Design Engineer

Summary

Join Appfire's Design Systems team as an experienced Design Engineer in a hybrid role, bridging design and engineering to develop and maintain scalable design systems. You will create reusable React components, manage Figma libraries, and ensure cohesive user experiences. Prioritize customer experience by collaborating with designers, engineers, and product managers. Develop accessible and inclusive front-end design patterns, translating design decisions into CSS. Work remotely from anywhere in the US with preferred EST availability due to global collaboration. Appfire offers flexible work arrangements, professional growth opportunities, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in front-end development, with a strong emphasis on building and maintaining scalable design systems
• 2+ years of experience leading high-impact design system initiatives across multiple products or platforms
• Proficiency in React, TypeScript, and modern CSS-in-JS methodologies (e.g., styled-components, Emotion)
• Hands-on experience with Figma, including managing component libraries, design tokens, and ensuring consistency across design and code
• A solid understanding of accessibility standards and a track record of implementing inclusive design practices
• Experience balancing the immediate needs of feature development with the long-term vision and scalability of design systems
• Strong organizational skills, capable of leading or contributing to multiple projects simultaneously
• Proficiency in Git and version control workflows, with experience in collaborative codebases
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate design and technical decisions to diverse stakeholders, including executive-level audiences

Responsibilities

• Create a culture of excellence in design quality within the design teams and across the organization
• Your work directly influences and evolves Appfire’s product UIs
• Co-own and evolve our design system (Fuegokit) by
• Create design components that are highly usable and flexible for designers, meet the needs of product teams, and are easy for engineers to use to create consistent user interfaces
• Become an authority on our visual design language, extending upon our existing systems—such as our color systems, navigation components, and interaction patterns
• Design experiences that work across multiple platforms and different product ecosystems, and text-based interfaces such as CLI
• Seek regular input and propose new areas of work with compelling reasoning, and execute on them
• Advocate for, and teach other designers and engineers how to use our design systems
• Seek and provide design feedback and direction with your coworkers
• Seek out opportunities for connecting with people and teams working on related projects
• Build meaningful relationships across the product, engineering, and other cross-functional partners you're working with
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive React component library using TypeScript and CSS-in-JS methodologies
• Manage and evolve Figma component libraries and design tokens to ensure consistency and scalability
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate design systems seamlessly into product development workflows
• Implement and advocate for accessibility standards (WCAG) in both design and code
• Conduct code reviews and provide mentorship to team members on best practices in design system implementation

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven experience contributing to or maintaining an established design system utilized across multiple teams or products
• Familiarity with design system documentation tools such as Storybook or similar
• Understanding of CI/CD pipelines and experience with automated testing frameworks for UI components
• Background in user-centered design principles and practices
• Experience with cross-platform design considerations, including mobile and desktop applications
• Technical background or experience working on developer tools
• Multidisciplinary design experience, such as in illustration, animation, or programming

Benefits

• Every Appfire employee is eligible for company equity
• Mobile phone and Internet stipend
• 401(k) Matching Component
• Access to the Appfire University learning platform, a hub of knowledge, interactive resources, and engaging instructor-led courses designed to fuel your learning journey with unparalleled depth and accessibility
• 10 paid holidays + Flexible PTO – no set number of days that you must take in a year
• 100% company-paid health insurance
• 50/50 split dental and vision insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• 3 fully paid days each year to participate in Appfire Town, Appfire’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program