Sr. Design Systems Engineer, Labs

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Sr. Design Systems Engineer, Labs

Company: Higharc

Location: Remote (United States)

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Engineering - Frontend / Design Systems

Date Posted: 2026-03-27

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (7+ Years)

Remote Status: Remote Solely

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead the development and evolution of a scalable design system and component library to support rapid experimentation and product delivery within Higharc Labs.

• Architect robust frontend patterns that facilitate AI-assisted development workflows, ensuring reliability, maintainability, and iterative ease.

• Drive the creation of production-safe prototypes and beta-ready user experiences for experimental product initiatives, from initial concept to validated deployment.

• Collaborate closely with design and product teams to translate foundational design principles into codified visual language, interaction patterns, and UX guardrails.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned within "Higharc Labs," indicating a focus on innovation, experimentation, and the development of new product features or technologies. The Sr. Design Systems Engineer will be a foundational member, suggesting significant impact and autonomy in shaping the early stages of design and frontend architecture for these initiatives. This is not a maintenance role but a proactive building and strategic one, demanding strong product intuition and a builder's mentality.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a comprehensive, scalable design system and component library that ensures consistency, accessibility, and high UX quality across numerous rapid experiments.

• Define and implement frontend architecture patterns that enable AI-assisted development workflows, making interfaces reliable, understandable, and easy to iterate upon.

• Develop right-sized product UX for Labs experiments, encompassing problem exploration, wireframing, rapid prototyping, and delivery of high-quality, beta-ready workflows.

• Partner with the design team to translate high-level design principles into reusable primitives, documented standards, codified visual language, and interaction patterns.

• Create and own a repeatable experimentation framework, including both processes and tooling, to support fast prototyping, user feedback loops, and broader organizational participation.

• Define clear graduation criteria for product bets, including interface contracts, accessibility baselines, analytics hooks, known limitations, and transition plans for successful initiatives.

• Engage directly with users and internal stakeholders to refine problem framing, validate assumptions early, and ensure product-market fit for experimental features.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a full product development lifecycle within an experimental context. The "Labs" environment suggests a need for agility, rapid iteration, and a willingness to sunset unsuccessful experiments. The focus on "AI-assisted development workflows" and "experimentation frameworks" points to a forward-thinking role requiring comfort with emerging technologies and a proactive approach to building tools that enhance productivity for others.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is listed, a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Design, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience, is implied for a senior-level role.

Experience: 7+ years of experience shipping customer-facing web products, with significant depth in owning design systems or component libraries at scale.

Required Skills:

• Deep expertise in building and scaling design systems and component libraries for customer-facing web products.

• Strong proficiency in React and TypeScript.

• Proven ability to own and make complex frontend architecture decisions.

• Demonstrated track record of building functional, aesthetically pleasing UI with high craft standards.

• Experience simplifying complex workflows and articulating the rationale behind interaction design choices.

• Experience developing tools, templates, or frameworks that accelerate the work of others, including non-engineering collaborators.

• Ability and interest in shaping codebases for emerging AI workflows.

• Proven ability to take ownership of ambiguous, high-impact problems from concept through deployment and iteration.

• Strong product engineering instincts, including the ability to define problems, simplify scope, and prioritize for measurable value.

• Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills, suitable for a remote, asynchronous environment.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience as a technical founder or an early engineer at a high-growth SaaS company.

• Familiarity with AI/LLM-assisted product development workflows for frontend teams.

• Experience with 3D interfaces, WebGL/Three.js, or creative tooling workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement is substantial, highlighting the need for seasoned professionals. The emphasis on "product taste," "high craft standards," and "product engineering instincts" suggests that this role requires more than just technical proficiency; it demands a blend of engineering, design sensibility, and product strategy. The "major plus" skills indicate a strategic interest in AI and 3D technologies, aligning with Higharc's potential future directions.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase examples of developed design systems, detailing their architecture, scalability, and impact on design consistency and development efficiency.

• Present case studies of complex UI components or libraries built, highlighting problem-solving, technical implementation, and adherence to UX/accessibility best practices.

