Senior Design Engineer, Product

<p><strong>About Buildkite</strong><strong><br></strong>At Buildkite, our mission is to unblock every developer on the planet. We’ve rethought how software delivery should work and have built a platform that is fast, reliable, secure, and able to scale to the needs of the most demanding high-growth tech companies globally including Airbnb, Canva, Shopify, PagerDuty, and Lyft.</p> <p><strong>Job Overview</strong></p> <p>This new role on our centralised Brand &amp; Design team exists to form a cohesive and consistent platform experience over 2026 and beyond. You'll own the craft at the intersection of user insights, design quality, and production-grade frontend engineering—working with fellow Design Engineers and collaborating across squads, including PMs and engineers.</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Our customers are platform engineers at companies like Shopify, Uber, and Canva. They might just be the most skeptical people on the internet—and for good reason. They're responsible for software delivery at some of the biggest engineering teams on the planet. They're going to peek under the hood. They want to know how something was actually implemented, not just how it looks.</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">We're developing a Design System for the first time to create a better space for AI-led concept development. We have multiple product areas to elevate towards cohesion, and you'll have tangible opportunities to drive proactive, impactful work. Alongside the day-to-day where you'll operate with real ownership and autonomy, we reserve space for R&amp;D—ensuring you have the time to innovate, bringing ideas, prototypes, and implementations that shape not only the Buildkite product, but how the market interacts with and understands CI for the future.</p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">🚀</span>&nbsp;What You’ll Do</strong></p> <p class="p1"><strong>Ship the Buildkite product in the open</strong></p> <ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Drive the Buildkite product forward with high standards for ideation and execution</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Work collaboratively, transparently, and with the kind of craft engineers respect</li> </ul> <h4 class="text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Prototype like an engineer, design like a builder</strong></span></h4> <ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Design and build prototypes that go beyond static files</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Entwine design and experience early: real interactions, real workflows, real dogfooding</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Close the gap between concept and shipped product</li> </ul> <h4 class="text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold">Shape the practice of Design Engineering at Buildkite</h4> <ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Contribute to our Design Engineering and front-end workflows, tools, and best practices</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Support these practices as meaningful levers for business impact</li> </ul> <h4 class="text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold">Translate brand into lived product experience</h4> <ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Work embedded in a centralised Design team to bring the Buildkite identity to life</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Build a living system across touchpoints</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Ensure the product feels cohesive, intentional, and unmistakably Buildkite</li> </ul> <h4 class="text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold">Partner across the org to deliver coherent developer experience (DX)</h4> <ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Collaborate beyond Product and Engineering: Support, Sales, Marketing, and beyond</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Ensure our DX is consistent and delightful end-to-end</li> </ul> <h4 class="text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold">Stay close to customers and platform truth</h4> <ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Speak directly with customer teams large and small</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Translate insights into improvements, and push the platform forward with good intuition</li> </ul> <h4 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold">🎨 What You Bring</h4> <ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Experience working within SaaS as a Product Designer or Design Engineer</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Standard design tooling experience and capability; we use Figma/Figjam though are becoming more code-first</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Documented experience working with React, Tailwind, Vite and other front-end frameworks</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Proven ability to tackle complex problem-solving, together or individually</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Proven ability to give and receive constructive feedback and critique in an open, candid environment</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Proven ability to clearly communicate complex technical concepts to both customers and non-technical stakeholders across the business</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">High empathy and effective communication skills. As a remote-first team, we value deep work, try to minimise tool distraction, and collaborate constantly as a high-trust small team</li> </ul> <h4 class="text-text-100 mt-2 -mb-1 text-base font-bold">Additional Experience That's a Plus</h4> <ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Rails experience</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Understanding of DevOps field and related DevTools space</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Knowledge of CI/CD or related developer tools (curiosity and willingness to learn matter just as much)</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Use of AI in process isn't mandated, though we'll ask about it to understand your PoV</li> </ul> <h4 class="text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold">✨ Why Join Buildkite</h4> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">At Buildkite, we value kindness, autonomy, and collaboration. You'll be joining a remote-first company where your work directly helps some of the world's best engineering teams build and ship software faster and more safely.</p> <ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3"> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Competitive compensation and benefits package</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Flexible, remote-first culture</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Meaningful technical challenges at scale</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Opportunities for professional growth, technical leadership, and cross-team influence</li> <li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">A collaborative, inclusive, and innovative culture where your ideas make a real impact</li> </ul><div class="content-conclusion"><h3><strong>🌈 Equal Opportunity Employer</strong></h3> <p>At Buildkite, we value diversity and celebrate all types of skills, backgrounds, and experiences. We’re dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment and providing reasonable accommodations throughout our recruitment process.</p> <p>If you need any accommodations or support during the application or interview process, please reach out to us at accommodations@buildkite.com.</p></div>