Software Engineer, Design System - Fixed Term Mat Contract

Serko; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

KiwiSaver with employer contributions

Health & wellbeing benefits

Learning & development budget

Job summary

Serko is seeking a frontend engineer to join our design system team in Auckland, NZ. You will own the end-to-end delivery of accessible UI components, from scoping through release and adoption, shaping the foundations that empower product teams and AI-assisted workflows.

You’ll collaborate with Design and Engineering, drive rapid iteration with test-first approaches, and apply a consumer mindset to build scalable, high-quality solutions using React, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS.

Qualifications

• Proven experience building accessible UI components.
• Strong knowledge of React, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS.
• Experience with design systems and UI architecture.
• Familiarity with automated testing and WCAG AA standards.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of accessible, high-quality UI components from scope to adoption.
• Collaborate closely with Design and Engineering to evolve foundations.
• Lead smaller projects with fast, reversible decisions and ship iteratively.
• Champion engineering excellence and mentor peers through code reviews.

Skills

React

TypeScript

Tailwind CSS

Tools

Figma

Job description

At Serko, we believe something incredible happens when people come face-to-face. That’s why we’re on a mission to engineer a frictionless, next-generation business travel marketplace. We don’t just manage travel; we are leveraging advanced AI and cutting-edge tech to eliminate the complexity of global movement.

When you join Serko, you join a global collective of passionate technologists who show up as their true selves to build world-class products. With established hubs across New Zealand, Australia, North America, India and China - your code and ideas will impact millions of corporate travelers worldwide.

Reporting to a Senior Engineering Manager or Engineering Manager and working alongside a supportive team, you deliver well-defined parts of Serko's design system: the components, tokens, patterns and guidance that every product team, and a growing number of agents, build on.

Join a self-organizing design system team that builds the foundations for our product experiences. You will own your roadmap from opportunity to adoption, driven by high agency and a strong consumer mindset.

What we look for alongside technical skill:

• High Agency & Bias to Action: Drive your own work, make fast decisions, and ship small changes often.
• Systems & Consumer Mindset: Build scalable foundations that make it effortless for product teams to do the right thing.
• Curiosity & Clear Communication: Learn fast, reason through complex problems, and articulate your decisions.
• AI-Empowered: Leverage AI tools daily to accelerate both your workflow and the team's overall velocity.

What you will do:

• End-to-End Ownership: Independently deliver accessible, high-quality components. Own everything you ship from initial scoping and release through to adoption and support.
• Pioneer Agentic Engineering: Work agentically by default. Direct AI tools with clear requirements, write test-first code, and make our system highly legible to both humans and AI agents.
• Seamless Collaboration: Partner closely with Design and Engineering. Write clear guidance and evolve our foundations without disrupting the teams that rely on them.
• Agile Execution: Break complex problems into small, shippable slices. Lead smaller projects, make fast (and reversible) decisions, and continuously improve how the team builds.

What you'll bring:

• Core Stack: Solid production experience with React, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS.

• Design Systems & UI: Deep understanding of component architecture, API design, and design tokens (Figma to code). You build simple, maintainable solutions with a sharp eye for design details.
• Quality & Accessibility: Proven ability to build to WCAG AA 2.x standards, backed by robust automated testing (unit, interaction, and visual regression).
• Agentic Engineering: Experience with (or strong curiosity about) context engineering, verification loops, and structuring code and documentation to be seamlessly consumed by both humans and AI agents.
• Engineering Excellence: A proactive collaborator who plans effectively, supports peers through code reviews, and balances speed with quality while taking ownership of your own growth.

At Serko, we aim to create a place where people can come and do their best work. This means you’ll be operating in an environment with great tools and support to enable you to perform at the highest level of your abilities, producing high-quality and delivering innovative and efficient results. Our people are fully engaged, continuously improving, and encouraged to make an impact.

Some of the benefits of working at Serko are:

• A competitive base salary
• KiwiSaver covered with employee contributions matches up to 3.5% of salary, and life insurance.
• Health & Wellbeing: Discounted Southern Cross Health Insurance, access to confidential support, guidance and counselling service, wellbeing and voluntary leave, and free flu shots.
• Focus on development: Access to a learning & development platform, committed budget and opportunity for you to own your career pathways.