UX Engineer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX Engineer

Company: Sartiq

Location: Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Engineering / Design / Technology

Date Posted: 2026-05-25T21:38:24.025

Experience Level: Mid-to-Senior (typically 3-5+ years)

Remote Status: Hybrid (2 days in office per week)

🚀 Role Summary

• Transform user flows and prototypes into production-quality UI, driving the user experience from concept to implementation.

• Steward and evolve the company's design system, ensuring component library, accessibility standards, and motion language are consistently applied across all surfaces.

• Champion UX quality by identifying friction points in operator workflows, prototyping solutions, measuring impact, and implementing improvements.

• Collaborate closely with backend engineers to define and shape API contracts, ensuring optimal user experience through effective handling of pagination, loading/error states, and optimistic updates.

• Leverage Generative AI capabilities within a sensible workflow, integrating AI agents without compromising critical thinking or user-centric design principles.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is a unique blend of hands-on engineering and design advocacy, focusing on the practical application of UX principles within a technology-driven product development lifecycle. The emphasis on "production-quality UI" and "stewarding the design system" indicates a need for robust engineering skills alongside a deep understanding of user experience. The mention of "Generative AI" and "fashion content creation" suggests a niche industry focus.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Translate user flows and interactive prototypes into high-fidelity, production-ready user interfaces, ensuring pixel-perfect execution and adherence to design specifications.

• Actively contribute to and maintain the component library within the design system, ensuring code reusability, maintainability, and scalability.

• Implement and advocate for accessibility best practices (WCAG standards) across all UI components and user journeys, ensuring an inclusive user experience.

• Develop and refine animation and motion language within the product, enhancing usability and user engagement while maintaining performance.

• Proactively identify usability issues and friction points within existing operator workflows through user observation, feedback analysis, and data review.

• Prototype and iterate on design solutions for identified UX challenges, using tools and methods that effectively communicate proposed improvements.

• Collaborate with backend engineering teams to define clear, efficient, and developer-friendly API contracts that support seamless UX implementation.

• Ensure robust error handling, efficient data fetching, and responsive UI states by shaping API responses and request structures.

• Contribute to defining and implementing key performance indicators (KPIs) for UX effectiveness and measuring the impact of implemented changes.

• Stay abreast of emerging trends in UX engineering, Generative AI, and fashion technology to inform product development and innovation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a proactive and ownership-driven approach. Responsibilities like "champion UX quality" and "shape API contracts" indicate a strategic contribution beyond typical implementation tasks, requiring strong product sense and collaboration skills.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Design, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience: Mid-to-senior level frontend engineering experience with a strong focus on user experience, typically 3-5+ years of professional experience. The primary measure of experience is demonstrated ownership, sound judgment, and a track record of shipping high-quality work.

Required Skills:

• Frontend Engineering Expertise: Proven experience in building complex, production-quality user interfaces using modern web technologies.

• CSS Mastery: Deep and comprehensive understanding of CSS, including advanced concepts like Flexbox, Grid, custom properties, animations, and responsive design techniques.

• UX Engineering Principles: Strong grasp of user-centered design principles, interaction design, and usability best practices.

• Design System Stewardship: Experience in contributing to, maintaining, or building design systems, including component libraries and style guides.

• Web Technologies Proficiency: Solid experience with core web technologies such as HTML5, JavaScript (ES6+), and modern frontend frameworks (e.g., React, Vue, Angular – specific framework experience may be inferred based on company stack, though not explicitly stated).

• Accessibility Standards: Demonstrated knowledge and practical application of web accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG).

• Animation & Motion Design: Ability to implement engaging and performant animations and micro-interactions that enhance the user experience.

• Product Instinct: A keen sense for product strategy and the ability to articulate the "why" behind UX decisions, not just the "how."

• API Design Collaboration: Experience working with backend engineers to define and integrate with APIs, understanding data structures and state management needs.

• Prototyping Skills: Proficiency in creating interactive prototypes to test and communicate design ideas.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with Generative AI tools and workflows in a product development context.

• Familiarity with the fashion tech industry or content creation workflows.

