Senior Software Engineer II - Design Systems

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Software Engineer II - Design Systems Company: Carta Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Job Type: Full-Time Category: Engineering / Software Development / Design Systems Date Posted: 2025-12-17T22:25:38 Experience Level: 5-10 Years Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Architect and evolve a robust, production-ready React component library that adheres to rigorous design system standards, developer ergonomics, and extensible API design.
• Lead research and development into how design systems can support AI-driven interfaces and generative workflows, optimizing for both human developers and AI agents.
• Act as a technical bridge between design (Figma) and code, ensuring high fidelity and performance in UI implementation.
• Drive cross-functional projects to enhance frontend quality, including animation fluidity, CSS architecture, and system modularity, to increase developer velocity.
• Coach and advocate for design system adoption across engineering and design teams, conducting code and design reviews to uphold best practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role is explicitly focused on Design Systems engineering, a specialized area within frontend development that requires a blend of technical expertise, design sensibility, and a strong understanding of scalability and developer enablement. The emphasis on "AI-Driven Interfaces" and "Agentic Age" suggests a forward-thinking approach to design systems, positioning this role at the cutting edge of UI development trends.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Component Library Development: Build and maintain sophisticated React components for the "Ink" design system, focusing on reusability, accessibility, performance, and developer experience.
• AI Integration Strategy: Research, prototype, and define how AI can be leveraged within the design system framework, including exploring new component APIs, token structures, and documentation for agentic workflows.
• Design-Code Translation: Translate intricate design concepts from Figma into high-quality, performant UI code, ensuring pixel-perfect implementation and seamless integration.
• Frontend Quality Improvement: Lead initiatives to enhance core frontend technologies, such as optimizing animation performance, refining CSS architecture for scalability, and improving system modularity to accelerate product team development.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with product managers, designers, and fellow engineers to gather requirements, provide technical guidance, and ensure consistent adoption and effective utilization of the design system.
• Mentorship and Advocacy: Conduct thorough code and design reviews, provide constructive feedback, and mentor engineers and designers on design system best practices and implementation strategies.
• System Evolution: Gather feedback from internal users (engineers and designers) to iteratively improve the design system's flexibility, ease of use, and overall effectiveness.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a senior-level individual contributor role, emphasizing technical leadership, strategic thinking around AI integration, and a strong focus on enabling other development teams through a robust design system. The "Agentic Age" aspect implies a need for innovative thinking beyond traditional design system paradigms.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong academic foundation in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field is often beneficial. Demonstrated practical experience and a robust portfolio will be valued.

Experience: 5+ years of relevant experience in frontend engineering, with a significant focus on building and maintaining design systems, UI infrastructure, or AI-assisted development environments.

Required Skills:

• React Expertise: Deep, expert-level knowledge of modern React patterns, including hooks, context API, and component lifecycle management.
• CSS Mastery: Advanced proficiency in CSS, including scalable architecture patterns (e.g., BEM, CSS Modules, Styled Components), preprocessors, and performance optimization techniques.
• Design System Architecture: Proven experience in architecting, building, and maintaining component libraries and design systems from the ground up or significantly evolving existing ones.
• Figma Proficiency: Comfortable working within Figma, understanding design tokens, component structures, and interaction design principles.
• AI/ML Familiarity: Active engagement with or strong interest in the application of AI/ML in UI development and design systems, including understanding generative workflows and agentic systems.
• Performance Optimization: Demonstrated ability to identify and resolve performance bottlenecks in UI code, focusing on rendering speed, animation fluidity, and efficient resource utilization.
• Accessibility Standards: Solid understanding and practical application of WCAG guidelines and best practices for building accessible web interfaces.
• Mentorship & Collaboration: Experience in mentoring junior engineers and collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams, including designers and product managers.