• Include examples of tools, frameworks, or templates created to accelerate team workflows, demonstrating their adoption and effectiveness.

• Demonstrate contributions to frontend architecture, explaining significant decisions and their impact on maintainability, performance, and extensibility.

Process Documentation:

• Ability to document design system standards, component usage guidelines, and accessibility best practices clearly for cross-functional teams.

• Experience in defining and documenting repeatable processes for experimentation, user feedback loops, and product graduation criteria.

• Documentation of frontend architecture patterns and AI workflow integrations to ensure knowledge transfer and maintainability.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the emphasis on building foundational elements and enabling experimentation, a strong portfolio is crucial. Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate not just finished products but the process behind building scalable systems, accelerating workflows, and enabling rapid iteration. The portfolio should reflect a deep understanding of design systems' lifecycle, from initial architecture to ongoing evolution and integration with new technologies like AI.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a Sr. Design Systems Engineer with 7+ years of experience, located remotely in the United States, a competitive salary range would typically fall between $150,000 and $210,000 annually. This estimate is based on industry benchmarks for senior frontend and design systems roles in well-funded, remote-first tech companies, considering the high demand for specialized skills in React, TypeScript, and design systems.

Benefits:

• Competitive salaries and significant equity, reflecting a belief in employee ownership and reward for growth.

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, ensuring holistic health support for employees and their families.

• Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO), empowering employees to manage their work-life balance effectively.

• Meaningful maternity/paternity leave for U.S.-based full-time employees, supporting new parents.

• Short-term and long-term disability plans, providing financial security during unexpected health events.

• 401K retirement savings plan, supporting long-term financial planning.

• Home office stipend, enabling employees to create an optimal and comfortable remote work environment.

Working Hours: Higharc offers flexible hours, supporting a remote-first approach. While a standard full-time role typically involves around 40 hours per week, the emphasis on flexibility allows employees to structure their workdays to maximize productivity and personal well-being.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimation based on the provided experience level (7+ years), role seniority (Sr.), and the fact that Higharc is a well-funded VC-backed startup. The benefits package is comprehensive and aligns with typical offerings for remote-first tech companies, with a particular emphasis on work-life balance and employee well-being.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Higharc operates within the Construction Technology (ConTech) and Software as a Service (SaaS) industries, aiming to revolutionize how new homes are designed and built. Their approach leverages technology to streamline and optimize complex processes in a traditionally slow-moving sector.

Company Size: Higharc is a VC-backed startup, implying a dynamic, growth-oriented environment. While the exact current employee count isn't specified, "founding team" and "early engineer" mentions suggest a company that is likely past its initial seed stage but still retains the agility and impact potential of a smaller organization. The size likely ranges from 50-200 employees, fostering a collaborative and impactful atmosphere for its team members.

Founded: Higharc was founded in 2018. Being remote-first since its inception highlights a mature approach to distributed work and a commitment to flexibility. The company has secured significant funding ($83M), indicating strong market validation and resources for growth and innovation.

Team Structure:

• The Design Systems Engineer will be a foundational member of "Higharc Labs," a specialized unit focused on innovation and experimentation. This suggests a dedicated, agile team structure within the broader engineering organization.

• The role requires deep collaboration with Product, Design, ML (Machine Learning), and other Engineering teams, indicating a cross-functional and integrated approach to development.

Methodology:

• Data Analysis & Insights: Expect a data-driven approach to validating experiments and understanding user behavior, likely integrating analytics hooks into prototypes.

• Workflow Planning & Optimization: A core function involves designing and optimizing workflows through robust design systems and tooling, enabling faster and more repeatable 0-to-1 delivery.

• Automation & Efficiency: The role explicitly mentions shaping architecture for AI-assisted development and building experimentation frameworks, emphasizing automation and efficiency gains.