• Experience with performance optimization techniques for web applications.

• Knowledge of UI/UX testing methodologies and A/B testing.

• Familiarity with version control systems like Git.

• Experience working in a fast-paced startup environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "CSS" and "demonstrable UX-engineering body of work" suggests that candidates with strong visual design implementation skills and a portfolio showcasing interactive elements and polished UI will be highly favored. The requirement for "ownership, judgment, and shipping quality" points towards a need for self-directed individuals.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrable UX-Engineering Body of Work: A curated collection of projects showcasing your ability to translate complex user flows and prototypes into production-quality UI.

• Interaction & Animation Examples: Specific examples demonstrating your skill in designing and implementing engaging interactions and smooth animations.

• Design System Contributions: Evidence of experience with design systems, whether contributing to, building, or maintaining component libraries and style guides.

• Accessibility Implementation: Projects that clearly illustrate your understanding and application of accessibility standards in practical UI development.

• API Integration Examples: Showcase instances where you collaborated with backend teams to define API contracts that facilitated excellent UX.

• Problem-Solving Case Studies: Detailed walkthroughs of UX challenges you've encountered, the solutions you've designed and implemented, and the measurable impact achieved.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Examples of how you've analyzed and improved user workflows through design and engineering.

• UI Implementation Standards: Documentation or examples of how you ensure consistency, quality, and maintainability in UI code.

• Design System Evolution: Demonstrations of how you contribute to the growth and refinement of a design system.

• Performance & Accessibility Metrics: Evidence of how you measure and ensure the performance and accessibility of your work.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for a "demonstrable UX-engineering body of work" and specifically mentioning "interactions, animation, accessibility, design-system thinking" means the portfolio is a critical component. Candidates should prepare case studies that clearly articulate the problem, their role, the solution (technical implementation and UX rationale), and the outcome.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

Based on market research for a Mid-to-Senior UX Engineer in Lugano, Switzerland, with 3-5+ years of experience, a competitive salary range would typically fall between CHF 100,000 to CHF 140,000 annually. This range can vary based on specific experience, the depth of the portfolio, and the candidate's negotiation skills.

Benefits:

• Autonomy & Impact: Significant agency to own the UX development lifecycle for core features, from hypothesis to production, with direct visibility into shipped work.

• Competitive Compensation: A top-tier salary package designed to attract and retain top talent.

• Meaningful Stock Option Plan: A substantial equity stake, providing a real stake in the company's growth and success.

• Lean, Expert Team: Direct collaboration with founders in a fast-paced, agile environment, free from corporate bureaucracy.

• Hybrid Work Model: Flexibility with a requirement to be in the office at least 2 days per week, with the freedom to choose working hours to maximize productivity.

• Innovation Focus: Opportunity to work on cutting-edge problems in Generative AI and fashion tech.

Working Hours:

The company operates on a hybrid model with a flexible schedule, requiring at least 2 days in the office per week. While a standard 40-hour work week is implied, the emphasis on "You decide when to work to maximise your productivity" suggests a results-oriented approach rather than strict time-tracking.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is derived from publicly available compensation data for similar roles in Switzerland, adjusted for experience level and the specific tech/startup environment. The benefits clearly emphasize autonomy, impact, and equity, which are strong selling points for experienced professionals in a startup setting.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology / Fashion Tech / Generative AI. Sartiq operates at the intersection of cutting-edge AI technology and the fashion industry, aiming to revolutionize content creation. This niche focus suggests a culture that values innovation, creativity, and a deep understanding of both technology and market needs.

Company Size: Startup (VC-funded). As a startup, Sartiq likely fosters a dynamic, agile, and collaborative environment. This means a flat hierarchy, direct access to leadership, and a fast-paced decision-making process. Employees often wear multiple hats and have a significant impact on the product's direction.

Founded: The company is VC-funded, indicating a recent establishment and a strong growth trajectory. This implies a culture focused on rapid development, market penetration, and achieving key milestones.

