Design Engineer
circleso • Remote
Posted: January 30, 2026
Job Description
About the role
We're looking for a Design Engineer: you'll work as design engineer and front-end prototyper, paired 1:1 with product designers to turn ideas into working prototypes in hours, not weeks.
Our goal is simple: move from sharing Figma mockups to sharing real, clickable prototypes as our default design artifact.
You'll bring refined product designs to life—building high-fidelity, functional implementations that bridge design intent and engineering execution. Your work enables faster validation, clearer stakeholder communication, and smoother handoff to engineering, with reusable implementations that raise the quality bar for production builds.
Design owns the output. You'll iterate with designers until the implementation matches intent, then deploy to preview environments for feedback and review.
This role requires fluency with AI coding tools. We expect you to use tools like Cursor and Claude Code as your primary way of building, generating fast starting points and refining them with care.
What you’ll be doing
- Work daily in tight 1:1 pairing with a product designer, turning Figma concepts into live prototypes in real time
- Build prototypes in the same technologies as our production front-end (React/Next.js/TypeScript/Tailwind) using Cursor and Claude Code
- Translate multi-screen Figma flows into working code, collaborating directly with designers throughout iteration
- Iterate quickly through critique loops—prototypes are the primary artifact we use to communicate product ideas
- Leverage the design system as your foundation—building new components only when necessary
- Deploy to preview environments for async review, feedback, and stakeholder alignment
- Offer input on technical feasibility and complexity as flows are finalized
- Manage multiple workstreams, balancing major implementations with quick iteration or refinement needs
- Collaborate with the product design org while sitting operationally close to the Design Systems and front-end engineering team
What you’ll need to be successful
- Strong alignment with our values, find our values on our career page if you haven’t read up on them yet.
- You are proficient in English (spoken, written, and reading) at a CEFR Level C2 / ILR Level 5.
AI-First Development
- Hands-on experience using AI coding tools (Cursor and Claude Code) as your primary way of building front-end prototypes
- You embrace "vibe coding": using AI to generate fast starting points, then refining with precision and care
- Comfortable iterating quickly with AI assistance while maintaining high visual and functional quality standards
Technical Foundation
- 3+ years of experience building web interfaces with React, modern JavaScript, and component-based architecture
- Strong experience with React, TypeScript, Next.js, and Tailwind (or very similar modern front-end stack)
- Strong grasp of React fundamentals (functional components, hooks, props/state) and layout systems (Flexbox, Grid)
- Experience working with Tailwind CSS and libraries like Radix, Headless UI, or shadcn/ui
- Comfortable working in a real production-style codebase
- Familiarity with Git workflows and preview deployments (e.g. Vercel)
Design-Engineering Bridge
- Experience translating polished design specs into functional code
- Comfortable navigating complex Figma files—extracting assets, understanding auto-layout and component behavior
- High attention to detail when it comes to visual fidelity, interaction behavior, and polish
- You lean design-side for an engineer: you care about pixels, UX quality, and interaction polish
Working Style & Profile
- Exceptional communication skills—you write clearly, present your work confidently, and collaborate well across disciplines
- Comfortable working both asynchronously and in real-time—sharing progress, giving updates, and contributing to team discussions
- Collaborative and open—you balance design priorities with thoughtful technical input
- You might have started as a web designer or have a strong visual/design background and grew into modern front-end engineering
- You've been building small apps, tools, or experiments on your own using modern front-end stacks and AI coding tools
- You're constantly exploring new libraries, tools, and workflows to move faster and improve quality
Bonus points
- Experience with animation libraries (Framer Motion, CSS transitions)
- Understanding of accessibility fundamentals (semantic HTML, ARIA, keyboard navigation)
- Familiarity with other AI-assisted development workflows and tools
$90,000 - $100,000 USD per year
The cash compensation range shown is a starting point. In addition to equity, benefits and perks, your cash compensation is subject to an annual review and increase on a once per year basis.
