San Francisco, CA (On-site, 5 days/week) Compensation: $150,000-$250,000 Base + Equity (0.4-0.8%) About the Opportunity An early-stage, venture-backed AI startup is seeking a Founding Design Engineer to become its first design-focused...SuggestedH1b- ...voice AI behaves in live customer conversations, and measure the impact on real business outcomes. The role We're hiring a founding design engineer to own the experience of BotBot and the system we run the company on. Our products need interfaces for work that...SuggestedRemote work
$180 per hour
...built on deep pricing experience from our founding team who have run over 150 pricing... ...assembled our team of 8 (pricing experts and engineers) to deliver that capability. Our main... ...Coherence is, and this role owns it: the design tokens, the component library, the frontend...Work experience placementWork at officeImmediate startVisa sponsorshipFlexible hours$100k - $150k
.... Work that used to take teams of lawyers weeks now happens in minutes. YC S24, founded by a former M&A attorney from Kirkland & Ellis and Gunderson Dettmer. We're hiring a design engineer to own how the product looks, feels, and works. You'll design features in Figma,...- ...opportunity. If you’re hungry to take ownership and build systems that matter, this is it. About The Role We’re hiring a Design Engineer to join our founding team in building the future of healthcare compliance AI. You’ll work directly with the founders, owning entire...Night shift
$190k - $210k
...well-funded, early-stage fintech startup is looking for a Founding Product Engineer to join a small, senior team building a new kind of collaborative... ...with a 40,000+ person waitlist. What You'll Do Design, develop, and deliver features, fixes, and improvements...Remote workClera
San Francisco, CA16 days ago$160k - $200k
...quickly toward its next stage of growth. Founded 2024 · ~12 people · Industry: B2B SaaS, AI, Fintech The Role As a Founding Engineer, you would join a small, product-minded... ...Owning product features end-to-end, from design through implementation Contributing to...Full timeH1bVisa sponsorshipDavid Joseph & Company
San Francisco, CA7 days ago$120k - $180k
...Description Job Description About the Role This is a founding-team product engineering role at a seed-stage construction AI startup, sitting on... ...production delivery. Strong product taste and user-focused design sensibility. Experience or clear aptitude for 0-to-1...Full timeLocal areaRelocationClera
San Francisco, CA2 days ago$200k - $250k
...discount governance, and CPQ workflows. We're looking for a Founding Product Engineer to own entire product modules end-to-end, work directly... ...Financial logic correctness, AI-native tooling, and clean API design are first-class priorities here. What You'll Do Own...Remote workVisa sponsorshipClera
San Francisco, CA16 days ago$140k - $180k
...Job Description Job Description About the Role This is a founding engineering role at a seed-stage legaltech startup building AI-native contract review and negotiation software. You will work directly alongside attorneys and AI engineers to shape the core product...Full timeContract workClera
San Francisco, CA3 days ago$200k - $250k
...Description Job Description About the Role This is a founding-level product engineering role at an early-stage B2B SaaS startup building an AI-... ...core to what gets built here. What You'll Do Scope, design, build, and iterate on entire product modules in close collaboration...RelocationClera
San Francisco, CA3 days ago- ...is poised for nationwide scale, to hire an entrepreneurial Founding Product Engineer in San Francisco. As the third engineering hire, you... ...business contexts, and build solutions independently. Shape Design & APIs: Partner with backend engineers on API contracts...