Team Structure:

• Lean & Expert: The team is described as lean and expert, working directly with the founders. This suggests a small, highly skilled group where collaboration and individual contributions are paramount.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: The role explicitly requires collaboration with backend engineers, indicating a strong cross-functional dynamic. Product managers, designers, and engineers likely work closely together.

• Direct Access: Employees have direct access to founders, fostering transparency and a shared sense of purpose.

Methodology:

• Agile Development: Given the startup nature and focus on rapid iteration, an agile development methodology is highly probable, emphasizing iterative development, continuous feedback, and adaptability.

• User-Centric Design: The core mission to "build a product that our business users love to use" underscores a commitment to user-centric design and a data-informed approach to product development.

• AI Integration: A key aspect of the methodology will involve integrating Generative AI agents into workflows, requiring a pragmatic and critical approach to leveraging AI tools.

Company Website: https://Sartiq.com

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is likely to be entrepreneurial, innovative, and demanding, attracting individuals who thrive in ambiguity and are motivated by building something impactful from the ground up. The "free from corporate bureaucracy" comment is a strong indicator of their desired work environment.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Mid-to-Senior UX Engineer. This implies a level of technical expertise and design judgment that allows for significant ownership of projects and features. The role requires not just implementation but also strategic input into API design and UX quality.

Reporting Structure: The UX Engineer will likely report directly to a Head of Engineering, CTO, or potentially one of the founders, given the lean team structure. Direct collaboration with founders is explicitly mentioned, indicating a high level of visibility and interaction with leadership.

Operations Impact: The UX Engineer's impact is critical to the product's success, directly influencing user adoption, satisfaction, and efficiency for business users in the fashion content creation space. By ensuring a user-friendly and effective interface, this role directly contributes to the company's ability to attract and retain customers, thereby driving revenue and market growth.

Growth Opportunities:

• Technical Specialization: Deepen expertise in frontend technologies, CSS, animation, and potentially AI-driven UI development.

• Design Leadership: Grow into a lead role within the UX/Design team, potentially mentoring junior engineers and shaping the overall design direction.

• Product Strategy Influence: Leverage strong product instinct to influence feature roadmaps and the strategic direction of the product, especially in areas related to AI-powered user experiences.

• Startup Growth: As the company scales, opportunities for advancement into management or specialized technical leadership roles will emerge.

• Industry Expertise: Develop deep knowledge in the rapidly evolving Generative AI and fashion tech sectors.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth path for a UX Engineer in a startup like Sartiq is often tied to the company's trajectory. The emphasis on autonomy and direct interaction with founders suggests that high performers can quickly gain significant responsibility and influence.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The company offers a Hybrid Work Model, requiring employees to be in the office at least 2 days per week. This suggests a modern office space designed to foster collaboration and focused work.

Office Location(s): Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland. This location offers a unique European base, potentially appealing to candidates seeking a balance between a vibrant tech scene and a high quality of life.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The office days are intended to boost productivity through in-person interaction, suggesting spaces conducive to brainstorming, pair programming, and team discussions.

• Technology & Tools: As an engineering role, expect access to modern development tools, high-performance workstations, and potentially specialized hardware or software relevant to AI and design.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities for direct interaction with founders, backend engineers, and potentially other product team members during office days.

Work Schedule:

The company emphasizes flexibility, stating, "You decide when to work to maximise your productivity." While a hybrid model is in place, the daily schedule appears to be results-oriented, allowing individuals to manage their time effectively to meet project goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model with flexible hours aims to combine the benefits of in-person collaboration with the autonomy and flexibility that many tech professionals seek. The location in Lugano, known for its scenic beauty, may also contribute to a positive work-life balance.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

1. Initial Submission: Share your GitHub profile, portfolio, and CV. This is the primary screening stage where your technical foundation, UX engineering skills, and overall fit are assessed.

2. Technical Challenge: A practical assessment designed to evaluate your problem-solving abilities, coding skills, understanding of UX principles, and ability to implement solutions. This may involve a take-home assignment or a live coding session.