Preferred Skills:

• Animation Technologies: Experience with animation libraries or frameworks such as Framer Motion, CSS Animations, or even foundational knowledge of libraries like D3 for complex visualizations.
• UI Infrastructure: Experience with tooling and systems that support frontend development, such as build tools, linters, and type-checking systems (e.g., TypeScript).
• Cross-functional Project Leadership: Ability to lead complex, cross-team projects from conception to successful implementation.
• Technical Writing: Skill in creating clear, concise, and comprehensive documentation for design systems and components.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "AI-Forward Innovator" and "Redefine the Design System for the Agentic Age" suggests that candidates who can articulate innovative ideas about how design systems will evolve with AI will be highly valued. This goes beyond standard design system roles and requires a forward-looking perspective.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Component Library Showcase: Demonstrate well-architected, reusable React components with clear API documentation, examples, and ideally, a live demo or sandbox environment.
• Design System Case Studies: Present detailed case studies of design system projects, highlighting the problem, your approach, the challenges faced, and the quantifiable impact (e.g., reduced development time, improved consistency, enhanced user experience).
• AI/Agentic System Concepts: Include examples or conceptual proposals for how AI could integrate with or enhance a design system, even if theoretical. This could involve documentation structures optimized for AI, or ideas for AI-assisted component generation.
• Performance & Accessibility Focus: Showcase work that explicitly addresses UI performance optimization and accessibility standards, with evidence of improvements made.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Provide examples of how you've designed or optimized workflows related to design system development, contribution, and adoption. This could include contribution guides, review processes, or versioning strategies.
• Implementation & Automation: Detail instances where you've automated aspects of the design system lifecycle, such as component generation, documentation updates, or testing procedures.
• Measurement & Analysis: Demonstrate how you've measured the impact and adoption of design systems, using metrics related to developer productivity, consistency, and user satisfaction.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the senior level and the emphasis on innovation (AI), the portfolio should not only showcase existing work but also a forward-thinking mindset. The "Agentic Age" aspect implies a need for candidates to demonstrate how they think about future-proofing design systems and integrating emerging technologies.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a Senior Software Engineer II role in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, with 5-10 years of experience and specialized skills in Design Systems and React, a competitive salary range would typically fall between CAD $130,000 - $180,000 annually. This estimate considers the high demand for skilled frontend engineers, the specialized nature of design systems expertise, and the cost of living in the Waterloo region.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive Health & Dental: Full medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Retirement Savings Plan: Employer-matched retirement savings contributions (e.g., RRSP in Canada).
• Stock Options/Equity: Potential for equity in a growing company, aligned with Carta's business model.
• Professional Development: Budget for conferences, training, certifications, and learning resources.
• Generous Paid Time Off: Ample vacation days, personal days, and paid holidays.
• Parental Leave: Supportive parental leave policies.
• Wellness Programs: Initiatives focused on employee well-being and mental health.
• Relocation Assistance: Support for candidates relocating to Waterloo, Ontario.

Working Hours: The standard full-time working week is typically 40 hours. While core hours may be expected for collaboration, there is likely flexibility in scheduling around team meetings and critical project deadlines, allowing for effective management of complex development tasks.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary ranges are estimates based on industry benchmarks for similar roles in the specified location and experience level. Actual compensation may vary based on specific qualifications, interview performance, and internal equity.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: FinTech (Financial Technology), specifically focusing on private market infrastructure, equity management, and fund administration. Carta is building the end-to-end ERP platform for private markets. Company Size: Carta is a significant player in its industry, with a substantial employee base (likely hundreds to over a thousand, based on its market position and funding). This size offers opportunities for impact and growth while maintaining a dynamic environment. Founded: Carta was founded in 2012. Its history reflects a journey of innovation in the private markets space, evolving from cap table management to a comprehensive platform for founders, investors, and fund administrators.