Success Matcher Recruitment
San Francisco, CA16 days ago $150k - $200k
...to support and grow America's industrial GDP. We are hiring a founding product engineer to lead core 0-to-1 builds . The successful candidate will own the full-stack product lifecycle : scoping, designing, shipping, and iterating in the field. This role requires travel...Work at officeRemote workThe Misch Group
San Francisco, CA18 days ago- Founding Product Engineer — Smart Bricks (USA Launch) Location: San Francisco, CA Type: Full-time Team: Founding Team (USA) Smart Bricks is building the world’s AI-native real estate investment infrastructure. Think of us as Bloomberg + Robinhood for global real estate...Full time
$180k - $220k
...Responsibilities Own and evolve the design system, including design tokens, the shadcn/ui component library, and Tailwind conventions... ...or Cursor. Experience operating as a hands-on Design/UX Engineer rather than a product designer. Nice-to-have experience with...Full timeRelocationClera
San Francisco, CA2 days ago- ...University of Technology at 15. Joined Taobao at 17. At Alibaba, architected the core recommendation engine serving 500M daily users. What You'll Do: This is the first design role at Sirius. That means you'll set the visual and interaction language for everything we build...Full timeFlexible hours
- ...more about our vision in our manifesto. About the Role As a Product Designer at HappyRobot, you will own the end-to-end design process for major product surfaces, working closely with PMs, engineers, AI researchers, and leadership. You’ll take ideas from early concept...Worldwide
- ...RTL Design Engineer Job Location: San Francisco, CA Job Type: Full-Time / Contract Work Experience: Minimum 6+ years' experience... ...RTL implementation, Linting, CDC, Synthesis/STA About Us: Founded in 2007, InterSources Inc is a Small Business Enterprise (SBE...Full timeContract workWork experience placement
InterSources
San Francisco, CA4 days ago $125k - $300k
...You can see some of our work here: About the role As a Design Engineer at idler, you'll own the visual design and user experience... ...This is an in-person role in San Francisco. We're a tight-knit founding team and we play to win. Join us if you like to win too....Work at officeRelocation packageIdler
San Francisco, CA16 days ago- ...we will be the infrastructure layer healthcare runs on. We've found product-market fit (multi-million dollar ARR, 100+ customers including... ...and we've never said no to a time off request. The Role As a Design Engineer at Metriport, you'll spend your time understanding customer...Work at officeWork from homeFlexible hours
- ...problems, youll be challenged like nowhere else. Were looking for a Design Engineer who is excited to own and elevate the user-facing experience... ...a work setup budget, are available with more details to be found on our careers page. About Us Infisical is the open source...Work at officeRemote work
- About the role We're looking for a design engineer who lives at the intersection of design and code. You'll work directly with the founding team to prototype, build, and polish the experiences that make Cursor magical. This role is perfect for someone who thinks like a...
$150k - $240k
...recruitment firm partnering with a fast-growing, design-forward AI startup transforming how... ...discussed across an organization. Founded by experienced operators from companies... ...Francisco) Experience: 2‑5 years in Design Engineering / Product Design + Frontend Platform:...- ...to interact with their doctor's office. Founded by Steijn Pelle (helped Robinhood and Coinbase... ...in annual revenue) and Frédéric Renken (engineer turned first product hire at Superhuman),... ...s office. About the role We're hiring a design-minded engineer to build the control...Work at office
- The role We're looking for a design engineer who lives at the intersection of design and code. You'll craft the product experience that makes... ...publicly across GTM efforts. You'll work directly with the founding team to prototype, build, and polish the surfaces that sit on...Work at officeVisa sponsorshipRelocation package
$200k - $250k
...enterprise customers. The company is growing rapidly and is building its second major product. The role We are hiring a Founding AI Product Engineer to work directly with the founders on that next product. This is a high-ownership role for someone who can ship quickly,...Full timeRelocationVisa sponsorshipRaydar
San Francisco, CA3 days ago$200k - $250k
...infrastructure powering how the world's best engineering teams use AI. Their open-source AI... ...enterprises. The Opportunity This is a founding-level seat. You'll work directly with... ...the stack; includes product and system design component Onsite (4 hours): engineering...H1bImmediate startRelocationVisa sponsorshipDay shiftLavendo
San Francisco, CA4 days ago
Do you want to receive more vacancies?
Subscribe and receive similar vacancies to Founding Design Engineer. Be the first to apply!
- cad design engineer solidworks San Francisco, CA
- product engineering manager San Francisco, CA
- staff design engineer San Francisco, CA
- sr. product engineer San Francisco, CA
- design engineer San Francisco, CA
- director of product engineering San Francisco, CA
- design assurance engineer San Francisco, CA
- product design engineer San Francisco, CA
- senior software design engineer San Francisco, CA
- digital design engineer San Francisco, CA