3. Founder Chat: A conversation with the founders to assess cultural fit, product vision alignment, strategic thinking, and your motivation for joining Sartiq.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select projects that best demonstrate your UX engineering capabilities, focusing on those that highlight interaction design, animation, UI implementation quality, and problem-solving.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: For each project, provide context: the problem, your role, the design and technical challenges, your specific contributions, and the measurable outcomes. Use visuals, live demos, or detailed descriptions.

• Highlight UX Rationale: Clearly articulate why you made certain design and implementation choices, demonstrating your product instinct and understanding of user needs.

• Showcase CSS and Interaction Skills: Ensure specific examples of complex CSS implementations, responsive design, and engaging micro-interactions are prominent.

• Address API Collaboration: If possible, include projects where you worked closely with backend teams to shape APIs for better UX.

• Be Concise and Focused: Organize your portfolio for easy navigation and quick understanding. Prioritize quality over quantity.

Challenge Preparation:

• Review Core Skills: Refresh your knowledge of frontend fundamentals, particularly HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and common UI patterns.

• Practice Problem-Solving: Be prepared for challenges that test your ability to break down problems, design solutions, and implement them efficiently.

• Consider UX Implications: For any technical challenge, think about the user experience implications of your approach.

• Understand Company Context: Research Sartiq, their product, and the Generative AI/fashion tech space to inform your approach and demonstrate genuine interest.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to be efficient and focused on practical skills and strategic thinking. The portfolio is explicitly requested upfront, indicating its significant weight in the evaluation. Candidates should prepare to discuss their past projects in detail and articulate their thought process clearly.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Frontend Framework: Likely a modern JavaScript framework such as React, Vue, or Angular. The specific choice will determine the exact tooling and ecosystem.

• CSS Preprocessors/Methodologies: Experience with CSS Modules, Styled Components, Sass, or similar for managing complex stylesheets.

• Build Tools: Familiarity with tools like Webpack, Vite, or Parcel for module bundling and development workflows.

• Version Control: Git is standard for collaborative development.

• Design System Tools: Tools for managing component libraries (e.g., Storybook) and design handoff (e.g., Figma, Sketch).

Analytics & Reporting:

• Web Analytics: Tools like Google Analytics or similar for tracking user behavior and feature adoption.

• Performance Monitoring: Tools for tracking frontend performance metrics (e.g., Lighthouse, Web Vitals).

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a CRM role, understanding how frontend applications integrate with backend systems and potentially CRM data for user context will be beneficial.

📝 Enhancement Note: Specific frontend framework details are not provided, but a strong foundation in modern web technologies and CSS is essential. Experience with design system tools like Storybook is highly probable given the role's responsibilities. The company's focus on AI may also involve specialized tooling for AI model integration or data visualization related to AI outputs.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Innovation & Creativity: A drive to explore new technologies like Generative AI and apply them to solve real-world problems in fashion content creation.

• User-Centricity: A deep commitment to building products that are intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable for business users.

• Quality & Craftsmanship: A dedication to shipping production-quality UI with attention to detail, performance, and accessibility.

• Ownership & Accountability: A culture where individuals take full responsibility for their work, from conception to deployment and iteration.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Working closely with founders and cross-functional teams in an open and communicative environment.

• Efficiency & Agility: Embracing lean methodologies to iterate quickly and adapt to market demands.

Collaboration Style:

• Direct & Agile: Expect frequent, direct communication, especially with founders and backend engineers. The pace is fast, and decisions are made quickly.

• Cross-Functional Synergy: Strong emphasis on collaboration between design and engineering to ensure seamless integration of UX and technical implementation.

• Feedback-Oriented: A culture that encourages constructive feedback to drive continuous improvement in both product and processes.

• Problem-Solving Focused: Teams likely work collaboratively to tackle complex technical and UX challenges, leveraging collective expertise.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values emphasize a startup mentality: fast-paced, innovative, and focused on impact. The culture is likely to be rewarding for individuals who are proactive, enjoy solving complex problems, and thrive in a collaborative, yet autonomous, environment.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Rapid Evolution of Generative AI: Staying ahead of the curve in a fast-moving field and effectively integrating AI agents into user workflows without compromising user control.

• Balancing Cutting-Edge Tech with Usability: Ensuring that advanced AI capabilities are presented in an intuitive and user-friendly manner for business users in the fashion industry.