Company Website: https://www.higharc.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Higharc's positioning as a startup disrupting the construction industry with significant funding and experienced leadership is a key draw. The "Labs" division suggests an environment that encourages innovation, risk-taking, and rapid development. The remote-first culture, established in 2018, means established practices for asynchronous communication and distributed team collaboration are likely in place.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is for a Senior Design Systems Engineer. This level signifies an individual contributor expected to take significant ownership, drive architectural decisions, mentor junior engineers, and influence the technical and design direction of product initiatives, particularly within the experimental "Labs" context. It’s a leadership role within a specialized technical domain.

Reporting Structure: The Sr. Design Systems Engineer will likely report to a Director or VP of Engineering, or a specific lead within Higharc Labs responsible for product innovation and development. This structure offers exposure to senior leadership and strategic decision-making.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is substantial. By building the foundational design system and experimentation tooling, the engineer directly influences the speed, quality, and scalability of new product development. This role is critical for enabling the company to rapidly test and deploy innovations, directly impacting Higharc's ability to disrupt the construction industry and achieve its business objectives. The work will directly support the "0-to-1 delivery" of new features and potentially new product lines.

Growth Opportunities:

• Operations Skill Advancement: Opportunity to deepen expertise in design systems, frontend architecture, AI-assisted development, and potentially 3D/WebGL technologies.

• Leadership Development: Potential to grow into a lead or principal engineer role, mentoring teams, defining technical strategy, and owning larger architectural domains.

• Impactful Innovation: Direct contribution to groundbreaking initiatives within Higharc Labs, with the possibility of seeing experimental features evolve into core products.

• Industry Influence: Opportunities to contribute to the broader design systems and frontend engineering communities through knowledge sharing and best practice development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Sr." title and "foundational member" status in Higharc Labs indicate a significant opportunity for an engineer who wants to build and shape things from the ground up. The role offers a blend of deep technical contribution and strategic influence, with clear pathways for growth within a well-funded, innovative startup.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Higharc operates as a "remote first" company. This means there is no central physical office that employees are required to attend. The work environment is entirely distributed, with employees working from their chosen locations.

Office Location(s): While the job is remote, it is specified that candidates must be located within the United States. This is likely due to employment law, tax, and payroll considerations.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: Despite being remote, the company emphasizes collaboration through clear communication channels and tools designed for distributed teams. Expect regular virtual meetings, asynchronous communication platforms (like Slack), and collaborative documentation tools.

• Operations Tools & Technology: The engineering environment will be equipped with modern development tools, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud infrastructure. Specific tools for design systems management, component libraries, and potentially AI/ML development will be central to the workflow.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities for interaction will be through scheduled team meetings, cross-functional project syncs, and informal virtual "water cooler" chats, fostering a sense of connection despite physical distance.

Work Schedule: Higharc offers flexible working hours. This allows employees to manage their schedules to best suit their productivity and personal commitments, while still ensuring core working hours are covered for collaboration and team alignment within the U.S. time zones.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "remote first" and "flexible hours" aspects are key selling points for this role. Candidates should be comfortable with asynchronous communication and possess strong self-management skills. The U.S.-only requirement for remote work is a practical consideration for the employer.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screen: A brief call with a recruiter to assess basic qualifications, cultural fit, and interest in the role and company.

• Technical Interview(s): Likely one or more interviews focusing on frontend engineering skills, specifically React, TypeScript, and frontend architecture. This may include coding challenges or deep dives into past projects.

• Design Systems Deep Dive: An interview dedicated to assessing expertise in design systems, component library development, scalability, and best practices. This is where portfolio examples will be heavily discussed.

• Product & Problem-Solving Interview: This session will evaluate product thinking, ability to simplify scope, prioritize tasks, and solve ambiguous problems, potentially involving a case study or hypothetical scenario.

• Hiring Manager/Team Lead Interview: A discussion focused on team fit, leadership potential, collaboration style, and alignment with Higharc's mission and values.

• Final Interview: Potentially a conversation with senior leadership to discuss strategic alignment and overall fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 2-3 of your most impactful projects that best showcase your design systems expertise, frontend architecture skills, and ability to build tools for others.

Prioritize projects with clear outcomes and measurable impact.

