UX Engineer, HCI

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX Engineer, HCI

Company: Bjak

Location: United States

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Engineering / Design / Product

Date Posted: 2026-08-02

Experience Level: Mid-Level (2-5 years)

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Develop and prototype cutting-edge AI-native product interfaces across web and mobile platforms, focusing on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) principles.

• Translate complex AI behaviors into understandable, controllable, and useful user experiences, driving product innovation.

• Collaborate closely with Product, Design, and Machine Learning (ML) teams to rapidly validate and iterate on novel interaction models for AI-driven applications.

• Contribute to the frontend architecture and reusable UI component library, ensuring high standards of usability, responsiveness, and performance for AI product surfaces.

• Address and resolve usability, performance, and state management challenges inherent in AI-driven interfaces to enhance user trust and control.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "UX Engineer, HCI," the core responsibilities and required skills strongly indicate a role at the intersection of front-end engineering, UX design, and AI product development. The emphasis on building new interaction patterns and prototyping suggests a highly innovative and experimental aspect to the role, rather than standard UI implementation. This role is critical for translating the capabilities of AI into tangible, user-friendly experiences.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Build and prototype AI-native product interfaces for both web and mobile applications, focusing on innovative interaction paradigms.

• Develop functional prototypes for new HCI interaction models, including features like streaming responses, multi-step task flows, real-time feedback mechanisms, and clear system state visibility.

• Translate sophisticated design concepts into meticulously crafted, working code, prioritizing exceptional usability, responsiveness, and fluid motion.

• Experiment with and implement UI patterns that effectively communicate AI progress, uncertainty, confidence levels, failures, and recovery states to users.

• Design and build interfaces that empower users to effectively supervise, correct, and redirect AI behavior without requiring them to micromanage the underlying system.

• Foster close collaboration with product managers, designers, and ML engineers to swiftly validate interaction ideas and user hypotheses.

• Contribute significantly to frontend architecture decisions and the development of reusable UI components tailored for AI product surfaces.

• Proactively identify and resolve usability bottlenecks, performance issues, and state management complexities within AI-driven interfaces.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a proactive and iterative approach to UI/UX development for AI. The emphasis on "experimentation" and "prototyping" suggests that this role is not just about execution but also about exploration and defining new interaction standards for AI products, which is a key differentiator for advanced UX engineering roles.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Design, or a related field is typically expected for this level of role. A strong portfolio can often substitute for formal education.

Experience: 2-5 years of relevant professional experience in frontend engineering, UX engineering, or a similar role with a focus on interactive interfaces.

Required Skills:

• Strong proficiency in frontend engineering with expertise in React and TypeScript (or equivalent modern JavaScript frameworks).

• Proven experience in building complex, interaction-heavy, or experimental interfaces that push the boundaries of conventional UI.

• Excellent product and UX instincts, with a keen ability to identify and articulate user experience issues related to clarity and usability.

• Demonstrated ability to prototype rapidly and effectively in ambiguous environments with incomplete specifications.

• Solid understanding of animation principles, responsive design techniques, frontend architecture best practices, and UI performance optimization.

• Genuine interest and foundational knowledge in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) principles, particularly as they apply to designing for trust, control, transparency, and error recovery in AI systems.

• Comfort working collaboratively at the boundary between design and engineering, often without strict handoffs.

• Ability to maintain a high pace of development while ensuring a clear, usable, and delightful user experience. Preferred Skills:

• Experience with AI/ML product development or interfaces.

• Familiarity with animation libraries or tools (e.g., Framer Motion, Lottie).

• Experience with state management libraries beyond basic React hooks (e.g., Redux, Zustand).

• Understanding of various AI model behaviors and their implications on UI design.

• Experience with A/B testing and user research methodologies.

• Familiarity with cross-platform development frameworks (e.g., React Native).

📝 Enhancement Note: The "2-5 years" experience level suggests a mid-level engineer who is expected to contribute independently but also grow into more senior responsibilities. The emphasis on "experimental interfaces" and "ambiguous environments" points to a need for self-starters with strong problem-solving skills and comfort with uncertainty, common in fast-paced AI startups.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A curated portfolio showcasing significant projects that demonstrate your ability to build innovative AI-native interfaces.

• Case studies detailing your process for creating functional prototypes of novel HCI interaction models, highlighting challenges and solutions.

• Examples of UI patterns that clearly communicate AI states (progress, uncertainty, failure, recovery) and enable user control and supervision.

• Projects that showcase your ability to translate design concepts into high-fidelity, responsive code with attention to animation and motion.

