Founding Design Engineer

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