AI Native Frontend Engineer

Quona Capital; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Quona Capital in Cape Town is seeking a Senior Frontend Engineer to lead the development of polished, production-ready interfaces in an AI-native environment. The role emphasizes autonomy and involves building and iterating on backend capabilities. Candidates should have production experience with React and a strong judgment in frontend engineering. Interest in AI-assisted development tools and familiarity with component libraries is advantageous. Join a small, high-trust team to pioneer innovative solutions.

Qualifications

• Senior-level frontend engineering judgment to own a full UI surface.
• Production experience with a modern component framework, preferably React.
• Demonstrated ability to produce polished, production-credible UIs quickly.

Responsibilities

• Rapidly build and iterate on interfaces that surface backend capabilities.
• Produce production-credible demos that build trust.
• Maintain a shared design system and reusable UI primitives for the pod.

Skills

Frontend engineering judgment

Production experience with React

Ability to produce polished UIs quickly

Active use of AI-assisted development tooling

Working from intent rather than specs

Tools

Azure

Snowflake

Python

SQL

GitHub

Job description

OVERALL PURPOSE

We are building a small innovation pod that converts high-value ideas into production-ready capabilities fast. You will be the person who makes those capabilities believable, through interfaces that feel polished, trustworthy, and real from day one.

You will own the full frontend surface, working from intent rather than detailed specs, and make independent judgement calls about when something is ready to put in front of stakeholders. There is no senior colleague to escalate to — this is your domain.

The trade‑off is real autonomy, a small high‑trust team, and the opportunity to work at the frontier of AI‑native development where your output velocity will be unlike anything in a conventional engineering environment. In exchange, you gain genuine autonomy, a position on a small, high‑trust team, and a unique chance to pioneer AI‑native development. Your output velocity in this environment will far surpass what is possible in conventional engineering roles.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Rapidly build and iterate on interfaces that surface backend capabilities
• Produce production‑credible demos — polished enough to build trust, honest enough to be real
• Maintain a shared design system and reusable UI primitives for the pod
• Implement interaction quality: loading states, error handling, feedback loops
• Integrate directly with APIs built by the backend lead
• Use AI tooling (Cursor, v0, or equivalent) as a core part of your workflow
• Contribute to decisions about when a demo is ready for stakeholder exposure

THE EXPERIENCE WE’RE LOOKING FOR

• Senior‑level frontend engineering judgment — able to own a full UI surface independently
• Production experience with a modern component framework (React preferred)
• Demonstrated ability to produce polished, production‑credible UIs quickly
• Active use of AI‑assisted development tooling
• Comfortable working from intent rather than detailed specifications
• Clear instinct for when polish matters and when it does not

ADVANTAGEOUS

• Experience building internal tools, dashboards, or workflow UIs
• Has worked in a small team or startup environment
• Familiarity with design systems or component library maintenance
• Experience in fintech or regulated industries

OUR TECH STACK

• Azure
• Snowflake
• DBTi
• Python
• SQL
• Hex
• GitHub