• Evidence of rapid prototyping capabilities in uncertain or specification-light environments. Process Documentation:

• Showcase your process for translating design concepts into working code with a focus on usability, responsiveness, and motion.

• Detail your approach to experimenting with and implementing UI patterns that enhance user understanding and control of AI behavior.

• Illustrate how you collaborate with product, design, and ML teams to validate interaction ideas and iterate on designs.

• Provide examples of how you've contributed to frontend architecture and reusable UI components within a team setting.

• Demonstrate your problem-solving methodology for identifying and fixing usability, performance, and state management issues in complex interfaces.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a UX Engineer role, especially one focused on AI and HCI, the portfolio is paramount. It needs to go beyond standard UI work and demonstrate a deep understanding of interaction design principles for AI, rapid prototyping skills, and the ability to bridge the gap between complex AI logic and intuitive user interfaces. The emphasis should be on how they solved complex interaction problems, not just the final aesthetic.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on the mid-level experience (2-5 years), fully remote status in the United States, and the specialized nature of AI/HCI, a competitive salary range is estimated between $110,000 - $160,000 USD per year. This range is informed by industry benchmarks for UX Engineers and Frontend Engineers in AI/ML companies in the US, considering the high demand for these specialized skills.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.

• Generous paid time off (PTO) and holiday schedule.

• Stock options or equity, reflecting the startup environment and high-impact nature of the role.

• Professional development budget for conferences, courses, and learning resources relevant to AI, HCI, and frontend engineering.

• Home office stipend or equipment allowance to ensure a productive remote work setup.

• Opportunities for significant impact and growth within a rapidly scaling AI company.

Working Hours: A standard 40-hour work week is expected, with flexibility to accommodate collaboration across different time zones if necessary. The company culture emphasizes high performance and output, encouraging efficient work practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary estimation is based on data for similar roles in the US tech market, specifically for remote positions and companies operating in the AI/ML space. The range accounts for variations in specific skill sets, prior experience within AI/HCI, and the company's funding/stage. Benefits are typical for tech startups offering competitive compensation packages to attract top talent.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Software Development. Bjak is positioned in the rapidly evolving AI sector, aiming to bring AI-native intelligence to everyday applications, significantly reducing user task completion times.

Company Size: The description implies a small, high-talent-density team, characteristic of early-stage startups. This means high impact and direct influence for each team member.

Founded: While the founding date isn't provided, the mission to build "proactive smart assistants" and revolutionize basic applications suggests a forward-thinking, innovation-driven company culture.

Team Structure:

• Likely a lean, cross-functional team structure where engineers, designers, and ML specialists work in close proximity.

• Reporting structure is expected to be flat, with direct access to leadership and decision-makers.

• Cross-functional collaboration is essential, with seamless handoffs and joint ownership of product development cycles. Methodology:

• Data-driven decision-making, with a strong emphasis on user feedback and A/B testing to validate hypotheses.

• Agile development methodologies with rapid iteration cycles and a focus on shipping high-quality work quickly.

• Emphasis on learning and continuous improvement, both individually and as a team.

• A culture that values independent execution, sound judgment, and the ability to bring structure to complex problems.

Company Website: https://bjak.my/en/about-us

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture description emphasizes a "high talent density," "hands-on team," and "rapid speed," which are hallmarks of ambitious tech startups. For an operations professional, this translates to a dynamic, fast-paced environment where individual contributions are highly visible and valued, but also requires a high degree of autonomy and proactive problem-solving.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This UX Engineer role is positioned as a mid-level individual contributor (2-5 years experience). It offers significant scope for growth into senior UX Engineer, Lead UX Engineer, or potentially Product Design Lead roles, especially given the focus on defining new interaction paradigms for AI.

Reporting Structure: The role likely reports to a Head of Product, Lead Designer, or Engineering Manager, with direct interaction with founders and ML leads given the small team size.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is critical: shaping how billions of users interact with AI in their daily lives. Success means directly contributing to a product that significantly reduces user time for everyday tasks, a tangible and measurable business outcome.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Advancement: Deepen expertise in HCI for AI, advanced frontend development, and prototyping techniques. Opportunities to learn from ML experts and contribute to cutting-edge AI product development.

• Leadership Potential: Potential to lead UX initiatives for new AI features, mentor junior engineers, and contribute to frontend architecture strategy.

• Career Progression: Clear path to senior individual contributor roles (Senior UX Engineer, Staff UX Engineer) or management tracks (Design Lead, Engineering Lead) within a growing AI company.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth potential is substantial due to the nascent nature of AI interfaces. This role offers a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of defining how AI is integrated into everyday workflows, providing a strong foundation for future career development in AI product design and engineering.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully Remote. This implies a distributed workforce, requiring strong asynchronous communication skills and self-discipline.

