Staff Software Engineeer - Design Systems

Intuit; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 203,000 - 274,000; Full time

Job summary

Intuit is seeking a Staff Design System Engineer to lead the design of scalable, high-performance UI infrastructure that empowers hundreds of engineers across QuickBooks. You will own the technical vision for the design system, champion accessibility, and leverage AI tools to accelerate development while ensuring a top-tier developer experience.

The role emphasizes system thinking, cross-team collaboration, and a strong focus on performance, accessibility, and scalable component libraries that

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in a related field.
• Experience owning the technical vision and strategy for a design system across multiple teams.
• Deep knowledge of front-end performance optimization techniques and productivity improvements.
• Expert knowledge of React, TypeScript, Git, Figma, and Storybook.
• Strong understanding of accessibility standards (ARIA, WCAG) and inclusive design.
• Portfolio or GitHub showcasing systems-level engineering and design-system work.

Responsibilities

• Architect for Scale: own the technical vision for the QuickBooks Design System and guide long-term UI infrastructure.
• Drive Component Strategy: coordinate complex initiatives with cross-functional stakeholders to deliver robust tech integrations.
• Optimize Performance: promote performance best practices, reduce bundle sizes, and enable efficient rendering.
• Bridge the Gap: design end-to-end user workflows with scalable solutions for standardized UI components.
• Drive Developer Experience: remove blockers and create durable, future-proof solutions for consuming teams.
• Champion Accessibility: ensure WCAG 2.1+ compliance and maintain quality standards across the project lifecycle.
• Accelerate the Organization: align engineers and teams to close tech debt and boost productivity.
• Innovate with AI: explore AI/GenAI opportunities to enhance the design system architecture.

Skills

Front-end performance optimization

Accessibility knowledge (ARIA, WCAG)

Design-system ownership

Cross-functional collaboration

DX improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, HCI, Design, or related field

Tools

React

TypeScript

Git

Figma

Storybook

CSS

Job description

Overview

We’re looking for a creative and enthusiastic Staff Design System Engineer to join our Design Technology group. A design system engineer is a full stack developer who lives at the intersection of technology-driven innovation and human-centric design. Unlike a traditional front‑end role focused on building individual product features, you will be building the foundational UI infrastructure that empowers hundreds of engineers across the company. As a design system engineer at Intuit, you will advocate for content strategy, creative directions, and engineering complexities. We’re looking for strategic tech leaders who can solve complex problems and influence product and tech solutions in areas such as large‑scale system design, artificial intelligence, UI design, motion, and accessibility. You will be expected to architect highly scalable, performant component libraries while leveraging the latest generative AI tools (like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or Claude Code) to accelerate development and bridge the gap between Figma and code. If you’re ready to create bold, delightful, and globally scalable solutions that power prosperity around the globe, we want to hear from you. You must love

• Thinking in "systems" and abstract patterns rather than one‑off pages or single‑use features.
• Obsessing over intuitive component design and developer experience.
• Customer‑centered design processes and emotionally connecting with customers.
• Facing challenging problems independently and optimizing code for maximum performance at scale.
• Inspiring others to aim for bigger, bolder, and smarter.
• Agile and experiment‑driven development.
• Collaborating, communicating, and presenting across multiple engineering and design teams.
• Continuously learning and adopting AI‑augmented workflows to eliminate repetitive tasks and focus on high‑impact systems architecture.

Responsibilities

Architect for Scale (Tech Vision): Own the technical vision and strategy for the QuickBooks Design System. Lead the technical design of complex systems by balancing tradeoffs and foreseeing long‑term implications for the entire UI infrastructure.

Drive Component Strategy & Specifications: Orchestrate complex initiatives by sequencing dependencies, managing risks, and cultivating partnerships with cross‑functional stakeholders (Product, Analytics, Design) to provide comprehensive tech integrations.

Optimize Performance: Establish and encourage coding best practices, driving operational excellence within and beyond your team to optimize rendering performance, bundle sizes, and tree‑shaking across the ecosystem.

Bridge the Gap: Design end‑to‑end customer workflows and scalable tech solutions, acting as the connective tissue to balance innovation with practicality when standardizing UI components.

Drive Developer Experience (DX): Identify and eliminate barriers caused by technical or prioritization complexity. Find durable, future‑proof solutions applicable beyond single use cases to ensure a flawless upgrade path for consuming teams.

Champion Accessibility: Define success by integrating project metrics and strategic trade‑offs, ensuring WCAG 2.1+ compliance is met while adjusting quality and maintenance standards to match the lifecycle needs of the project.

Accelerate the Organization: Align individual engineers, dev teams, and cross‑functional partners while identifying larger gaps in tech debt, tools, and processes that drive big gains in productivity. Provide actionable feedback to empower senior engineers and work with managers to build a culture of continuous learning.

Innovate with AI: Champion new solutions, emerging tech, and AI/GenAI to solve complex cross‑team problems. Promote investment in new tools and technologies that create new opportunities for the design system.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Human‑Computer interaction, Design, or a related technical field or equivalent practical experience.
• Extensive experience owning the technical vision and strategy for a domain, including building, maintaining, and scaling a widely consumed component library or design system across multiple teams.
• Deep knowledge of front‑end performance optimization techniques, with a proven track record of solving difficult problems and creating productivity improvements that affect multiple teams.
• Expert knowledge of React, TypeScript, Git, Figma, and component documentation platforms (like Storybook).
• Expert knowledge of CSS and the headless UI ecosystem, with the ability to lead complex tech initiatives and guide teams through pivots and complex changes.
• A profound understanding of accessibility (ARIA, WCAG, screen readers) combined with the ability to lead experimentation, own problem validation, and influence product roadmaps.
• A strong point of view backed by customer research, with the ability to connect feedback, data, and usage signals to identify latent needs and align strategic goals across teams.
• A portfolio or GitHub profile showcasing professional creative work, open‑source contributions, or systems‑level engineering.
• Deep expertise in evaluating potential AI solutions, finding opportunities to integrate AI/GenAI in foundational architecture, and anticipating risks in complex, ambiguous projects.

Intuit provides a competitive compensation package with a strong pay for performance rewards approach. This position may be eligible for a cash bonus, equity rewards and benefits, in accordance with our applicable plans and programs (see more about our compensation and benefits at Intuit®: Careers | Benefits). Pay offered is based on factors such as job‑related knowledge, skills, experience, and work location. To drive ongoing fair pay for employees, Intuit conducts regular comparisons across categories of ethnicity and gender.

The Expected Base Pay Range For This Position Is

Mountain View $202,500 - $274,000