• Structure for Clarity: For each project, clearly articulate:

  • The problem you were solving.
  • Your specific role and contributions.
  • The technical approach and key architectural decisions (especially regarding React, TypeScript, and scalability).
  • How you approached design system principles, accessibility, and UX quality.
  • The impact or results achieved (e.g., increased development speed, improved consistency, reduced bugs).
  • Any innovative tooling or frameworks you built.

• Highlight "Labs" Relevance: Emphasize projects that involved rapid experimentation, building from scratch, or creating frameworks that accelerated development. Showcase your ability to work with ambiguity and iterate quickly.

• Prepare for Technical Questions: Be ready to discuss the nuances of your code, architectural trade-offs, and how you'd approach specific challenges related to design system maintenance and evolution.

Challenge Preparation:

• System Design: Be prepared for system design questions related to building scalable component libraries, managing design tokens, and architecting for future AI integrations.

• Problem Decomposition: Practice breaking down complex problems into smaller, manageable parts, and articulating a clear, iterative plan for solutions.

• Communication: Rehearse explaining technical concepts and design decisions clearly and concisely, anticipating questions from both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will likely be rigorous, focusing on both technical depth and strategic product thinking. A well-prepared portfolio that clearly articulates the candidate's contributions, technical approach, and impact is paramount, especially given the role's emphasis on building foundational elements and enabling innovation in a "Labs" environment.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• React: The core JavaScript library for building user interfaces, expected to be used extensively.

• TypeScript: For static typing, enhancing code quality, maintainability, and developer productivity in large codebases.

• Design System Management Tools: This could include Storybook for component development and documentation, Figma or Sketch for design collaboration, and potentially specialized tools for design token management.

• CSS-in-JS Libraries / Styling Solutions: Frameworks like Styled Components, Emotion, or Tailwind CSS for efficient and scalable styling.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Web Analytics Platforms: Tools like Google Analytics, Amplitude, or Mixpanel for tracking user behavior and experiment outcomes.

• Data Visualization Tools: Potentially tools like Tableau, Power BI, or internal dashboards for reporting on design system adoption and experiment success rates.

CRM & Automation:

• Version Control System: Git, likely hosted on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, for code management and collaboration.

• CI/CD Pipelines: Tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or CircleCI for automated testing and deployment.

• Project Management Tools: Jira, Asana, Trello, or similar for task tracking and workflow management.

• Communication Platforms: Slack, Microsoft Teams for real-time and asynchronous team communication.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in React and TypeScript is non-negotiable. Familiarity with design system tooling like Storybook is highly probable. The mention of "AI-assisted development workflows" suggests potential exploration or integration with AI/ML tools, though specific tools are not listed. Candidates should be prepared to discuss how they leverage modern frontend development practices and tools to build scalable and maintainable systems.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Innovation & Experimentation: A core value, driven by the "Labs" environment, encouraging exploration of new ideas and technologies with a willingness to iterate and pivot.

• High Craftsmanship & Quality: A strong emphasis on building well-crafted, high-quality UI and robust, maintainable code, ensuring a positive user experience and technical integrity.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Fostering an environment where cross-functional teams work together openly, sharing knowledge and providing constructive feedback, especially in a remote setting.

• Ownership & Accountability: Encouraging individuals to take ownership of their work, drive projects forward, and be accountable for outcomes, from concept to deployment.

• User-Centricity: A commitment to understanding and validating ideas with users early and often, ensuring that innovation is tied to measurable value.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Expect close collaboration with Product Managers, Designers, ML Engineers, and other Software Engineers. Communication will be key to translating design vision into functional components and enabling AI workflows.

• Process Review & Feedback: A culture that values constructive feedback on code, designs, and processes to ensure continuous improvement and maintain high standards.

• Knowledge Sharing: Encouraging the sharing of learnings, best practices, and technical insights, particularly in a remote setting, through documentation, presentations, and informal discussions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture appears to be a blend of startup agility and a commitment to engineering excellence. The "Labs" context implies a fast-paced, iterative environment where experimentation is encouraged, but this is balanced with a focus on high-quality execution and user validation. Remote-first collaboration means strong communication and documentation skills are paramount.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Building from Greenfield: Establishing a robust design system and experimentation framework from the ground up requires significant foresight, strategic planning, and the ability to anticipate future needs.