Team Structure:

• Design System Team ("Ink"): This team is positioned at the intersection of design and engineering, responsible for creating foundational UI components, tooling, and documentation.
• Reporting Structure: The Senior Design Systems Engineer will likely report to an Engineering Manager or Lead for the Design Systems team, with close collaboration with Design leadership.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: The role necessitates deep collaboration with product teams, individual engineers, UX designers, and potentially marketing and brand teams to ensure consistent and high-quality user experiences across Carta's products.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Emphasis on using data to understand user needs, system adoption, and performance impact.
• Agile Development: Likely employs agile methodologies for iterative development, testing, and deployment of design system updates.
• User-Centric Design: Focus on the developer and designer as primary users of the design system, prioritizing their experience and feedback.
• Continuous Improvement: A culture of iterative enhancement of processes, tools, and the design system itself.

Company Website: https://carta.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Carta's mission to "create the end-to-end ERP platform for private markets" is a significant undertaking. The design system plays a critical role in ensuring consistency, scalability, and efficiency across this complex platform, making this role highly impactful. The emphasis on replacing "outdated spreadsheets and fragmented service providers" underscores the need for robust, intuitive software solutions.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Senior Software Engineer II position, indicating a mid-to-senior level of experience. It signifies a high degree of technical autonomy, the ability to lead complex technical initiatives, and a crucial role in shaping technical direction within the design systems space.

Reporting Structure: The role reports into the Design Systems team, likely under an Engineering Manager or Lead. This structure allows for focused work on design system development while benefiting from broader engineering team support and collaboration.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is significant, as the design system directly influences the user experience and development velocity of all Carta products. By creating a robust and efficient design system, this engineer will enable hundreds of other engineers and designers to ship consistent, high-quality, and accessible interfaces faster, ultimately contributing to Carta's market leadership and customer satisfaction.

Growth Opportunities:

• Technical Specialization: Deepen expertise in design systems, UI architecture, frontend performance, and emerging areas like AI-driven UI development.
• Leadership Development: Progress into roles such as Principal Engineer, Staff Engineer, or Engineering Manager within the design systems or broader frontend engineering teams.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Expand influence across product lines, contributing to strategic decisions on UI/UX and platform architecture.
• Industry Recognition: Contribute to open-source efforts or speak at conferences related to design systems and frontend development.
• Mentorship: Continue to mentor and guide other engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Senior II" title suggests a role with significant individual contribution expectations, potentially leading smaller projects or significant features, and acting as a technical authority. The growth path clearly points towards further technical leadership or management within specialized engineering domains.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Carta operates with a hybrid work model, suggesting a balance between in-office collaboration and remote flexibility. The Waterloo office is likely designed to foster collaboration, innovation, and a strong sense of community.

Office Location(s): Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. This location is known for its strong tech talent pool and innovation ecosystem, particularly in areas like AI and software development.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Spaces: The office environment is expected to include areas conducive to teamwork, brainstorming, and cross-functional meetings, supporting the collaborative nature of design system work.
• Tools and Technology: Access to modern development tools, high-performance hardware, and robust internal infrastructure necessary for cutting-edge frontend development and design system management.
• Team Interaction: Opportunities for regular interaction with design system team members, broader engineering departments, and design teams, facilitating knowledge sharing and problem-solving.

