Founding Design Engineer

Job description

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 engineering hire. This is a unique opportunity to own the end-to-end user experience for a highly technical AI platform, defining the product's design language while building production-ready frontend applications. Working directly with the founding team, you'll help shape the future of an AI-native enterprise platform by combining exceptional product design with hands-on frontend engineering. What You'll Do Own product design and frontend implementation from concept to production. Design and build production-ready interfaces using React and TypeScript . Establish the company's design language, design system, and UX patterns. Collaborate closely with founders to build intuitive experiences for complex technical workflows. Design for enterprise B2B software, platform products, and AI-powered user experiences. What We're Looking For 1 -​ 5 years of experience in design,​ recent experience shipping frontend code in React/TypeScript Experience at a venture-​backed early-​stage startup or fast-​paced high-​growth company Has a self-​driven project with real users (portfolio,​ side project,​ or startup) Experience at an early-stage startup or other fast-paced environment. Experience designing technical products such as developer tools, enterprise SaaS, infrastructure, platform software, or AI products. Self-starter who thrives in an ownership-driven environment with minimal direction. Design/Arts/CS degree Skills Tech stack React, TypeScript, Figma, Tailwind CSS PLUS Next.js Figma Experience with design systems and component libraries. Familiarity with AI, agentic workflows, or Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) principles. Visa Sponsorship The company can support: H-1B transfers O-1 visas TN visas J-1 visas Please note that new H-1B sponsorship is not available. Why Join? Be the first Design Engineer and help define the product from the ground up. Own both design and implementation without traditional design handoffs. Work directly with an experienced founding team in a collaborative, high-impact environment. Receive competitive compensation and meaningful equity while helping build a category-defining AI product.