Design Engineer at Circle

We're looking for a Design Engineer: you'll work as design engineer and front-end prototyper, paired 1:1 with product designers to turn ideas into working prototypes in hours, not weeks.

Our goal is simple: move from sharing Figma mockups to sharing real, clickable prototypes as our default design artifact.

You'll bring refined product designs to life—building high-fidelity, functional implementations that bridge design intent and engineering execution. Your work enables faster validation, clearer stakeholder communication, and smoother handoff to engineering, with reusable implementations that raise the quality bar for production builds.

Design owns the output. You'll iterate with designers until the implementation matches intent, then deploy to preview environments for feedback and review.

This role requires fluency with AI coding tools. We expect you to use tools like Cursor and Claude Code as your primary way of building, generating fast starting points and refining them with care.

• Work daily in tight 1:1 pairing with a product designer, turning Figma concepts into live prototypes in real time
• Build prototypes in the same technologies as our production front-end (React/Next.js/TypeScript/Tailwind) using Cursor and Claude Code
• Translate multi-screen Figma flows into working code, collaborating directly with designers throughout iteration
• Iterate quickly through critique loops—prototypes are the primary artifact we use to communicate product ideas
• Leverage the design system as your foundation—building new components only when necessary
• Deploy to preview environments for async review, feedback, and stakeholder alignment
• Offer input on technical feasibility and complexity as flows are finalized
• Manage multiple workstreams, balancing major implementations with quick iteration or refinement needs
• Collaborate with the product design org while sitting operationally close to the Design Systems and front-end engineering team
What you’ll need to be successful
• Strong alignment with our values, find our values on our career page if you haven’t read up on them yet.
• You are proficient in English (spoken, written, and reading) at a CEFR Level C2 / ILR Level 5.

AI-First Development

• Hands-on experience using AI coding tools (Cursor and Claude Code) as your primary way of building front-end prototypes
• You embrace "vibe coding": using AI to generate fast starting points, then refining with precision and care
• Comfortable iterating quickly with AI assistance while maintaining high visual and functional quality standards

Technical Foundation

• 3+ years of experience building web interfaces with React, modern JavaScript, and component-based architecture
• Strong experience with React, TypeScript, Next.js, and Tailwind (or very similar modern front-end stack)
• Strong grasp of React fundamentals (functional components, hooks, props/state) and layout systems (Flexbox, Grid)
• Experience working with Tailwind CSS and libraries like Radix, Headless UI, or shadcn/ui
• Comfortable working in a real production-style codebase
• Familiarity with Git workflows and preview deployments (e.g. Vercel)

Design-Engineering Bridge

• Experience translating polished design specs into functional code
• Comfortable navigating complex Figma files—extracting assets, understanding auto-layout and component behavior
• High attention to detail when it comes to visual fidelity, interaction behavior, and polish
• You lean design-side for an engineer: you care about pixels, UX quality, and interaction polish

Working Style & Profile

• Exceptional communication skills—you write clearly, present your work confidently, and collaborate well across disciplines
• Comfortable working both asynchronously and in real-time—sharing progress, giving updates, and contributing to team discussions
• Collaborative and open—you balance design priorities with thoughtful technical input
• You might have started as a web designer or have a strong visual/design background and grew into modern front-end engineering
• You've been building small apps, tools, or experiments on your own using modern front-end stacks and AI coding tools
• You're constantly exploring new libraries, tools, and workflows to move faster and improve quality

Bonus points

• Experience with animation libraries (Framer Motion, CSS transitions)
• Understanding of accessibility fundamentals (semantic HTML, ARIA, keyboard navigation)
• Familiarity with other AI-assisted development workflows and tools

$90,000 - $100,000 USD per year

The cash compensation range shown is a starting point. In addition to equity, benefits and perks, your cash compensation is subject to an annual review and increase on a once per year basis.

The fun stuff

• Fully remote: work from anywhere in the world!
• Autonomy and trust to do your job: we care about outcomes over everything else.
• Paid time away: all employees are given 35 days of PTO annually. We also offer a paid sabbatical after 5 years.
• Generous U.S. benchmarked compensation and startup equity no matter where you are in the world.*
• Awesome medical coverage with 100% coverage for you and your family, or medical reimbursement options where applicable!*
• Parental leave for parents expanding their family, or just starting one.
• Home office stipend to help you get up and running.
• Learning & development stipend to help you level up your professional skills.
• Annual bonus potential for roles that don't already receive variable income or commission.
• Company retreats: Twice a year, the Circle team gets together for a fully paid company retreat in incredible places around the world! We’ve had past retreats in Colombia, Portugal, and Mexico, with more planned on the horizon.
• Check out our Careers page for more.

*Your role, location and unique circumstance may affect this.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

As a fully-remote international company, diversity is baked into our DNA. Here’s how our CEO, Sid Yadav, frames our hiring mission: “let’s find talent in underserved and under-represented corners of the world, set them up to do the best work of their lives, and in turn, change their life.” To achieve this hiring mission, we offer competitive U.S. benchmarked compensation no matter where someone’s located in the world, and we proactively seek candidates who expand representation of backgrounds, cultures and lived experiences in our teams.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Circle is an equal opportunity employer and as such, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. If you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.

How We Use Candidate Data

At Circle, we are committed to protecting your personal information. As a job applicant, the personal data you provide to us is collected and processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This notice outlines the types of personal information we collect, the purpose for collecting it, and your rights.

Information We Collect: We collect the following categories of personal information from job applicants:

• Contact information (such as name, email address, phone number)
• Employment history and qualifications
• Education history
• References and any other information you choose to share with us during the application process

Purpose of Collection: We collect this information for the following purposes:

• To assess your qualifications and suitability for the position
• To communicate with you during the recruitment process
• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations

Your Rights Under GDPR and CCPA: You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• The right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• The right to request the deletion of your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions.
• The right to opt out of the sale of your personal information (Note: We do not sell personal information).

For more information about how we handle your personal data or to exercise your rights, please refer to our full Privacy Policy.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this privacy notice.