Additional Content
About the role
We're looking for a Design Engineer: you'll work as design engineer and front-end prototyper, paired 1:1 with product designers to turn ideas into working prototypes in hours, not weeks.
Our goal is simple: move from sharing Figma mockups to sharing real, clickable prototypes as our default design artifact.
You'll bring refined product designs to life—building high-fidelity, functional implementations that bridge design intent and engineering execution. Your work enables faster validation, clearer stakeholder communication, and smoother handoff to engineering, with reusable implementations that raise the quality bar for production builds.
Design owns the output. You'll iterate with designers until the implementation matches intent, then deploy to preview environments for feedback and review.
This role requires fluency with AI coding tools. We expect you to use tools like Cursor and Claude Code as your primary way of building, generating fast starting points and refining them with care.
What you’ll be doing
- Work daily in tight 1:1 pairing with a product designer, turning Figma concepts into live prototypes in real time
- Build prototypes in the same technologies as our production front-end (React/Next.js/TypeScript/Tailwind) using Cursor and Claude Code
- Translate multi-screen Figma flows into working code, collaborating directly with designers throughout iteration
- Iterate quickly through critique loops—prototypes are the primary artifact we use to communicate product ideas
- Leverage the design system as your foundation—building new components only when necessary
- Deploy to preview environments for async review, feedback, and stakeholder alignment
- Offer input on technical feasibility and complexity as flows are finalized
- Manage multiple workstreams, balancing major implementations with quick iteration or refinement needs
- Collaborate with the product design org while sitting operationally close to the Design Systems and front-end engineering team
What you’ll need to be successful
- Strong alignment with our values, find our values on our career page if you haven’t read up on them yet.
- You are proficient in English (spoken, written, and reading) at a CEFR Level C2 / ILR Level 5.
AI-First Development
- Hands-on experience using AI coding tools (Cursor and Claude Code) as your primary way of building front-end prototypes
- You embrace "vibe coding": using AI to generate fast starting points, then refining with precision and care
- Comfortable iterating quickly with AI assistance while maintaining high visual and functional quality standards
Technical Foundation
- 3+ years of experience building web interfaces with React, modern JavaScript, and component-based architecture
- Strong experience with React, TypeScript, Next.js, and Tailwind (or very similar modern front-end stack)
- Strong grasp of React fundamentals (functional components, hooks, props/state) and layout systems (Flexbox, Grid)
- Experience working with Tailwind CSS and libraries like Radix, Headless UI, or shadcn/ui
- Comfortable working in a real production-style codebase
- Familiarity with Git workflows and preview deployments (e.g. Vercel)
Design-Engineering Bridge
- Experience translating polished design specs into functional code
- Comfortable navigating complex Figma files—extracting assets, understanding auto-layout and component behavior
- High attention to detail when it comes to visual fidelity, interaction behavior, and polish
- You lean design-side for an engineer: you care about pixels, UX quality, and interaction polish
Working Style & Profile
- Exceptional communication skills—you write clearly, present your work confidently, and collaborate well across disciplines
- Comfortable working both asynchronously and in real-time—sharing progress, giving updates, and contributing to team discussions
- Collaborative and open—you balance design priorities with thoughtful technical input
- You might have started as a web designer or have a strong visual/design background and grew into modern front-end engineering
- You've been building small apps, tools, or experiments on your own using modern front-end stacks and AI coding tools
- You're constantly exploring new libraries, tools, and workflows to move faster and improve quality
Bonus points
- Experience with animation libraries (Framer Motion, CSS transitions)
- Understanding of accessibility fundamentals (semantic HTML, ARIA, keyboard navigation)
- Familiarity with other AI-assisted development workflows and tools
$90,000 - $100,000 USD per year
The cash compensation range shown is a starting point. In addition to equity, benefits and perks, your cash compensation is subject to an annual review and increase on a once per year basis.