Design Engineer, Design Systems

Dialpad; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading communications platform in Greater London seeks a Design Engineer to drive front-end design strategy and contribute to AI-powered design systems. This role requires 3-5 years of experience in design engineering, with expertise in building tools and strong communication skills. The company offers competitive benefits and fosters an inclusive work environment. Applicants must provide a portfolio demonstrating design-focused engineering approaches.

Benefits

Competitive benefits and perks

Robust training program

Inclusive office design

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of experience in design engineering, with a portfolio demonstrating relevant skills.
• Experience building tools or plugins to streamline workflows.
• Strong understanding of UX principles and inclusive design practices.

Responsibilities

• Drive the front-end design strategy of the Design System.
• Contribute to prototyping practices and AI design patterns.
• Ensure quality and performance of all designs.

Skills

Design-focused technical expertise

Design engineering fluency

Experience with AI/ML-driven features

Exceptional communication skills

Proficiency in front-end build systems

Tools

Webpack

GitHub

Job description

About Dialpad

Dialpad is the leading AI-powered customer communications platform, transforming how businesses communicate with their customers. More than 50,000 companies around the globe — including Netflix, RE/MAX, Uber, Randstad, and Tractor Supply — rely on Dialpad to build stronger customer connections using real-time, AI-driven insights. Visit dialpad.com to learn more.

Role Overview

We’re looking for a Design Engineer who thrives at the intersection of design, front-end engineering, AI, and rapid experimentation. This role supports our Design System (Dialtone), helping define how Dialpad explores and prototypes the future of AI-powered communications. You will design, build, and iterate on tools and experiences that make our research and product vision tangible.

This position sits within the Design organization and partners closely with AI, Research and Product teams. It reports to the Design Engineering Manager.

What You’ll Do

• You’ll drive the front-end design strategy of our Design System – style, components, and patterns – leveraging your expertise in front-end design and engineering.
• Advocate for Design: act as the bridge between designers and engineers, guiding the design system team to take on high-visibility initiatives.
• Contribute to a growing design-focused prototyping practice that explores feasibility, evaluates emerging AI capabilities, and establishes AI design patterns.
• Design and build tooling that supports product designers, researchers, and engineers—such as internal utilities, plugins, and scripts that accelerate iteration.
• Prototype and validate new interaction models for AI-powered workflows and experiment with AI-driven UI patterns.
• Ensure quality and performance in everything you build, optimizing for accessibility, maintainability, and performance.
• Act as a guardian of consistency, championing reusable components and ensuring adherence to a unified system.
• Navigate defined problems with autonomy, helping cross-functional teams clarify ideas and move toward impactful solutions.
• Invest in the growth of the Design organization by sharing best practices, mentoring peers, and building community around creative prototyping.

Skills You’ll Bring

• An online portfolio demonstrating design-focused technical expertise across multiple projects.
• 3–5 years of experience demonstrating exceptional design engineering fluency, including 1–2+ years contributing to design systems.
• Track record of designing, documenting, and evolving styles, Design Tokens, component libraries, and UI patterns at scale.
• Interest or experience in building tooling, plugins, or internal utilities that streamline workflows.
• Experience building AI/ML-driven features, prototypes, experimental systems or research tools.
• Skill in optimizing and refactoring existing UIs for performance, accessibility, and maintainability.
• Proficiency in state management and component-based architecture.
• A systemic approach, thinking in patterns and frameworks.
• Strong understanding of UX principles, design heuristics, information architecture, usability, accessibility, and inclusive design practices.
• Commitment to building inclusive, accessible experiences.
• Experience with front-end build systems, bundlers, and package management (e.g. Webpack, Vite, Rollup, npm, Yarn, nx).
• Deep interest in mentoring and collaborating to raise the craft and technical quality of teammates.
• Exceptional communication, collaboration, and storytelling skills.
• Ability to articulate design rationale to developers and technical constraints to designers.
• Deep curiosity about emerging design trends, AI tooling, and evolving front-end practices.

Extra-Special Candidates Will Have

• Experience working on AI-powered or data-intensive products in a SaaS environment.
• Experience building design tools, plugins, or creative-tech prototypes that accelerate research or design iteration.
• Experience with execution of animations, transitions, or micro-interactions, delivering refined motion that is consistent and performant.
• Engagement in the design and front-end community through open-source contributions, writing, mentoring, or public speaking.
• Track record of connecting design craft, technical depth, and experimentation to push the boundaries of digital product experiences.

What We Offer

We believe in investing in our people. Dialpad offers competitive benefits and perks, alongside a robust training program that helps you reach your full potential. Our offices are designed to be inclusive, fostering collaboration and connection. Dialpad is a certified Great Place to Work, ensuring every employee feels valued and empowered.

Important Note

All applicants must provide a portfolio that showcases design-focused engineering approaches. If you love solving real problems for real people and are energized by continuous learning, we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet every single requirement.

Equal Opportunity

Dialpad is an equal-opportunity employer. We are dedicated to creating a community of inclusion and an environment free from discrimination or harassment.