Software Engineer, Design Systems

Whatnot•San Francisco, CA

13d•$207,000 - $230,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Whatnot Design System (WDS) is how one product ships coherently across iOS, Android, and web. We're in the middle of WDS 2.0 — a ground-up evolution of our tokens, components, and the pipeline that connects Figma to production code on all three platforms. As a Design Systems engineer, you will: Build and evolve Whatnot Design System components across iOS (Swift/SwiftUI), Android (Kotlin/Compose), and web (React/TypeScript), so that every team ships consistent, accessible, high-craft UI — measured by component adoption, migration velocity, and reduction of one-off UI in the product. Own and extend our design token architecture — base, semantic, and component tokens — and the automated pipeline that syncs them from Figma through our token repository into each platform's codebase, so a change made once lands everywhere without breaking changes. Partner daily with product designers as a true collaborator: reviewing specs and redlines, pressure-testing component APIs and naming, flagging gaps between Figma and code, and building the tooling (Figma plugins, code connect, component playgrounds, snapshot galleries) that keeps design and engineering in lockstep. Raise the bar on quality and leverage: accessibility by default, dark mode, RTL, haptics, snapshot and visual regression testing, component telemetry, and AI-assisted workflows that turn a Figma component into a first-draft implementation. We offer flexibility to work from home or from one of our global office hubs, and we value in-person time for planning, problem-solving, and connection. Team members in this role must live within commuting distance of our San Francisco or New York hub.

Requirements

5+ years of software engineering experience building user-facing products
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, a related field, or equivalent work experience.
Shipped production UI on at least two of our three platforms — iOS (Swift/SwiftUI), Android (Kotlin/Jetpack Compose), and web (React/TypeScript) — and genuine enthusiasm for flexing across all three. You follow the work to whichever platform needs it most.
Hands-on experience building or maintaining a design system: component libraries, design tokens (e.g. Figma variables, Tokens Studio, style-dictionary-like pipelines), versioning and migration strategies, and API design that other engineers love to use.
A strong track record of cross-functional collaboration with designers — you're comfortable in Figma, can speak fluently about variants, properties, and auto layout, and treat designers as partners in defining component behavior rather than handing work over a wall.
Care for the details that make components trustworthy: accessibility (VoiceOver/TalkBack), theming and dark mode, internationalization/RTL, testing (snapshot, visual regression), and documentation.

Nice To Haves

Built Figma plugins or design-to-code tooling
Worked with documentation platforms like Supernova or Storybook
Used AI agents to accelerate component and token migrations

Responsibilities

Build and evolve Whatnot Design System components across iOS (Swift/SwiftUI), Android (Kotlin/Compose), and web (React/TypeScript), so that every team ships consistent, accessible, high-craft UI — measured by component adoption, migration velocity, and reduction of one-off UI in the product.
Own and extend our design token architecture — base, semantic, and component tokens — and the automated pipeline that syncs them from Figma through our token repository into each platform's codebase, so a change made once lands everywhere without breaking changes.
Partner daily with product designers as a true collaborator: reviewing specs and redlines, pressure-testing component APIs and naming, flagging gaps between Figma and code, and building the tooling (Figma plugins, code connect, component playgrounds, snapshot galleries) that keeps design and engineering in lockstep.
Raise the bar on quality and leverage: accessibility by default, dark mode, RTL, haptics, snapshot and visual regression testing, component telemetry, and AI-assisted workflows that turn a Figma component into a first-draft implementation.

Benefits

Generous Holiday and Time off Policy
Health Insurance options including Medical, Dental, Vision
Work From Home Support
Home office setup allowance
Monthly allowance for cell phone and internet
Care benefits
Monthly allowance for wellness
Annual allowance towards Childcare
Lifetime benefit for family planning, such as adoption or fertility expenses
Retirement; 401k offering for Traditional and Roth accounts in the US (employer match up to 4% of base salary) and Pension plans internationally
Monthly allowance to dogfood the app
16 weeks of paid parental leave + one month gradual return to work company leave allowances run concurrently with country leave requirements which take precedence.