Founding Design Engineer

Skiffra•Los Angeles, CA

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

Skiffra is building AI-native orchestration systems to support operational decision-making in physical industries, starting with mining and natural resources. The Founding Design Engineer will be the company’s first dedicated design hire and will own frontend engineering and product design end to end, from understanding field problems through designing, building, and shipping production software. The role will establish Skiffra’s design system, interaction patterns, reusable component library, frontend standards, and product quality bar. A central focus is helping experienced operators, planners, and site leaders understand, evaluate, question, and override AI-driven recommendations. The engineer will spend regular time on site observing workflows, testing prototypes, and applying those insights to clear, fast, dependable products. This is a hybrid role with regular in-person collaboration in Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area; Skiffra is not a remote-only company. Candidates must be authorized to work in the country where the role is based. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience building and shipping complex production frontends.
Production-level React, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS skills, with the ability to independently build and ship complex frontend applications.
Exceptional product design and UX judgment, strong visual design skills, and fluency in Figma.
Daily hands-on use of AI tools such as Claude Code or Codex to prototype and ship faster, with the ability to review, debug, and own production output.
A track record of owning products or significant features end to end, from design through engineering and deployment.
Experience designing complex workflows or data-rich applications, such as dashboards, planning tools, or decision-support software, and making them intuitive.
Experience designing AI-driven or data-driven products where users need to understand, trust, and act on system outputs.
Experience building 0-to-1 products, including establishing a design system and frontend standards where none existed.
A solid grasp of frontend architecture, component libraries, responsive design, accessibility, and performance.
Curiosity about physical operations and willingness to visit sites to understand them.
A builder’s mentality: comfort with ambiguity, ability to move quickly and judge when something is ready to ship, and pride in the quality of shipped work.
Authorization to work in the country where the role is based; visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

Experience in mining, resources, energy, logistics, or other industrial settings.
Experience with offline-first, mobile, or field-based applications.
Experience with real-time data or agentic workflows.
Experience as an early hire at a startup.

Responsibilities

Own frontend development and product design for Skiffra’s products, taking features from initial concept through production.
Design how users work with AI, including presenting recommendations, confidence and uncertainty, and reasoning, while keeping humans in control of final decisions.
Turn complex operational workflows and real-time data into interfaces that help planners, site leaders, and operators make decisions quickly.
Build Skiffra’s design system, reusable component library, and frontend standards from the ground up.
Design for administrative offices, control rooms, and site conditions that may include unreliable connectivity and time-sensitive decisions.
Spend regular time on site with operators and field teams to observe workflows, test prototypes, and bring findings into the product.
Work with product, engineering, and field teams to prototype, ship, and continuously improve products.