Design Engineer

Who We Are Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction. Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in. We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute. Our Values Move Fast : We act with speed and precision, breaking down big challenges into achievable steps. Focus : We complete one goal at a time with care, collaborating as a team to deliver features with precision. Balance : Sustained performance comes from rest and recovery. We ensure a healthy work-life balance to keep you at your best. Craftsmanship : Innovation through excellence. Every detail matters, and we take pride in mastering our craft. Minimal : Simplicity drives our innovation. We eliminate complexity through discipline and focus on what truly matters. What We're Looking For We are looking for a Senior Design Engineer to join our team and act as a specialist to bridge the final gap between design prototypes and engineering's production code. This role sits at the intersection of product design and frontend engineering, responsible for turning high-fidelity product vision into scalable, production-grade user experiences across the Lightning platform. You will be instrumental in improving our front-end hygiene and stabilizing our React Component Library, ensuring high-quality, performant, and consistent user experiences. With a diverse skill set spanning front-end engineering and design, you thrive in a fast-paced, startup environment and are ready to tackle foundational clean-up to deliver features with a high degree of polish. This is a hybrid role based in our New York City office. The anticipated salary range for this role is $160,000 - $200,000. What You’ll Do Build production-grade user experiences in React and TypeScript, translating high-fidelity product design directly into code Own and evolve Lightning’s React component library, improving consistency, performance, and developer ergonomics Drive front-end architecture decisions that enable the platform to scale across new AI workflows and enterprise use cases Partner closely with product design, product, and engineering to ship features with a high degree of polish and usability Identify and eliminate UX and frontend complexity across the product surface Improve front-end performance, accessibility, and interaction quality across the platform Establish best practices for design-to-code workflows, raising the bar for frontend craftsmanship across teams Contribute to interactive prototypes and exploratory builds that accelerate product iteration What You’ll Need 5+ years building high-quality frontend experiences in production environments Deep expertise in React, TypeScript, and modern frontend architecture Strong product and design sensibility — you care about interaction quality, visual polish, and usability details Experience owning or significantly contributing to a design system or component library Fluency in Figma and modern design tooling, with the ability to move seamlessly between design and code Track record of improving frontend quality, performance, or developer experience at scale Comfort operating in fast-moving, ambiguous startup environments Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate across design and engineering Nice to have Experience with data-dense or developer-facing products Experience with AI/ML or technical platforms Experience with performance optimization or large-scale React apps Experience contributing to open source Benefits and Perks We offer competitive base salaries and equity with a 25% one year cliff and monthly vesting thereafter. For our international employees, we work with our EOR to pay you in your local currency and provide equitable benefits across the globe. In the US, we offer: Medical, dental and vision Life and AD&D insurance  Flexible paid time off including winter closure Paid family leave benefits $500 one time home office stipend $1,000 annual learning & development stipend  100% Citibike membership (NYC only) $45/month gym membership  Additional various medical and mental health services At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard