Design engineer

Better Design; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Better Design in San Francisco or remote is seeking a design systems engineer to grow the rules and components used to build web apps. You will author new design systems in React, turning a brand from Figma into a design system an agent can install.

You should have shipped React components to production, work in Figma daily, and be able to explain why a design works so it can be codified into rules. The role offers ownership across stages from sketch to release in a small, fast-moving team.

Qualifications

• Built React components that other people ship in production.
• You work in Figma every day and can build components that match the file.
• You can say why a design works, in plain words, so it can become a rule.

Responsibilities

• Own new design systems for web apps in React, with every component in the set.
• Take a brand from a Figma file to a design system an agent can install.
• Turn what you know about good interfaces into review rules an agent can follow.

Skills

React components

Figma

Design systems

Tools

Next.js

Tailwind

Hono

Postgres

Drizzle

Cloudflare Workers

npm MCP server

Codex

Job description

TL;DR: You will grow the design systems and rules coding agents use to build web apps, from a Figma file to React components they can install.

Why Better Design

We are a small team, early enough that what you build here shapes the product and the company.

What you will own

• Author new design systems for web apps in React, with every component in the set.
• Take a brand from a Figma file to a design system an agent can install.
• Turn what you know about good interfaces into review rules an agent can follow.

What we look for

• You have built React components that other people ship in production.
• You work in Figma every day and can build components that match the file.
• You can say why a design works, in plain words, so it can become a rule.

How we work

• San Francisco or remote. Work with us in San Francisco or from where you do your best work. We write decisions down, so nobody needs a meeting to catch up.
• Small team. Each person owns a whole area, from the first sketch to the release.
• Agents do the repetitive work. Coding agents write the boilerplate, run the checks and review each change. People make the calls that need taste.
• We use what we sell. Our own design review checks every screen we ship, this page included.

Our stack

• Next.js, React and Tailwind for the web app
• Hono on Cloudflare Workers for the API
• Postgres on Neon with Drizzle, and D1 for smaller stores
• An MCP server that coding agents install from npm
• Claude Code and Codex for most of the typing