• Scaling a Design System: As the product grows, maintaining and expanding the design system to support new features and user needs efficiently.

• Bridging Design and Engineering Gaps: Effectively translating complex design concepts into robust, production-ready code and ensuring seamless API integrations.

• Startup Pace & Ambiguity: Navigating the inherent uncertainties and rapid changes characteristic of a venture-backed startup.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into Generative AI: Gaining hands-on experience with cutting-edge AI technologies and their application in product development.

• Mastering Frontend & CSS: Refining advanced frontend engineering skills and becoming an expert in modern CSS practices.

• UX Strategy & Product Influence: Developing a stronger product sense and contributing to strategic product decisions.

• Design System Architecture: Learning to build and scale robust, maintainable design systems.

• Startup Environment Acumen: Gaining valuable experience in a high-growth startup, understanding scaling challenges and opportunities.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are typical for roles at the forefront of technological innovation within a startup. These challenges also represent significant opportunities for professional growth and skill development.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• UX Philosophy & Impact: "Describe your approach to UX engineering. How do you ensure a user's workflow is efficient and enjoyable, especially when dealing with complex AI outputs?" (Prepare to discuss your process, key principles, and provide examples from your portfolio.)

• Design System Contribution: "How have you contributed to or built design systems? What are the key components of a successful design system, and how do you ensure its adoption and maintenance?" (Be ready to detail your experience with component libraries, style guides, and accessibility standards.)

• API Collaboration: "Walk me through a time you collaborated with backend engineers to shape API contracts for a better user experience. What were the challenges, and how did you approach them?" (Focus on communication, technical understanding, and problem-solving.)

• AI Integration: "How do you see Generative AI impacting user interfaces, and how would you approach integrating AI agents into a product like ours without overwhelming the user?" (Showcase critical thinking and a user-centric approach to novel technology.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why Sartiq? What excites you about our mission in fashion tech and Generative AI?" (Demonstrate genuine interest and research into the company and industry.)

• "How do you thrive in a fast-paced, startup environment? What are your expectations regarding autonomy and collaboration?" (Align your work style with the startup culture.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, clearly outline the problem, your role, the technical and UX challenges, your specific solution, and the quantifiable results or impact.

• Highlight Key Contributions: Emphasize your direct impact on the UI, interactions, animations, and overall user experience. Showcase your CSS expertise and design system thinking.

• Demonstrate Problem-Solving: Be ready to deep-dive into specific technical or UX challenges and explain your thought process for overcoming them.

• Engage and Discuss: Treat the portfolio review as a conversation. Be prepared to answer detailed questions about your implementation choices and design rationale.

• Showcase Code Quality: If possible, be prepared to discuss code structure, maintainability, and best practices demonstrated in your work.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should prepare to showcase not only their technical proficiency but also their strategic thinking, product sense, and ability to collaborate effectively. The interview process emphasizes practical application and a deep understanding of UX principles within a technology context.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this UX Engineer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on join.com.

• Portfolio Preparation: Curate your portfolio to prominently feature projects demonstrating your UX engineering skills, particularly focusing on production-quality UI implementation, interactive elements, animations, design system contributions, and accessibility. Ensure clear case studies that articulate problems, solutions, and outcomes.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to highlight your 3-5+ years of frontend engineering experience, expert-level CSS knowledge, UX design thinking, and any experience with design systems, AI, or the fashion tech industry. Use keywords from the job description to ensure ATS compatibility.

• GitHub Profile: Ensure your GitHub profile is up-to-date and showcases relevant personal projects or contributions that demonstrate your coding capabilities and passion for frontend development.

• Company & Role Research: Thoroughly research Sartiq, its product, its mission in Generative AI and fashion tech, and the company culture. Understand the challenges and opportunities associated with working in a fast-paced startup environment.

• Interview Practice: Prepare to discuss your portfolio projects in detail, articulate your UX philosophy, and answer questions about your experience with API collaboration and your approach to integrating AI into user workflows. Practice explaining your thought process for technical and design challenges.

⚠️ 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.