Design Systems Lead

Perplexity; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Perplexity is seeking a Design Systems Lead to bootstrap a semantic token system across platforms and frameworks, preserving coherence as we scale. You’ll own the GitHub repo and stay fluent in Figma to keep design and engineering aligned.

In this 50/50 design‑engineering role, you’ll establish standards, accessibility and theming, and drive adoption through documentation, onboarding, and hands‑on support.

Qualifications

• Experience owning design systems at large organizations.
• A true 50/50 design–engineering capability with strong visual craft and code.
• Excellent visual design eye.
• Knowledge of mobile, web, and React UI patterns.

Responsibilities

• Bootstrap and own a semantic token system across platforms and frameworks.
• Own the design system repository on GitHub as the source of truth for components, tokens, and standards.
• Set a high bar for visual quality across surfaces the system touches.
• Encode mobile, web, and React UI best practices into the system.
• Define and govern the contribution model and onboarding for cross‑team contributions.
• Bridge Figma and code to keep design and engineering coherent end‑to‑end.
• Maintain clear documentation and drive system adoption across the org.

Skills

Design systems leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Visual design craft

Ability to operate in ambiguity

Tools

Figma

GitHub

Storybook

Job description

About The Role

We're seeking a Design Systems Lead with extensive experience owning design systems at large organizations. You'll bootstrap an intuitive semantic token system that supports design and product teams across multiple platforms and frameworks - the foundation that keeps Perplexity's product coherent as we scale.

This is a true 50/50 design-engineer role. You'll live primarily in GitHub, where you own the system's repo, while staying fluent in Figma so design and engineering never drift apart. You'll set the bar for visual quality and the technical standards that let feature teams move fast without fragmenting the experience.

You’ll work at the intersection of design and engineering, partnering with product feature teams across mobile, web, and React surfaces.

What you'll do

• Bootstrap and own an intuitive semantic token system that works across multiple platforms and frameworks
• Own the design system repo on GitHub: the source of truth for components, tokens, and standards, including versioning, release management, and a clear changelog
• Set and uphold a high bar for visual design quality across every surface the system touches
• Navigate the nuanced differences between mobile, web, and React UI best practices, and encode them into the system
• Define and run the contribution model and governance: review and shepherd inbound contributions from product feature teams, keeping quality and consistency high as the system grows
• Keep design and engineering in sync, bridging Figma and code so the system stays coherent end-to-end
• Own clear, first-class documentation so teams can adopt components and tokens on their own, and drive adoption across the org through onboarding, office hours, and hands‑on support
• Bake in accessibility (WCAG) and theming (including dark mode) as defaults, not afterthoughts
• Maintain a system roadmap, balancing net-new work, migrations, and deprecations against feature‑team needs
• Bring new AI tooling into the design systems workflow and help shape how we build systems in an AI‑native way
• Operate with autonomy in a fast‑moving, ambiguous environment

What we're looking for

• Extensive experience owning design systems at large organizations
• A true 50/50 design‑engineer, equally credible in visual craft and in code
• An impeccable eye for visual design
• Deep understanding of the nuanced differences between mobile, web, and React UI best practices
• Strong product sensibilities to help evaluate and integrate contributions from various product feature teams
• Fluency in Figma, but primarily living in GitHub where you own the repo
• Experience designing and maintaining semantic design tokens and scalable component APIs
• A track record of driving adoption through excellent documentation and cross‑functional partnership
• Working knowledge of accessibility standards (WCAG) and how to build them into a system
• Readiness to work with new AI tooling and genuine comfort with ambiguity

Nice to have

• Experience building a semantic token system from scratch across multiple platforms
• A track record scaling a design system through a period of fast org growth
• Experience defining contribution models and governance for multi‑team design systems
• Familiarity with component tooling and documentation platforms (e.g., Storybook)
• Experience mentoring designers and engineers and growing a design systems practice

Compensation Range: $220K - $280K