Founding Design Engineer

Clera

$180K — $220K *
Enterprise Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years of experience in building product interfaces with a portfolio of polished features.
  • Primary ownership of a production design system or component library is required.
  • Expertise in React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and component libraries like shadcn/ui, Radix UI.
  • Authorized to work in the US, with no visa sponsorship available.
  • Strong systems thinking to translate visual decisions into actionable coding outcomes.

Responsibilities

  • Own the design system from design tokens to component libraries, ensuring consistency.
  • Define and enforce frontend design patterns ensuring polished code from agent PRs.
  • Shape conversational agent interfaces that match the product's visual quality.
  • Implement accessibility standards directly into brand guidelines and codebase.
  • Maintain frontend tooling and quality through performance optimization and E2E testing.
  • Translate design intent into reusable components and effective interactions.
  • Collaborate with founders and engineers to keep the frontend streamlined and efficient.
  • Integrate AI coding tools into the frontend development workflow.

Benefits

  • Founding team equity reflective of an early-stage, high-ownership role.
  • Direct impact on product direction and technical culture from the very beginning.
Full 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-powered pricing optimization platform. Your work will ensure that human-authored and agent-written UIs feel like one coherent, polished product - covering everything from the design system and component library to conversational surfaces on platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams.

You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the founders and a small, tight-knit engineering team, with enormous scope and direct influence over the product's quality and direction from day one.
What You'll Do
  • Own the design system end-to-end: design tokens, a shadcn/ui-based component library, and Tailwind CSS conventions applied consistently across the product suite.
  • Define and enforce frontend patterns using React Query, React Hook Form, and Zod - ensuring agent-written PRs land consistent and polished by default.
  • Shape conversational agent interfaces for constrained platforms (Slack Block Kit, Microsoft Teams Adaptive Cards), bringing the same visual and interaction quality as the core product.
  • Codify accessibility standards - implement WCAG contrast rules and guardrails directly into brand guidelines and the codebase.
  • Maintain and improve frontend tooling and quality: Biome configuration, Playwright E2E test coverage, and frontend performance optimization.
  • Translate design intent into code: reusable component abstractions, motion (e.g., Framer Motion, Radix transitions), and tactile micro-interactions.
  • Partner cross-functionally with founders and engineers to keep the frontend a thin, polished layer over the API.
  • Integrate AI coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor) and custom lint/agent rules into the frontend workflow.
What We're Looking For

Must-haves (dealbreakers):
  • 5+ years building product interfaces, with a portfolio of shipped features demonstrating high polish.
  • Primary ownership of a production design system or component library (public repo, portfolio, or detailed walkthrough required).
  • Deep expertise in React, strict TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and component primitives (shadcn/ui, Radix UI).
  • Authorized to work in the US - visa sponsorship is not available.

Required skills & experience:
  • Strong systems thinking: ability to translate visual decisions into tokens, component abstractions, and lint rules.
  • Experience enforcing WCAG accessibility standards and integrating them into a living codebase.
  • Hands-on experience with AI coding tools in production workflows (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor).
  • Comfort acting as the sole frontend UX standard-setter across a company - you raise the bar, you own it.

Nice to have:
  • Experience building non-standard AI interfaces: streaming responses, generative canvases, human-in-the-loop views.
  • Experience designing and shipping conversational interfaces or chatbots for B2B end-users.
  • Familiarity with Slack Block Kit, Microsoft Teams Adaptive Cards, or CLI design patterns for constrained UI spaces.
  • Experience with animation and UI state transition tooling (Framer Motion, Radix) to enhance perceived speed and polish.
Compensation & Benefits
  • Salary: $180,000 - $220,000 USD annually
  • Founding team equity commensurate with early-stage, high-ownership role
  • Direct impact on product direction and technical culture from day one
Location

This role is on-site in San Francisco, CA. The team works together in person; remote-only candidates are not a fit for this position.

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