Founding Design Engineer

About Skiffra

Skiffra is building the intelligence layer for operational decision-making in physical industries.

We're developing AI-native orchestration systems that turn complex, high-stakes operations into intelligent, adaptive workflows. We're starting with mining and natural resources, where decisions move people, equipment and capital, and where the consequences of getting them wrong are real.

Our ambition extends well beyond mining. We're building a platform designed to change how physical industries make decisions.

The Role

We're hiring our founding Design Engineer: a deeply skilled senior frontend engineer with exceptional product design instincts. You'll own the experience end to end, from understanding the problem in the field to designing the solution, writing production code and shipping it.

As our first dedicated design hire, you'll set the foundations: the design system, the interaction patterns and the quality bar every Skiffra product after this one is built on.

The hardest problem you'll work on is trust. Our users are experienced operators, planners and site leaders who have seen plenty of software come and go. Your job is to make AI-driven recommendations clear enough to act on, honest about what they don't know, and easy to question or override.

You'll spend real time on site with the people who use what you build. You'll learn how mines actually run, then turn that understanding into software that feels simple, fast and dependable.

If you're equally at home shaping an experience in Figma and building it in React and TypeScript, we'd love to talk.

What You'll Do

• Own frontend development and product design for Skiffra's products, taking features from first concept through production

• Design how people work with AI: surfacing recommendations, showing confidence and uncertainty, explaining the reasoning behind a suggestion, and keeping humans in control of the final call

• Turn complex operational workflows and real-time data into interfaces that help planners, site leaders and operators make better decisions quickly

• Build Skiffra's design system, reusable component library and frontend standards from the ground up

• Design for the full range of environments our users work in, from administrative offices and control rooms to site conditions with unreliable connectivity and time-sensitive decisions

• Spend regular time on site with operators and our field teams, observing real workflows, testing prototypes and bringing what you learn back into the product

• Work closely with product, engineering and field teams to prototype, ship and keep improving what we've built

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years building and shipping complex production frontends

• Strong production-level React, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML and CSS, with the ability to independently build and ship complex frontend applications

• Exceptional product design and UX judgment, strong visual design skills and fluency in Figma

• Hands-on daily use of AI tools like Claude Code or Codex to prototype and ship faster, with the depth to review, debug and own everything that goes to production

• A track record of owning products or significant features end to end, from design through engineering and deployment

• Experience designing complex workflows or data-rich applications, such as dashboards, planning tools or decision-support software, and making them intuitive

• Experience designing AI-driven or data-driven products where users need to understand, trust and act on what the system tells them

• Experience building 0→1 products, including establishing a design system and frontend standards where none existed

• A solid grasp of frontend architecture, component libraries, responsive design, accessibility and performance

• Curiosity about how physical operations really work, and a willingness to go to site to find out

• A builder's mentality: comfortable with ambiguity, quick to move, clear on when something is good enough to ship, and proud of the quality of what you ship

Nice to Have

• Experience in mining, resources, energy, logistics or other industrial settings

• Experience with offline-first, mobile or field-based applications

• Experience with real-time data or agentic workflows

• Experience as an early hire at a startup

How We Work

We value speed, clarity, and technical rigor. We favor simple systems over clever ones, prototypes over over-planning, and ownership over handoffs. You’ll work directly with founders and ship things that matter quickly.

Location & Work Model

This is a hybrid role requiring regular in-person collaboration at the designated office location, as specified in the job posting (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montreal, or Brisbane). We are not a fully remote company.

Work Authorization

Candidates must be authorized to work in the country where this role is based. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Benefits & Eligibility

This position is eligible for Skiffra’s standard benefits, including health insurance and retirement plans, and may also qualify for participation in the Company’s bonus and incentive programs.

Equal Opportunity

Skiffra is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.