• Balancing Speed and Quality: In a "Labs" environment, there's pressure to iterate quickly. The challenge is to maintain high standards of consistency, accessibility, and code quality while delivering rapidly.

• AI Integration Ambiguity: Shaping codebases for emerging AI workflows may involve working with nascent technologies and undefined best practices, requiring adaptability and continuous learning.

• Cross-functional Alignment: Effectively translating diverse needs from product, design, and ML teams into a cohesive and scalable design system requires strong communication and negotiation skills.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Specialized Skill Advancement: Deepen expertise in advanced React patterns, TypeScript, design system architecture, and potentially explore AI/LLM integrations and 3D/WebGL technologies.

• Industry Best Practices: Stay at the forefront of design systems, component libraries, and frontend architecture through industry trends, conferences, and community engagement.

• Leadership and Mentorship: Opportunity to mentor junior engineers, lead technical initiatives, and contribute to Higharc's engineering strategy as a senior individual contributor.

• Product Development Lifecycle: Gain hands-on experience with the full innovation lifecycle, from ideation and prototyping to user validation and product graduation within a fast-paced startup.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers significant challenges that are also excellent growth opportunities. The ability to navigate ambiguity, build foundational systems, and adapt to new technologies like AI will be key to success and professional development.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your experience building a design system from scratch. What were the key challenges, and how did you overcome them?" (Focus on process, scalability, and collaboration.)

• "How do you approach defining and maintaining design tokens and component states to ensure consistency across a rapidly evolving product suite?" (Highlight your system design approach and attention to detail.)

• "Imagine we need to build a new experimental feature that requires AI-assisted content generation. How would you architect the frontend components to integrate seamlessly with potential AI models, ensuring flexibility and maintainability?" (Demonstrate your forward-thinking approach to AI integration and architecture.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about Higharc's mission to change how homes are designed and built, and what role do you see design systems playing in that transformation?" (Connect your expertise to their industry.)

• "How do you approach collaboration in a remote, asynchronous environment, especially when working with non-engineering stakeholders like designers and product managers?" (Emphasize your communication and collaboration strategies.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Tell a Story: For each project, structure your presentation around a narrative: the problem, your solution, the impact. Use visuals (screenshots, diagrams) to illustrate your points.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the value of your work (e.g., "reduced component development time by X%", "improved UI consistency scores by Y%", "enabled Z number of experiments per quarter").

• Deep Dive on Technicals: Be prepared to go deep into the technical implementation of your design system and components, explaining your choices in React, TypeScript, state management, and architectural patterns.

• Focus on Process & Scalability: Emphasize how your design system is built to scale and how your processes (e.g., contribution guidelines, documentation, testing) support its growth and adoption.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating a blend of deep technical expertise in design systems and frontend engineering, combined with strong product thinking, communication skills, and an understanding of Higharc's mission. The portfolio is your primary tool; ensure it's curated to highlight relevant experience and impact.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your resume and cover letter to highlight your 7+ years of experience in shipping customer-facing web products, specifically focusing on your contributions to design systems and component libraries at scale. Include specific examples of your work with React, TypeScript, and frontend architecture.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly showcases achievements related to building tools that accelerate others' work, simplifying complex workflows, and owning ambiguous, high-impact problems from concept to deployment. Use keywords such as "Design Systems," "Component Library," "React," "TypeScript," "Frontend Architecture," and "AI-assisted Development."

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your experience with design systems, frontend architecture, and product problem-solving. Prepare specific examples from your portfolio that demonstrate your ability to build foundational elements, enable rapid experimentation, and work effectively in a remote, asynchronous environment.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with Higharc's mission, the construction tech industry, and their remote-first culture. Understand the "Labs" initiative and how your role contributes to their innovation goals.

⚠️ 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.