Design Engineer

Who are we?

Cohere is the leading security-first enterprise AI company. We build cutting-edge foundation AI models and end-to-end products that are designed to solve real-world business problems.

We’re training and deploying frontier models for enterprises who are building AI systems. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI and we are looking for folks that want to be part of that.

We obsess over what we build. Each one of us is responsible for contributing to increasing the capabilities of our models and the value they drive for our customers. Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are all passionate about their craft.

We are a global technology company headquartered in Toronto with key offices in London, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin and Seoul. Join us!

About the Role

We're looking for a design engineer to help build and maintain Waypoint, our design system, across both the Figma library and the production codebase. This is not a "designer who codes a little" or an "engineer who dabbles in Figma" role. You should be genuinely fluent on both sides, comfortable defining a component's behavior and states in Figma one hour and shipping the same component to npm the next.

You'll take direct ownership of the Figma side of our library (structure, variants, tokens, documentation) while also contributing to the core Waypoint system: our component packages, our token pipeline, and the tooling that keeps design and code in sync. If the idea of being the single point of continuity between a Figma frame and a production component sounds exciting rather than exhausting, this is your role.

We're also thinking beyond the system we have today. Waypoint isn't just meant to serve designers and engineers, it's meant to become something a model can read, reason about, and build with directly. We want someone who can help us get there: grounded enough to do the unglamorous work of making today's system solid, and forward looking enough to help define what an intelligent design system looks like next.

Why this role

Waypoint is still early enough that the decisions you make now will shape how the system scales. You'll have real ownership, not just a queue of component tickets, and you'll be working alongside a team that treats design and engineering as one discipline rather than two departments that hand work back and forth. And you'll be helping define what a design system becomes when it has to serve a third audience: the models that will increasingly build with it.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the Figma library for Waypoint: component structure, variants, properties, and documentation, so it stays a reliable source of truth for design teams.

• Build and maintain core Waypoint components, contributing directly to our component packages alongside the design engineering team.

• Work across our token pipeline, keeping design tokens in Figma and their code representations (CSS custom properties, Tailwind config) tightly synced.

• Partner with product designers to translate new patterns into system components, and with product engineers to make sure those components are easy to adopt correctly.

• Help define and refine the workflows and tooling that connect Figma and code (sync scripts, plugins, documentation sites) rather than relying on manual handoff.

• Write clear documentation and usage guidance so the system scales without you being the bottleneck.

• Weigh in on system architecture decisions: when to add a new component versus extend an existing one, how to version and package changes, how to keep the system consistent as it grows.

• Help shape how Waypoint evolves to serve a third consumer beyond designers and engineers: the model itself. That means thinking about how components, tokens, and patterns get structured so they're legible to AI systems, not just to humans.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of combined design and/or engineering experience, with real depth in both. We care less about your job titles and more about whether you can move fluidly between Figma and code without losing fidelity in either direction.

• Strong command of Figma at a systems level: component architecture, variants, auto layout, variables and tokens, and library management, not just using components someone else built.

• Solid front end engineering skills, ideally TypeScript and React, with the ability to build accessible, well tested, production quality components.

• Experience working with or building design tokens and understanding how they flow from design tool to codebase.

• A systems mindset. You think in terms of reusable, composable patterns rather than one off solutions, and you can explain the tradeoffs of a system level decision to both designers and engineers.

• Strong communication skills. You'll be the connective tissue between design and engineering, so you need to be able to advocate for system decisions to both audiences.

• Comfort with ambiguity. Design systems work means constantly balancing consistency against the need to move fast and support new product surfaces.

• A genuine interest in where design systems are headed, not just where they are. You should be able to hold the practical reality of today's system alongside a point of view on what it means to build for a future where AI is a first class consumer of your system, not just an afterthought.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience building or contributing to design-to-code sync tooling (Figma plugins, token pipelines, MCP-based workflows, or similar).

• Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG) and how to bake them into components rather than bolt them on.

• Experience packaging and versioning component libraries for multiple consuming teams (npm scoped packages, semver, changelogs).

• Exposure to multi-platform design systems work (iOS/SwiftUI, Android/Jetpack Compose, or token build tools like Style Dictionary).

• Experience in an AI native product environment or genuine interest in how AI changes the way design systems get built and used.

Full-Time Employees at Cohere enjoy these Perks:

• A weekly lunch stipend of $75/£75 or equivalent in your local currency for lunch.

• Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget for mental health.

• RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme.

• 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months, for either parent.

• Annual enrichment benefits:

  Arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, and a workspace improvement credit.

  Education & learning stipend for conferences, courses, and coaching.

• 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days!)

• Budget for traveling to other offices if you are remote, plus an annual company offsite.

How and Where We Work:

• Cohere is remote-friendly, but we also have offices in Toronto, London, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin and Seoul with more opening soon.

• For those in the office: a daily lunch program, plenty of snacks, and regular community and social events.

• For those not near an office: a co-working benefit so you can work alongside others in your city.

• Everyone receives a $500 home office stipend to set up your workspace properly.

If any of the above doesn’t line up exactly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply.

We strive to create an inclusive work environment for all; we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form, and we will work together to meet your needs.

We may use AI-enabled tools to screen and assess applicants against the criteria for this position. This helps our recruiters identify potentially qualified candidates, but it doesn't limit the applications our recruiters may review or consider.

Beware of Scams: Cohere will never ask for payment or third-party services (e.g., CV writing) as part of our hiring process. All legitimate roles are listed on the Cohere careers page and LinkedIn only, with all communications from Cohere employees coming from an @cohere.com or @cw.cohere email alias. If jobs are viewed on other sites then please verify these through our official careers page.