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Design System Manager Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

A design system engineer is a full stack developer who lives at the intersection of technology ... Manage the distribution of the component library and eliminate systematic roadblocks through cross ...

Establish and manage the governance model for the design system, defining clear processes for component contribution, versioning, and deprecation to ensure the system remains scalable, coherent, and ...

The System Manager/Technical Consultant's responsibilities include but are not limited to: * Manage ... Experience with Public Safety Applications including CAD, Mobile and RMS * Ability to troubleshoot ...

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Design System Manager information

See California salary details

$45.4K

$100.7K

$151K

How much do design system manager jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 16, 2026, the average yearly pay for design system manager in California is $100,730.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $76,000.00 and $123,400.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is the difference between Design System Manager vs UX Designer?

AspectDesign System ManagerUX Designer
CredentialsBachelor's in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or related field; experience with design systemsBachelor's in Design, Psychology, or related field; portfolio showcasing user-centered designs
Work EnvironmentCollaborates with product teams, developers, and designers to maintain design systemsFocuses on user research, wireframing, prototyping, and user testing
Industry UsageCommon in organizations with large design teams and complex product ecosystemsUsed across various industries to improve user experience and interface design

The Design System Manager primarily oversees the development and maintenance of design systems, ensuring consistency across products. In contrast, UX Designers focus on creating user-centered designs through research and prototyping. While both roles require design knowledge, the Design System Manager emphasizes system-wide consistency, whereas UX Designers prioritize user experience and interaction design.

How does a Design System Manager typically collaborate with product teams and developers?

A Design System Manager works closely with product teams, UX/UI designers, and developers to ensure consistency and efficiency across all digital products. They facilitate cross-functional communication by gathering feedback, aligning design standards with engineering requirements, and providing clear documentation. Regular sync meetings, design reviews, and collaborative workshops are common, allowing the manager to address challenges and promote adoption of the system. This collaboration helps streamline workflows, resolve discrepancies, and maintain a cohesive user experience across platforms.

What is a Design System Manager?

A Design System Manager is a professional responsible for creating, maintaining, and evolving an organization's design system. This role ensures consistency in visual styles, components, and user experience across all digital products. Design System Managers collaborate with designers, developers, and product teams to implement best practices, document guidelines, and manage updates to the system. Their work helps streamline workflows, improve accessibility, and foster a cohesive brand identity.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Design System Manager, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Design System Manager, you need expertise in UI/UX design principles, front-end development, and experience managing design systems, often supported by a relevant degree in design, HCI, or computer science. Familiarity with design tools like Figma, Sketch, and version control systems, as well as knowledge of CSS frameworks and component libraries, is essential. Strong communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills help drive adoption and collaboration across teams. These abilities ensure a consistent and scalable design language that accelerates development and delivers cohesive user experiences.
What job categories do people searching Design System Manager jobs in California look for? The top searched job categories for Design System Manager jobs in California are:
What cities in California are hiring for Design System Manager jobs? Cities in California with the most Design System Manager job openings:
Senior Design System Engineer

Senior Design System Engineer

Intuit

Mountain View, CA • On-site

Full-time

Posted 28 days ago


Intuit rating

8.4

Company rating: 8.4 out of 10

Based on 83 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

66th of 190 rated software companies


Job description

We're looking for a creative and enthusiastic Senior Design System Engineer to join our Design Technology group. A design system engineer is a full stack developer who lives at the intersection of technology-driven innovation and human-centric design. Unlike a traditional front-end role focused on building individual product features, you will be building the foundational UI infrastructure that empowers hundreds of engineers across the company. As a design system engineer at Intuit, you will advocate for content strategy, creative directions, and engineering complexities.
We're looking for dependable engineers who bring new ideas from all areas, including large-scale system design, artificial intelligence, UI design, motion, and accessibility. You will be expected to architect highly scalable, performant component libraries while leveraging the latest generative AI tools (like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or Claude Code) to accelerate development and bridge the gap between Figma and code. If you're ready to create bold, delightful, and globally scalable solutions that power prosperity around the globe, we want to hear from you.
You must love
  • T hinking in 'systems' and abstract patterns rather than one-off pages or single-use features.
  • Obsessing over intuitive component design and developer experience.
  • Customer-centered design processes and emotionally connecting with customers.
  • Facing challenging problems independently and optimizing code for maximum performance at scale.
  • Inspiring others to aim for bigger, bolder, and smarter.
  • Agile and experiment-driven development.
  • Collaborating, communicating, and presenting across multiple engineering and design teams.
  • Continuously learning and adopting AI-augmented workflows to eliminate repetitive tasks and focus on high-impact systems architecture.

Responsibilities
Architect for Scale: Lead the technical design of complex features and make sound architectural decisions for the QuickBooks Design System, ensuring the code is suited for scaling and rapid iteration.
Drive Component Strategy & Execution: Partner with cross-functional product, design, and engineering teams to shape priorities based on real customer behavior and business goals. Take full responsibility for successfully delivering major features by reliably estimating complex work, resolving dependencies, and managing risks.
Optimize Performance: Create durable technical examples and patterns, and drive best practices adoption (including testing and observability) to rigorously optimize component rendering performance.
Bridge the Gap: Act as a crucial link between designers and developers by translating design tokens into scalable code architectures and resolving technical constraints using our values and best practices.
Drive Developer Experience (DX): Manage the distribution of the component library and eliminate systematic roadblocks through cross-functional influence to ensure a flawless upgrade path.
Champion Accessibility: Rigorously test components in many different environments to ensure WCAG 2.1+ compliance, shaping execution practices to maintain quality standards throughout the development cycle.
Accelerate the Team: Improve the abilities of your team by mentoring team members, providing clarity on ambiguities, sharing feedback on best practices, and reviewing learning plans.
Innovate with AI: Lead technology and design evaluation, applying AI Native principles to harness AI-driven pipelines and scale the design system while considering the long-term implications of AI integration.
Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer interaction, Design, or a related technical field or equivalent practical experience.
  • Proven experience independently building, maintaining, and scaling a widely consumed component library, design system, or open-source UI framework.
  • Deep knowledge of front-end performance optimization techniques and the ability to solve complex, ambiguous technical bugs that may require reaching outside your team for knowledge.
  • Working knowledge of React, TypeScript, Git, Figma, and component documentation platforms (like Storybook).
  • Expert knowledge of CSS, common CSS tooling, and headless UI ecosystems, with the ability to lead the delivery of scalable, durable solutions from end to end.
  • Strong understanding of accessibility principles, including ARIA guidelines, WCAG success criteria, and screen reader technologies.
  • A strong point of view, backed up by personal expertise, deep customer insight (usage data, feedback), design rationale, and industry trends.
  • A portfolio or GitHub profile showcasing professional creative work, open-source contributions, or systems-level engineering.
  • Fluency in AI Native principles and strong familiarity with modern AI coding assistants to optimize daily development workflows and improve team capabilities.

Intuit provides a competitive compensation package with a strong pay for performance rewards approach. This position may be eligible for a cash bonus, equity rewards and benefits, in accordance with our applicable plans and programs (see more about our compensation and benefits at ). Pay offered is based on factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and work location. To drive ongoing fair pay for employees, Intuit conducts regular comparisons across categories of ethnicity and gender. The expected base pay range for this position is:
Bay Area California $ 171,000- 231,500
New York $ 170,500- 231,000

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