Design Technologist

Abaka AI•Mountain View, CA

8d•$110,000 - $170,000

About The Position

Abaka AI is hiring a Design Technologist to shape how its products look, feel, and work, from initial sketches through working front-end code. This is a foundational role on a new product and software engineering team, with high ownership and a direct path from idea to shipped product. The role bridges design and engineering: understanding user problems, designing solutions, and building them so projects can begin without waiting for engineering. The Design Technologist will work directly with engineers and the team lead and help establish the product foundation for Abaka AI’s web and mobile products, which serve data contributors, annotators, and enterprise customers. The position involves end-to-end product design and prototyping, functional prototypes and production-quality front-end implementation, and building a design system as both design foundations and reusable code components. The person will research user workflows, challenge requirements when appropriate, design workflow-heavy and data-dense interfaces, and use research, usability testing, and product data to validate and improve shipped work. They will collaborate with engineers on architecture and implementation quality, contribute to the front-end codebase, use AI coding and design tools, and help develop team practices such as design reviews, critique, documentation, and processes. The base salary range is $110,000–$170,000 USD annually. Compensation may vary based on qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. The role is eligible for equity and a comprehensive benefits package.

Requirements

1 to 4 years of experience as a design technologist, design engineer, product designer who codes, or front-end engineer with strong design skills, with shipped work to discuss.
A portfolio or code samples demonstrating both design craft and working implementation, such as live prototypes, shipped UI, or an open-source or personal project.
Proficiency in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript/TypeScript, with hands-on experience in React or a similar component framework.
Fluency in Figma and rapid prototyping, and the ability to move between design tools and a code editor.
Strong UX fundamentals, including information architecture, interaction design, user flows, and usability.
Strong visual craft, including layout, typography, hierarchy, and attention to detail.
Evidence of systems thinking, such as reusable components, patterns, or a design system built or contributed to.
Ability to explain and defend design decisions to engineers and stakeholders in clear written and spoken English.

Nice To Haves

Experience as an early or founding member of a design or product team at a startup.
Experience with design tokens, theming, Storybook or similar component tooling, and accessibility standards such as WCAG.
Experience with web animation and motion using CSS, Framer Motion, or GSAP, or with native iOS/Android patterns and cross-platform frameworks such as React Native.
Experience designing data-dense or workflow-heavy tools such as dashboards, internal tools, marketplaces, or B2B platforms.
Experience with AI coding tools such as Cursor or Claude Code in a design and build workflow.
Background in AI products, data platforms, or work involving remote expert contributors.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end product design and prototyping for web and mobile, including discovery, user flows, wireframes, high-fidelity UI, and working prototypes.
Build functional prototypes and production-quality front-end code using HTML/CSS, TypeScript, and React so ideas can be tested and shipped without waiting on engineering at the start of a project.
Build the design system from scratch as both design and code, including foundations such as color, typography, spacing, iconography, and tokens, plus a shared component library.
Talk to users, study their workflows, frame problems, and challenge requirements when a better solution exists.
Design and build workflow-heavy, data-dense interfaces such as annotation tools, review queues, dashboards, and internal platforms.
Use AI coding and design tools to speed up exploration, prototyping, and implementation, and share effective approaches with the team.
Partner with engineers to ship products, align on architecture, review implementation quality, and contribute directly to the front-end codebase when useful.
Use research, usability testing, and product data to validate decisions and improve live products.
Help shape team practices, including design reviews, critique, documentation, and processes for a growing product team.