Design Engineer

Checkmate Savings Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health insurance

PTO 4 weeks

401k

Wellness stipend

Company retreats

Job summary

Checkmate is seeking a Design Engineer to own Checkmate (consumer product) and mate (B2B product) design from user problem to shipped interfaces. You will balance product judgment with craft, turning complex workflows into intuitive experiences and translating them into code in a fast, high-ownership role.

You’ll focus on mate (B2B) with room to influence the consumer shopper experience, collaborating closely with Product and Engineering on six agents and a growing platform, while maintaining a

Qualifications

• Understanding user problems to design flows and information architecture.
• Own features end-to-end from concept to shipped interface.
• Turn dense workflows into simple, fast experiences.

Responsibilities

• Solve Real User Problems by mapping user goals to flows and IA.
• Design the Interface in high fidelity and implement it in production frontend.
• Make complex data simple by structuring dashboards and signals for quick decisions.
• Own and evolve the design system, ensuring consistency and quality across surfaces.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering and Founders to shape what we build.

Skills

Front-end development

React

TypeScript

UX design

AI design tools

Design systems

Tools

Figma

Tailwind CSS

Job description

About Checkmate and Mate.

Checkmate is a multichannel offers network loved by 100M shoppers and hundreds of leading brands.

mate. is your AI growth teammate, the eCommerce data network that agentically turns customer intelligence into revenue.

mate finds it, Checkmate goes and gets it. Checkmate is the distribution network, with 100M+ shoppers and 12B+ live intent signals. mate is the AI layer built on top of it: it resolves anonymous visitors, spots the revenue a brand is missing, and builds and executes the campaigns to capture it. Marketers just hit approve.

mate runs six agents for brands:

1. Mate Intelligence: a customer dashboard and AI chatbot that surfaces the revenue a brand is missing.
2. Enrichment: identity resolution that reveals and resolves anonymous visitors.
3. Growth: AI-built, single-use offers delivered across our network and a brand's own channels, priced on performance, with no retainers and no lock-in.
4. Social Activation: enriches social handles into full shopper profiles.
5. LLM Visibility: tracks and grows how a brand shows up in AI search and assistants.
6. Code Leakage: finds leaked discount codes and replaces them with single-use ones.

The combination is rare: a consumer product shoppers love and an AI growth engine brands depend on.

We work with leading brands like Everlane, Brooklinen, and Malbon, and we're backed by Google Ventures, Mantis VS, Fuel Capital, and others.

We're a remote-first team with hubs in LA and NYC, and a preference for hiring in or near major cities.

----------------------------------

The Role

We're hiring a Design Engineer to own how Checkmate (our consumer product) and “mate” (our B2B product) looks, feels, and works, from understanding the user problem to the shipped interface. You'll use strong product judgment and real design taste to turn complex workflows into experiences that feel simple, then bring them to life in code. Design, UX, and front-end live in one seat, so what you design is what our users get. You'll focus on mate, our B2B product, with room to shape the consumer shopper experience too.

This is a high-ownership seat on a small team, at the exact moment our surface area is exploding: six agents, a brand-facing platform, and a consumer product used by 100M shoppers. The interface is where a shopper decides to make a purchase or a marketer decides to hit approve. You're the person who makes that moment feel effortless. If you think in flows, sweat the details, and would rather ship a coded prototype than argue over a static mockup, this is your seat.

What You’ll Do

• Solve Real User Problems
• Start from the user problem: understand what a marketer is trying to do, then design the information architecture and flow that gets them there
• Own features end to end, from product thinking and UX exploration through a shipped, high-craft interface
• Turn complex, dense workflows into experiences that feel simple, obvious, and fast

• Design the Interface, Then Build It
• Design in high fidelity, then bring it to life in production front-end, so what you design is what users get
• Use AI tools and coded prototypes to explore ideas quickly, because the best way to judge an interaction is to use it
• Bring craft to the fundamentals: type, color, spacing, and visual hierarchy, and iterate in the browser with real data

• Make Complex Data Simple
• Translate dense inputs like intent signals, agent outputs, and dashboards into interfaces that are simple, scannable, and decision-oriented
• Design the moments where a marketer reviews what mate found and hits approve
• Bring structure and hierarchy to screens carrying a lot of information

• Own the Design System & Craft
• Sweat the details others skip: loading and empty states, errors, hover, and motion, the feel of an interaction
• Set and raise the bar for how our product looks, feels, and behaves
• Scale our design system and rules so patterns turn into code quickly and quality holds across every surface, even as we ship faster

• Communicate, Review & Collaborate
• Work closely with Product, Engineering, and the founders to shape what we build, not just how it looks
• Communicate clearly with both the business and the developers, through working prototypes, demos, and short written narratives
• Move quickly with a small team while keeping a clear point of view on the user
• Run design reviews: take ambiguous requirements, bring the key ideas back, guide the discussion, and gather feedback from internal stakeholders and end users

Who You Are

• You have real taste and a strong eye for type, color, and visual hierarchy, and you can articulate why something feels wrong, not just that it does
• You're a designer who codes, so you can take an idea from sketch to shipped without waiting on a handoff
• You start from the user problem, reason through the UX, and design the flow that solves it, using AI tools to move fast without dropping quality
• You communicate clearly with both the business and the developers, and you can guide a design review to a decision
• You sweat the details others skip, and you're energized by owning an experience end to end

What You Bring

• A demonstrated pattern of using AI tools (Cursor, v0, Claude, Figma AI, and the like) in your design and build workflow
• A portfolio of polished, shipped product work, with code samples or live prototypes we can dig into
• Strong product and design instincts: information architecture, user flows, and thoughtful UX decisions, not just screens
• Enough front-end skill to build what you design and ship it (React, TypeScript, modern CSS/Tailwind)
• Comfort in 0→1 environments with shifting priorities and a high bar for speed
• The ability to turn complex workflows and high volumes of data into interfaces that feel simple
• A feel for words: you can bring in clear, on-brand copy that carries the founders’ vision through your designs

Bonus Points

• Bonus: a distinctive illustration style, art direction chops, and the ability to make really hype illustrations and animations

Why This Role Matters

mate is the AI layer brands rely on to find revenue they're missing, but that intelligence only lands if the interface makes it obvious and easy to act on. You're the person who turns powerful, complex machinery into a product that feels simple, fast, and worth trusting. Every surface you design and ship is where a brand decides to say yes. Get it right, and the whole product compounds, and it's yours to own.

Why Join Checkmate

• Solve real problems: Help brands unlock millions in missed revenue
• Work with top brands: Partner with category leaders like Brooklinen, AG1, and Everlane
• Growth opportunity: Exposure to AI, martech innovation, and fast-moving eCommerce

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive comp package, including equity in a fast-growing, venture-backed company
• Competitive medical/dental/vision/other healthcare coverage
• 4 weeks PTO + health days
• 401k plan
• Monthly fitness/wellness stipend
• Company retreats and team get togethers (2x a year)
• Remote-first culture (preference for those near major cities - NYC, LA, SLC, Miami, Chicago, etc.)