Founding Design Engineer

Hikinex

• $150K — $250K *
San Francisco, CA 94112In-Person
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Today
Be an Early Applicant
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 1 - 5 years of design experience with frontend coding in React/TypeScript
  • Prior experience at a venture-backed startup or similar fast-paced environment
  • Showcases a self-driven project with real user engagement (portfolio or side project)
  • Experience designing technical products for developers or enterprise software
  • Self-starter who thrives in minimally directed settings
  • Degree in Design, Arts, or Computer Science

Responsibilities

  • Own the complete product design and frontend implementation process
  • Design and build interfaces using React and TypeScript
  • Establish a cohesive design language and UX patterns for the company
  • Collaborate with founders to craft intuitive experiences for complex workflows
  • Create designs specifically for enterprise B2B software and AI applications

Benefits

  • Equity opportunities ranging from 0.4-0.8%
  • Work in a collaborative environment with the founding team
  • Be at the forefront of shaping an AI-native enterprise platform
  • Contribute to the development of innovative user experiences
  • Potential for rapid personal and professional growth in an early-stage startup
Full 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%)

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.
* Ladders Estimates

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