Design Engineer (Product UI/UX)
Location: Remote, internationalType: Full-time contractorLevel: Mid to SeniorCompany stage: StartupAbout The RoleWe’re looking for a Design Engineer who can bridge product design and frontend implementation.This is not a pure designer role and not a generic frontend engineering role.You will own the process from rough product idea to polished shipped experience:turning vague product concepts into clear UXmaking strong visual and interaction decisionscreating flows, mockups, and UI directionimplementing those designs directly in coderefining details until the product feels clean, intuitive, and high qualityThis role is for someone with strong product taste who can also ship.What you’ll doOwn UX and UI execution across key parts of the productTranslate product goals and rough concepts into clear flows, wireframes, and polished interfacesDesign directly in Figma or similar tools when usefulWork closely with AI-assisted tooling in your workflowImplement production-ready frontend UI yourselfImprove existing product surfaces for clarity, usability, speed, and polishWork closely with the founder to turn fast-moving ideas into shipped productEstablish and evolve reusable design patterns and UI systemsSweat details like spacing, hierarchy, motion, states, onboarding, empty states, and error handlingBalance speed with taste in a startup environmentWhat we’re looking forStrong product and UX judgmentStrong visual taste and attention to detailAbility to go from concept to shipped UI with minimal hand-holdingStrong frontend implementation skillsComfort working in an early-stage startup with ambiguity and rapid iterationGood written and spoken EnglishAbility to work independently and make good decisions without excessive processMust-have skills Experience designing and shipping customer-facing product experiencesStrong portfolio showing both design thinking and shipped product workFrontend proficiency in modern web stacks such as:ReactTypeScript / JavaScriptHTML/CSScomponent-based UI systemsExperience with Figma or equivalent design toolsFamiliarity with AI-assisted code tooling (IDE agents, CLI agents, and/or tool-based agents)Strong understanding of interaction design, information hierarchy, and UX patternsAbility to create polished, production-ready UI rather than only prototypesNice to haveExperience and comfort with designing and building fluid animations (with libraries like PixiJS, Three.js, etc) and micro-interactionsExperience as a founding designer, design engineer, or early product hireExperience working on consumer products, creator tools, gaming, community products, or live productsExperience building and maintaining design systemsExperience improving onboarding, retention, engagement, or monetization surfacesWhat this role is notNot a pure brand/marketing designerNot a pure frontend ticket-takerNot a role where someone hands you finished designs and you only code themNot a role for someone who only makes pretty screens without strong UX reasoningHow we’ll evaluate candidatesWe Care Most Aboutproduct tasteUX judgmentquality of shipped workability to implement directlyspeed and autonomyfamiliarity with AI-assisted toolingA strong candidate will be able to show examples where they:improved a product’s usability or claritymade good interaction decisionsimplemented polished UI themselvesworked effectively in ambiguity