Founding Frontend Engineer (AI-Native)

Skiffra; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plans

Bonus programs

Job summary

Skiffra is building the intelligence layer for the physical world, translating complex environments into clear, actionable data. We’re seeking a frontend leader to own architecture and deliver polished, customer-facing web apps at scale.

You’ll collaborate with product, design, AI, and backend teams to ship end-to-end features, craft intuitive dashboards, ensure accessibility, and drive frontend standards as part of the founding team in a hybrid Los Angeles/SF Bay Area setting.

Qualifications

• Strong frontend engineering skills (React, TypeScript) with a track record of shipping polished, customer-facing web apps.
• Strong product and UX judgment, including the ability to identify confusing interactions and improve incomplete designs.
• Strong judgment building data-dense, high-stakes interfaces, including dashboards, real-time monitoring, alerts, and complex workflows.

Responsibilities

• Own frontend architecture and implementation for Skiffra’s customer-facing products, partnering closely with product and design to create polished user experiences.
• Build end-to-end user-facing product features, collaborating with AI, data, and backend engineers on services, integrations, and API contracts.
• Translate ambiguous, operationally complex customer problems and AI outputs into clear, intuitive product experiences.
• Prototype quickly, observe real users working with the product, and iterate based on user behavior and field feedback.
• Establish reusable component patterns, automated testing, accessibility, performance, and frontend engineering standards from scratch.
• Help implement and evolve the product’s visual system and interaction patterns in partnership with product and design.
• Shape hiring and engineering culture as part of the founding team.

Skills

React

TypeScript

UX judgment

Data visualization

Responsive design

APIs integration

Accessibility (WCAG)

Debugging frontend

Communication

Figma collaboration

Tools

Next.js

Figma

Design systems

Job description

About Skiffra

Skiffra is building the intelligence layer for the physical world. We translate complex, real‑world environments into clear, actionable data. While most AI companies focus on digital industries, we design AI native orchestration systems for the sectors that extract, move, and build ecosystems around us. We turn messy, high‑stakes operations into intelligent, adaptive workflows that improve decisions in real time. Our first proving ground is mining and natural resources, but the platform is modular by design and built to scale into any industry where decisions are expensive and the consequences are real.

What You’ll Do

• Own frontend architecture and implementation for Skiffra’s customer‑facing products, partnering closely with product and design to create polished user experiences
• Build end‑to‑end user‑facing product features, collaborating with AI, data, and backend engineers on services, integrations, and API contracts
• Translate ambiguous, operationally complex customer problems and AI outputs into clear, intuitive product experiences
• Prototype quickly, observe real users working with the product, and iterate based on user behavior and field feedback
• Establish reusable component patterns, automated testing, accessibility, performance, and frontend engineering standards from scratch
• Help implement and evolve the product’s visual system and interaction patterns in partnership with product and design
• Shape hiring and engineering culture as part of the founding team

What We’re Looking For

• Strong frontend engineering skills (React, TypeScript) with a track record of shipping polished, customer‑facing web apps
• Strong product and UX judgment, including the ability to identify confusing interactions and improve incomplete designs
• Strong judgment building data‑dense, high‑stakes interfaces, including dashboards, real‑time monitoring, alerts, and complex workflows, with sound data‑visualization instincts
• Experience shipping responsive web applications across desktop, tablet, and mobile browser form factors
• Proven ability to take a feature from concept to shipped product with minimal direction
• Experience integrating frontend applications with APIs, asynchronous services, and data‑intensive systems
• Comfort building interfaces for asynchronous and AI‑assisted workflows, including streaming responses, long‑running tasks, evidence, confidence, approvals, and human overrides
• Working knowledge of web accessibility fundamentals, including semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, focus management, screen‑reader support, and WCAG standards
• Strong debugging skills across frontend applications, browser and network behavior, API integrations, and production environments
• Portfolio or work samples demonstrating polished frontend execution across dashboards, data visualization, and complex workflow interfaces
• Comfortable collaborating in Figma, interpreting designs, identifying interaction problems, and proposing practical improvements
• Clear communicator, bias toward action and simplicity, comfortable in ambiguity

Nice to Have

• Experience with Next.js and modern frontend tooling
• Experience building interfaces for AI‑augmented or agentic products
• Experience building component libraries or design systems at scale
• Prior startup, founding‑engineer, or zero‑to‑one experience
• Experience building software for industrial, operational, or field users, including challenging lighting, time pressure, large touch targets, or error‑sensitive workflows
• Familiarity with real‑time data, streaming interfaces, and complex application state
• Experience building resilient web applications for intermittent connectivity, including local caching, retry behavior, and recovery from interrupted sessions

How We Work

We value speed, clarity, and technical rigor. We favor simple systems over clever ones, prototypes over over‑planning, and ownership over handoffs. You’ll work directly with founders and ship things that matter quickly.

Location & Work Model

This is a hybrid role with regular in‑person collaboration in Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area. We are not a remote‑only company.

Work Authorization

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. We are not able to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

Benefits & Eligibility

This position is eligible for Skiffra’s standard benefits, including health insurance and retirement plans, and may also qualify for participation in the Company’s bonus and incentive programs.

Equal Opportunity

Skiffra is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.

Compensation Range

$180K - $220K