Senior Design Systems Designer

Otterbase, Inc.; Michigan; On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Otterbase, Inc. is seeking a design-system specialist to audit and advance a Figma library for internal web and mobile apps.

You will standardize visual styling, tokens, and components, enabling designers to use consistent building blocks with configurable properties, variants, and responsive behaviors. You will collaborate with a design-system developer to align assets, naming, and states, participate in reviews, and document a contribution process for future updates.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of UX, product design, or design-system experience.
• Proven ability to audit and extend a Figma design system.
• Advanced proficiency with Figma components, variants, variables, modes, and prototyping.
• Experience creating scalable design-token structures and adapting design systems to branding.
• Strong understanding of component anatomy, responsive behavior and interactive states.
• Experience designing complex data-heavy interfaces (tables, filters, forms, bulk actions).
• Accessibility knowledge: contrast, focus treatment, interaction states.
• Ability to audit a library, prioritize gaps, and execute scope independently.
• Strong attention to detail and communication; translate stakeholder feedback into design-system decisions.

Responsibilities

• Audit an existing Figma design-system library and identify gaps.
• Complete and standardize visual styling, variables, tokens, and components for new apps.
• Configure component properties, variants, responsive behavior, and interactive states.
• Enhance data-table components for filtering, sorting, pagination, selection, and bulk actions.
• Create 3–5 custom components (navigation, cards) based on audit gaps.
• Collaborate with a design-system developer to align assets with coded components.
• Participate in reviews, consolidate feedback, explain tradeoffs.
• Publish the library and propose a process for future contributions.
• If time permits, establish dark-theme tokens after light theme completion.

Skills

Figma proficiency

Design systems

UX design

Accessibility

React component libraries

Design-token architecture

Communication

Tools

Figma

IBM Carbon or similar

Job description

Audit an existing Figma design-system library built on an open-source framework, identify gaps, and develop a prioritized completion plan.

Complete and standardize the library's visual styling, variables, design tokens, and components for use in new internal web and mobile applications.

Configure component properties, variants, responsive behavior, and interactive states so designers can adapt components without detaching instances.

Enhance data-table components to support complex workflows, including filtering, sorting, pagination, selection, and bulk actions.

Create approximately three to five custom components, including navigation and card elements, based on gaps identified during the audit.

Collaborate with a design-system developer to align Figma assets with coded components, including naming, tokens, states, and behavior.

Participate in project check-ins and design reviews, incorporate consolidated feedback, and explain recommendations and tradeoffs.

Publish the completed library and recommend a process for requesting, reviewing, and approving future contributions.

If time permits after completing the light theme, establish or extend variables and tokens for a dark theme.

Responsibilities/skills:

• Audit an existing Figma design-system library built on an open-source framework, identify gaps, and develop a prioritized completion plan.
• Complete and standardize the library's visual styling, variables, design tokens, and components for use in new internal web and mobile applications.
• Configure component properties, variants, responsive behavior, and interactive states so designers can adapt components without detaching instances.
• Enhance data-table components to support complex workflows, including filtering, sorting, pagination, selection, and bulk actions.
• Create approximately three to five custom components, including navigation and card elements, based on gaps identified during the audit.
• Collaborate with a design-system developer to align Figma assets with coded components, including naming, tokens, states, and behavior.
• Participate in project check-ins and design reviews, incorporate consolidated feedback, and explain recommendations and tradeoffs.
• Publish the completed library and recommend a process for requesting, reviewing, and approving future contributions.
• If time permits after completing the light theme, establish or extend variables and tokens for a dark theme.

Requirements

• 5-10 years of relevant UX, product design, or design-system experience.
• Demonstrated experience building, extending, or maintaining a substantial Figma design system-not solely using an existing library to design screens.
• Advanced proficiency with Figma components, properties, variants, variables, modes, styles, libraries, and prototyping.
• Experience creating scalable design-token structures and adapting established design systems to organizational branding and application needs.
• Strong understanding of component anatomy, responsive behavior, interaction states, and reusable patterns.
• Experience designing complex, data-heavy interfaces, including tables, filters, forms, and bulk actions.
• Working knowledge of accessibility requirements, including contrast, focus treatment, and interaction states.
• Ability to audit an existing library, prioritize gaps, and independently execute an approved scope.
• Strong attention to detail and communication skills, with the ability to translate stakeholder feedback into consistent design-system decisions.
• Preferred experience includes IBM Carbon or comparable open-source design systems, enterprise or internal applications, front-end engineering collaboration, React component libraries, and light/dark theming.