Work Schedule: A typical 40-hour work week is standard, with flexibility to manage personal schedules around core collaboration hours. This structure allows for focused deep work on complex technical challenges while ensuring availability for team syncs and critical project phases.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement for this role, even within a hybrid framework, suggests a strong emphasis on in-person collaboration, which is often crucial for design system development where close interaction between designers and engineers is paramount.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will review your application and resume, assessing alignment with the core requirements.
• Technical Phone Screen: A conversation with an engineer to discuss your experience, technical skills (React, CSS, design systems), and problem-solving approach.
• Design System Deep Dive: An interview focused on your experience with design systems, including architecture, component development, and strategies for adoption and maintenance. Expect questions about your philosophy and specific project examples.
• Coding Challenge/Take-Home Assignment: A practical exercise to assess your coding proficiency, ability to build reusable components, and understanding of best practices in React and CSS. This might involve building a small component or solving a UI-related problem.
• System Design Interview: A session to evaluate your ability to design scalable and maintainable systems, potentially focusing on aspects of the design system architecture, AI integration, or frontend infrastructure.
• Behavioral & Cultural Fit Interview: Discussions to assess your teamwork, communication skills, leadership potential, and alignment with Carta's values. Prepare to discuss how you handle feedback, collaborate with others, and approach challenges.
• Hiring Manager/Team Lead Interview: A final discussion to confirm fit and answer any remaining questions.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Selectively: Showcase 2-3 of your most impactful design system projects. Prioritize quality over quantity.
• Structure Your Examples: For each project, clearly outline the problem statement, your role and contributions, the technical approach (React, CSS, architecture), key challenges, and measurable outcomes (e.g., impact on development speed, consistency, accessibility).
• Highlight AI Innovation: If you have concepts or experimental work related to AI and design systems, dedicate a section to it. Explain your thinking and potential applications.
• Demonstrate Code Quality: Provide links to GitHub repositories (if public) or detailed code snippets that showcase clean, well-documented, and performant code.
• Visualize Impact: Use screenshots, mockups, or live demos to illustrate the visual and functional aspects of your work.
• Tell a Story: Frame your portfolio items as compelling narratives that demonstrate your problem-solving skills and impact.

Challenge Preparation:

• React Fundamentals: Brush up on core React concepts, hooks, state management, and performance optimization techniques.
• CSS Architecture: Be ready to discuss scalable CSS methodologies and best practices.
• Design System Principles: Refresh your knowledge of design tokens, component hierarchies, theming, and accessibility standards.
• AI/Agentic UI Concepts: Think critically about how AI can influence design systems – e.g., AI-assisted component generation, automated documentation, intelligent theming.
• Problem-Solving: Practice breaking down complex UI problems into smaller, manageable parts.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "AI-Driven Interfaces" and "Agentic Age" means interviewers will be looking for candidates who can think beyond current design system paradigms. Be prepared to discuss speculative but well-reasoned ideas about the future of design systems in an AI-enhanced world.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• React: The core JavaScript library for building user interfaces.
• JavaScript/TypeScript: Primary programming languages. TypeScript is highly likely for enhanced type safety.
• HTML5/CSS3: Fundamental web technologies.
• Figma: The primary design tool for UI/UX design, collaboration, and prototyping.
• Storybook: Likely used for developing, documenting, and testing UI components in isolation.
• Version Control: Git, with platforms like GitHub or GitLab for code management.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Internal Analytics Tools: Carta likely uses internal tools or integrates with platforms to track design system adoption, component usage, and performance metrics across products.
• Performance Monitoring Tools: Lighthouse, WebPageTest, or similar tools for analyzing frontend performance.

CRM & Automation:

• Project Management Tools: Jira, Asana, or similar tools for managing tasks, sprints, and cross-functional projects.
• CI/CD Pipelines: Tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or CircleCI for automating build, test, and deployment processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: While specific internal tools are not listed, the core technologies for a Senior Design Systems Engineer are well-established. The emphasis on AI suggests potential exploration or integration of AI-related development tools or platforms.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Build to Last: A commitment to creating robust, scalable, and maintainable solutions that stand the test of time.
• Customer Obsession: Deep focus on understanding and serving the needs of internal users (engineers, designers) and external customers.
• Data-Driven: Utilizing data and metrics to inform decisions, measure impact, and drive continuous improvement.
• Collaboration & Transparency: Fostering an environment where ideas are shared openly, feedback is constructive, and teams work together effectively.
• Innovation & Forward-Thinking: Encouraging experimentation and exploration of new technologies and approaches, particularly in areas like AI.

