Lead Design Engineer

Braze•Chicago, IL

4h•Hybrid

About The Position

At Braze, we have found our people. We’re a genuinely approachable, exceptionally kind, and intensely passionate crew. We seek to ignite that passion by setting high standards, championing teamwork, and creating work-life harmony as we collectively navigate rapid growth on a global scale while striving for greater equity and opportunity – inside and outside our organization. To flourish here, you must be prepared to set a high bar for yourself and those around you. There is always a way to contribute: Acting with autonomy, having accountability and being open to new perspectives are essential to our continued success. Our deep curiosity to learn and our eagerness to share diverse passions with others gives us balance and injects a one-of-a-kind vibrancy into our culture. If you are driven to solve exhilarating challenges and have a bias toward action in the face of change, you will be empowered to make a real impact here, with a sharp and passionate team at your back. If Braze sounds like a place where you can thrive, we can’t wait to meet you. WHAT YOU'LL DO We’re seeking a Lead Design Engineer to own and evolve Braze’s design system and shared UX foundations. This is a senior individual contributor role responsible for shaping the technical and design direction of our shared UI foundations in close partnership with Engineering. You will operate at the intersection of design and code to ensure our system is robust, scalable, accessible, and implementation-ready across product teams. This role strengthens the connection between design and implementation. You will modernize how our design system is built, documented, validated, and adopted, while driving automation and improving system quality and consistency. You will contribute hands-on while mentoring designers and engineers, raising the bar for accessibility, web standards, CSS practices, interaction quality, and implementation-aware thinking across the UX organization. You will also help future-proof our design system by enabling programmatic access and validation. This includes supporting automation workflows and making system foundations usable through tooling, CLI interfaces, and AI-assisted workflows where appropriate.

Requirements

5+ years working in design systems, design engineering, or highly technical product design roles within complex SaaS environments
Proven track record building, scaling, or modernizing a design system in close partnership with Engineering
Strong fluency in frontend fundamentals, including component architecture, semantic HTML, modern CSS practices, responsive systems, accessibility standards (WCAG), and scalable UI patterns
Demonstrated design craft judgment, with the ability to define and uphold system-level UX quality across interaction patterns and shared components
Deep understanding of design-to-code workflows and how to strengthen collaboration between designers and engineers
A builder mindset, having introduced automation, tooling, or programmatic access (APIs, CLI tools, validation pipelines, AI-assisted workflows) to improve system quality and efficiency
A track record of mentoring designers and elevating technical fluency across a UX organization
Strong systems thinking, with clear awareness of scalability, performance, maintainability, and long-term architectural tradeoffs
Proven ability to establish standards and drive adoption across multiple product teams through influence rather than formal authority
Clear, credible communicator who builds trust across design and engineering
Comfortable operating in fast-moving, resource-constrained environments with high ambiguity

Nice To Haves

Contributed production-grade frontend code to component libraries or shared UI frameworks
Built internal developer tooling, automated validation systems, or CI/CD-integrated quality checks
Led accessibility audits or driven measurable accessibility improvements at scale
Designed or implemented token-based systems, theming strategies, or multi-product UI foundations
Integrated design systems with AI-assisted tooling or automated compliance workflows
Contributed to open-source UI systems or engaged with frontend/design systems communities

Responsibilities

Own, in partnership with Engineering, the technical and design direction of the design system, ensuring it scales effectively and remains coherent across product teams
Contribute hands-on to system architecture, interaction patterns, documentation, and implementation decisions
Define scalable interaction and component patterns that balance usability, clarity, flexibility, performance, and maintainability
Strengthen design-to-code alignment by partnering closely with frontend engineers on tokens, semantic HTML, CSS architecture, accessibility standards (WCAG), and implementation practices
Champion accessibility, inclusive design, web standards, and modern CSS practices across the UX organization
Mentor designers in accessibility, responsive systems, CSS fundamentals, and implementation-aware design thinking
Drive automation and tooling that improve workflow efficiency, system compliance, and programmatic access (e.g., APIs, CLI tools, AI-assisted validation)
Establish scalable contribution, governance, and release workflows to support adoption and long-term system health
Reduce fragmentation, UX debt, and inconsistency across the platform
Define and track metrics that measure system quality, accessibility, automation impact, and adoption

Benefits

Competitive compensation that may include equity
Retirement and Employee Stock Purchase Plans
Flexible paid time off
Comprehensive benefit plans covering medical, dental, vision, life, and disability
Family services that include fertility benefits and equal paid parental leave
Professional development supported by formal career pathing, learning platforms, and a yearly learning stipend
A curated in-office employee experience, designed to foster community, team connections, and innovation
Opportunities to give back to your community, including an annual company-wide Volunteer Week and donation matching
Employee Resource Groups that provide supportive communities within Braze
Collaborative, transparent, and fun culture recognized as a Great Place to Work®