Build: AI for the Built World | Computational Design Engineer

Build Technologies • London, New York

4d • $160,000 - $200,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Computational Design Engineer is a design and engineering role responsible for how Build’s product looks, feels, and works, and for shipping it in production code. The role designs product experiences and 3D and site-design tools, then builds them using React and TypeScript on the front end and Rhino, Grasshopper, and Python for geometry. The work supports clients making significant decisions about land, power, and buildings, so product interfaces, tools, and deliverables must be clear, useful, and defensible.

The engineer designs and builds the product clients use every day, the tools that lay out sites, and the deliverables clients receive. There is no handoff: the role covers sketching, modeling, building, shipping, and observing client use. The person will be the design lead on a small, fast-moving team, working directly with James SE and alongside engineers and domain experts.

The position owns spatial and 3D design tools, end-to-end product design, front-end implementation, the design system, and the clarity of maps, site data, workflows, and reports. It also includes flagship demos, the website, client deliverables, and direct time with clients to understand how project decisions are made and approved.

Build describes its culture as fast-moving and high-intensity, with high standards, autonomy, ownership, and a focus on teamwork and outcomes. The role is on-site in New York City or London; remote work is not offered. Compensation is $160,000–$200,000 plus equity in New York, or £115,000–£145,000 plus equity in London.

Requirements

• Training in architecture, product design, or computational design, with experience writing production code.
• Experience working with 3D and geometry, such as Rhino and Grasshopper, Python or C#, Three.js, or similar, and having built tools with these technologies.
• Experience shipping production front ends such as React, TypeScript, or Next.js, in addition to designing them.
• A few years of experience at a leading architecture, design, or engineering practice; at a product company building design or spatial tools; or in an own practice focused on this work.
• Ability to make complex tools accessible to non-technical users.
• A portfolio showing both design thinking and a working product or tool that shipped.
• Ability to work effectively with engineers and meet engineering standards.
• Care about AI, software, and how the physical world is built.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with masterplanning, site planning, or massing studies.
• Experience with CAD and drawing output, including DXF and layered drawings.
• Experience designing data-heavy, map-based, or AI products.
• An eye for brand as well as product.
• Experience as a founder or the first designer at an early-stage company.

Responsibilities

• Design and build parametric logic, site layouts, 3D views, and CAD outputs for spatial and site-design tools.
• Own product design end to end, including user flows, interfaces, and feature details from concept through release.
• Build the designed front end in React and TypeScript, meeting the same review and shipping standards as the engineering team.
• Develop and maintain a design system of components, typography, motion, and rules to keep product surfaces consistent.
• Make maps, site data, and multi-step workflows clear through usable screens and reports.
• Create product-related materials, including flagship demos, the website, and client deliverables.
• Spend time with clients to understand how decisions are made and approved on real projects, and apply those insights to product development.
• Work as design lead on a small team, collaborating with engineers and domain experts.

Benefits

• Meaningful, generous equity.
• Radical autonomy and real ownership of problems and outcomes.
• An accelerated opportunity to learn company-building and gain product judgment, execution speed, and accountability.
• Work alongside experienced, high-performing teammates.
• A culture that includes shared food and extraordinary experiences.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: No Education Listed