Office Location(s): While the role is remote within the United States, the company is headquartered in Malaysia (based on the domain bjak.my). This might suggest potential for occasional international collaboration or travel if the company expands globally.

Workspace Context:

• A highly collaborative, digitally-native environment where tools like Slack, Zoom, Figma, and project management software are central to daily work.

• Access to modern development tools and technologies for rapid prototyping and iterative development.

• Opportunities to engage with a diverse, global team, fostering a rich exchange of ideas and perspectives.

• Emphasis on autonomy and ownership within the remote setup, requiring proactive communication and self-management.

Work Schedule: Standard 40-hour work week with flexibility, common for remote roles. The focus is on output and achieving goals rather than strict adherence to hours, especially when collaborating across time zones.

📝 Enhancement Note: The fully remote nature, coupled with the company's international presence, means candidates must be comfortable with asynchronous communication, time zone differences, and a self-driven work style. The "high talent density" culture suggests a demanding but rewarding environment.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Application Submission: Submit resume and a strong portfolio showcasing relevant AI/HCI and frontend engineering projects.

• Initial Screening: A brief review by the hiring team to assess fit based on the resume and portfolio.

• Round 1 Interview: Technical interview focusing on frontend engineering skills, React/TypeScript proficiency, and prototyping capabilities. May include a live coding exercise.

• Round 2 Interview: Focus on HCI principles, UX instincts, problem-solving for AI interfaces, and collaboration style. May involve discussing past projects in detail.

• Design Assessment/Take-Home Challenge: A practical exercise to evaluate your ability to design and prototype an AI interaction. This is a critical component for design-focused roles.

• Final Interview: Discussion with senior leadership or founders, focusing on cultural fit, strategic thinking, and long-term vision.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase AI/HCI Focus: Prioritize projects that demonstrate your understanding of AI interaction patterns, user trust, control, and transparency.

• Highlight Prototyping: Include examples of rapid prototypes, interactive mockups, or functional demos that illustrate your ability to bring ideas to life quickly.

• Detail Your Process: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your approach, the tools used, challenges faced, and the outcomes achieved. Use visuals and concise explanations.

• Quantify Impact: If possible, include metrics or user feedback that demonstrate the success of your designs and engineering work.

• Tailor to the Role: Emphasize projects that align with Bjak's mission of building AI-native applications for everyday users.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand AI Behavior: Familiarize yourself with common AI behaviors and potential failure modes. Think about how to represent these clearly to users.

• Practice Rapid Prototyping: Be ready to quickly sketch, wireframe, or code a functional prototype based on a given prompt.

• Articulate Design Decisions: Be prepared to explain the rationale behind your design choices, especially concerning user experience, HCI principles, and AI interaction.

• Consider Edge Cases: Think about how your proposed solutions would handle errors, uncertainty, and complex user inputs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of a "design assessment" and portfolio requirement for "design roles" (which this UX Engineer role clearly falls under) means candidates must have a robust portfolio ready. The process emphasizes practical application and understanding of AI-specific UX challenges.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Frontend Frameworks: React, TypeScript (core requirements).

• Prototyping Tools: Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or similar design and prototyping software. Potentially tools like Framer for interactive prototypes.

• Version Control: Git, GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket.

• Communication & Collaboration: Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace/Microsoft 365.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly mentioned, experience with analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Amplitude) for tracking user behavior within interfaces would be beneficial.

• Understanding of how to instrument interfaces for data collection related to user interaction with AI features. CRM & Automation:

• Not directly relevant to the core UX engineering function, but awareness of how frontend interfaces integrate with backend systems and potentially CRM platforms for user data management would be a plus.

• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines for frontend deployment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The tech stack emphasizes modern frontend development practices. The inclusion of "prototyping" tools and the need for "rapid prototyping" suggests that tools like Figma are critical, and potentially more interactive prototyping tools like Framer or even direct code-based prototyping in React.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Innovation & Speed: A drive to create novel solutions and ship them rapidly, characteristic of a fast-paced AI startup.

• User-Centricity: Deep focus on user experience, ensuring AI is understandable, controllable, and genuinely useful.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Working closely across disciplines (Design, Engineering, ML) with open communication and shared decision-making.

• Excellence & Ownership: High standards for quality and a commitment to taking ownership of projects from conception to delivery.

• Continuous Learning: An environment that encourages staying at the forefront of AI, HCI, and frontend technologies.