Collaboration Style:

• Partnership with Design: A close, symbiotic relationship between design and engineering to ensure seamless translation of design vision into functional UI.
• Empowering Developers: Focusing on enabling other engineering teams by providing them with well-documented, easy-to-use, and reliable components and tools.
• Iterative Feedback Loops: Regularly seeking and incorporating feedback from stakeholders to refine the design system and its associated processes.
• Knowledge Sharing: Actively participating in code reviews, design reviews, and internal tech talks to disseminate knowledge and best practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: Carta's emphasis on "creating the end-to-end ERP platform for private markets" implies a culture that values deep domain expertise, robust engineering, and a commitment to building foundational infrastructure. The "Agentic Age" focus suggests a culture that embraces future trends.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Consistency and Flexibility: Ensuring the design system provides a consistent user experience while offering enough flexibility for product teams to innovate and meet unique requirements.
• Driving Adoption: Overcoming inertia and encouraging widespread adoption of the design system across diverse engineering teams.
• Evolving with AI: Navigating the complexities of integrating AI into design systems, defining new patterns, and ensuring compatibility with generative workflows.
• Maintaining High Standards: Upholding rigorous standards for performance, accessibility, and visual fidelity as the system and product suite grow.
• Technical Debt Management: Proactively managing technical debt within the component library and associated tooling.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI in UI/UX: Dedicated time and resources to explore and implement AI-driven features and workflows within the design system.
• Advanced Frontend Architecture: Deepening knowledge in areas like performance optimization, modern React patterns, and scalable CSS.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Opportunities to lead initiatives that span multiple teams and disciplines.
• Industry Engagement: Potential to contribute to industry best practices, participate in open-source projects, or present at conferences.
• Mentorship Programs: Formal or informal mentorship opportunities to guide junior engineers or be mentored by senior leaders.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are typical for senior roles in design systems, with the added complexity of integrating cutting-edge AI concepts. The growth opportunities are tailored to advancing expertise in these specialized areas.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach redefining a design system to accommodate AI-driven interfaces and generative workflows?" (Focus on adaptability, new patterns, and documentation strategies.)
• "Describe a time you had to convince a team to adopt your design system. What were the challenges, and how did you overcome them?" (Highlight communication, empathy, and value proposition.)
• "Walk us through the process of building a complex, reusable React component from scratch. What considerations do you make for API design, accessibility, and performance?" (Demonstrate your end-to-end process and technical depth.)
• "How do you balance the need for design consistency with the need for product teams to iterate quickly and solve unique problems?" (Show your understanding of trade-offs and pragmatic application of design systems.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Carta's mission to build the ERP for private markets?" (Research Carta's business and articulate how the design system supports this vision.)
• "How do you ensure accessibility and performance are prioritized in your work?" (Connect this to Carta's commitment to quality and user experience.)
• "Describe your ideal collaboration with designers and product managers." (Emphasize partnership, feedback, and shared ownership.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Start with the "Why": Clearly articulate the problem each portfolio piece solves and its overall impact.
• Focus on Your Contribution: Be specific about your role, the decisions you made, and the technical challenges you overcame.
• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals (screenshots, demos) and code snippets to illustrate your work effectively.
• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use metrics (e.g., "reduced development time by X%", "improved load time by Y%") to demonstrate value.
• Explain AI Concepts Clearly: If presenting AI-related work, ensure your explanations are accessible and highlight the practical benefits or potential.
• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate detailed questions about your code, architectural choices, and problem-solving approaches.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to assess not only technical skills but also strategic thinking, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit, especially concerning innovation and collaboration. Be prepared to discuss your vision for the future of design systems.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Software Engineer II - Design Systems position:

• Submit your application through the official application portal (https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/carta/jobs/7544237003).
• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your experience with React, CSS, design systems, UI architecture, and any exposure to AI/ML in development. Quantify achievements where possible.
• Prepare Your Portfolio: Curate 2-3 key design system projects. Ensure clear documentation of your role, technical approach, challenges, and impact. Include any conceptual work related to AI integration.
• Research Carta: Understand their business, mission, and market position. Familiarize yourself with their existing products and design language if possible.
• Practice Interview Questions: Prepare thoughtful answers to common technical, behavioral, and system design questions, with a specific focus on design systems and AI integration. Practice presenting your portfolio.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

---