Design Engineer

Stealth Vertical AI Startup · New York, NY
LinkedIn

Posted

Aug 08, 2026 (Aug 08)

Seniority

Lead

Work Model

On-site

Type

Not Specified

Category

Frontend

Salary

Not specified

Skills

CSS React TypeScript

Description

Please apply here - https://findautumn.com/careers/design-engineer About Us We're building the future of hotel software — an AI-Native Hotel OS that is redefining how hotels operate. We're replacing fragmented, clunky legacy systems and bloated back-office teams with an intelligent, unified platform. We've already proven strong product-market pull and have a fast-growing customer base across the US, Canada, and Mexico. We're a seed stage company backed by Tier 1 investors (led by Bessemer Venture Partners), and moving quickly to define a new category in one of the world's largest verticals. About the role Design and build in one motion — taste and production code from the same person. As our founding design engineer you own product surfaces from a rough idea to shipped React, set the craft bar for everything customers touch, and turn the messy, manual work of running a hotel into interfaces that need no manual. This is not a designer-who-hands-off role and not a front-end-from-specs role; it's a founding product-builder role. What you'll do: Own product surfaces end-to-end: design in the browser, ship the React, and sweat the typography, motion, empty states, and detail that turn "functional" into "great." Translate complex hospitality workflows — revenue, marketing, guest management, daily operations — into interfaces a busy operator understands at a glance. Define the design system, interaction patterns, and overall feel of Autumn as we build it from the ground up. Prototype AI-native workflows by driving the most advanced AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, v0) from a sketch to a working, interactive prototype in hours — then turn the best ones into real product. Work directly with founders and real operators with high agency and little hand-holding, and raise the quality bar for design, UX, and front-end across the company. Requirements We don't require formal credentials. We do require: Exceptional product taste: a portfolio of shipped interfaces where you did both the design and the front-end build, and can explain why each decision was right. Strong front-end engineering — fluent in React / TypeScript / Tailwind and modern CSS, with real care for clean components, responsiveness, motion, and performance. Full-stack comfort: you don't need to be an infra engineer, but you can read APIs, data models, and product logic and see how the front end connects to the whole system. High agency: you take an ambiguous problem, ask the right questions, make smart assumptions, and move — you don't wait for a perfect spec. Genuinely AI-native: you already build with the most advanced AI coding tools daily and can show how they sharpen both your craft and your pace. A clear communicator who thrives on a fast-moving, in-person team and cares about business outcomes, not just UI polish. Location This role is four to five days a week in person in New York City and candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.