Collaboration Style:

• Highly integrated and cross-functional, with engineers working hand-in-hand with designers and ML scientists from the outset.

• Emphasis on asynchronous communication for remote teams, balanced with synchronous sessions for brainstorming and critical decision-making.

• A culture of constructive feedback and iterative improvement, where ideas are openly shared and refined.

• Shared ownership of product outcomes, fostering a collective responsibility for success.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values and collaboration style highlight a dynamic, team-oriented environment. For a UX Engineer, this means being comfortable with ambiguity, contributing ideas beyond just coding, and actively participating in cross-functional discussions to shape the product's direction.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Defining New Interaction Paradigms: The primary challenge is building interfaces for AI where established conventions are still emerging. This requires creativity, experimentation, and a tolerance for ambiguity.

• Balancing AI Complexity with User Simplicity: Translating complex AI capabilities into intuitive and easy-to-use interfaces is a significant hurdle.

• Ensuring Trust and Control: Designing interfaces that foster user trust in AI and provide meaningful control without overwhelming the user is a core challenge in AI HCI.

• Rapid Iteration and Feedback Loops: Maintaining high quality and usability while moving at a rapid pace requires efficient processes and strong communication.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into AI/HCI: Gain unparalleled experience in a rapidly evolving field, shaping the future of human-AI interaction.

• Frontend Architecture: Contribute to and influence the frontend architecture of a new AI product, gaining experience with scalable and maintainable codebases.

• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Work closely with ML engineers and product designers, expanding your understanding of AI capabilities and product strategy.

• Industry Exposure: Be part of a company at the forefront of AI innovation, with opportunities to attend relevant conferences and workshops.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are inherent to working with cutting-edge AI technology. These challenges also represent significant growth opportunities for ambitious professionals looking to build expertise in a high-demand field.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• AI Interface Design: "How would you design an interface for an AI that helps users manage their daily tasks? What are the key HCI considerations for trust and control?" (Preparation: Think about states, feedback, error handling, user supervision.)

• Prototyping Ambiguity: "Describe a time you had to build a functional prototype for a feature with unclear requirements. What was your process, and how did you handle the ambiguity?" (Preparation: Focus on your iterative process, communication, and validation methods.)

• Balancing Design and Engineering: "How do you balance the need for rapid prototyping with the requirement for robust, maintainable code? Can you give an example?" (Preparation: Discuss your approach to technical debt, component reusability, and when to use quick-and-dirty vs. production-ready code.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• Mission Alignment: "What excites you about Bjak's mission to bring AI to everyday applications? How do you see your role contributing?" (Preparation: Research Bjak's product and mission; articulate your passion for AI and user experience.)

• Team Collaboration: "Describe your ideal collaboration style with designers and ML engineers. How do you ensure effective communication in a remote, cross-functional team?" (Preparation: Emphasize proactive communication, shared understanding, and leveraging collaboration tools.)

• Impact Measurement: "How would you measure the success of a new AI interaction you've designed and built?" (Preparation: Consider user engagement, task completion rates, error reduction, user satisfaction metrics.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Storytelling: Structure your portfolio presentations as compelling stories: problem, solution, your role, process, and impact.

• Interactive Demos: Whenever possible, provide live or recorded interactive demos of your work, especially for prototypes.

• Focus on HCI for AI: Clearly articulate the HCI challenges you addressed and how your engineering solutions contributed to a better user experience for AI interactions.

• Quantify Results: Present metrics, user feedback, or performance improvements to demonstrate the tangible value of your contributions.

• Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Expect detailed questions about your design choices, technical implementation, and problem-solving approaches for each project.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process emphasizes practical skills, problem-solving, and cultural fit. Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate their ability to think critically about AI interactions and translate those ideas into functional prototypes and well-engineered interfaces.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this UX Engineer, HCI position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby HQ.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 3-5 of your strongest projects that best showcase your frontend engineering skills, HCI expertise, and experience with prototyping AI-native or experimental interfaces. Ensure each project clearly outlines the problem, your specific contributions, the technologies used, and the outcomes.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight keywords and responsibilities from the job description, such as "React," "TypeScript," "HCI," "Prototyping," "AI Interfaces," and "Interaction Design." Quantify your achievements wherever possible.

• Prepare for Case Studies: Be ready to discuss your portfolio projects in detail and potentially tackle a design or coding challenge related to AI interaction design during the interview process. Practice articulating your thought process clearly.

• Research Bjak: Understand their mission, product vision, and the challenges they aim to solve with AI. This will help you tailor your responses and demonstrate genuine interest.

⚠️ 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.