Surface Pattern Design Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

CodeRabbit is the leading AI code review platform, trusted by more than 17,000 customers and 150,000 open-source projects, conducting over 2 million code reviews each week. We build the symbiotic partnership between developers and AI that makes shipping fast software safe again, reviewing every pull request, IDE change, and CLI commit so teams can move quickly without breaking things.

We are a fast-moving, well-funded company, fresh off a $143M Series C at a $1.5B valuation — building Agentic Change Management, the control layer for software changes created by humans and agents. As AI writes more of the world's code, the bottleneck moves from implementation to judgment and helping human judgment scale is exactly the problem we exist to solve.

We're looking for a Design Engineer who lives at the intersection of design and code. You will prototype, build, and polish the experiences that make CodeRabbit feel like a trusted teammate rather than noise — across IDEs, Git platforms, the CLI, and the web, surfaces with few established conventions, where the right interaction pattern hasn't been invented yet.

Whether a developer trusts an AI-generated suggestion enough to merge it often comes down to execution: the pixels, the motion, the copy, the milliseconds of latency, the edge cases. This role owns that last mile. It is perfect for someone who thinks like a designer but builds like an engineer — or vice versa.

This is a high-ownership role working directly with design, engineering, and AI teams to define what's possible and then ship it, fast.

• Build production-quality UI. Ship polished components and interactions that make complex code analysis feel effortless and earn developers' trust in AI-generated suggestions.

• Prototype rapidly. Turn concepts for emerging AI experiences — real-time review, conversational feedback, agentic workflows — into working prototypes in hours, not days, to validate ideas before full implementation.

• Bridge design and engineering. Translate high-fidelity designs into pixel-perfect code, and push design forward through technical innovation the mockups couldn't anticipate.

• Own implementation quality. Set and hold the bar for UI execution across the product — smooth interactions, thoughtful motion, and micro-interactions that make the product feel alive.

• Build the design system in code. Create and maintain reusable, well-engineered components spanning Web, IDE extensions, Git platforms, and CLI surfaces, so the whole team ships faster.

• Make complex data legible. Implement clear, performant visualizations for code quality metrics, dependency graphs, and AI-generated insights.

• Stay close to the model. Build for where AI capabilities are heading, not just what they can do today, and help define interaction paradigms native to AI and developer tools.

• Equally fluent in Figma and your editor. You move between design tools and code without friction, and you're credible in both rooms. This is the core of the role.

• Strong front-end engineering. Deep skills in TypeScript, React, CSS, and animation, with an instinct for building reusable, maintainable UI systems.

• An obsession with craft. You have an eye for design details, you've shipped polished products, and you know what it takes to get from 90% to 100%.

• You ship fast and learn in the open. You'd rather get something in front of users this week than perfect it for a month — and you find ways to keep the care in the details while moving quickly.

• You're AI-native in how you work. You already use AI tools to extend what you can build and see AI as a creative partner in your own practice.

• You're rethinking the basics. Many UI primitives were designed for a different era; you're excited to question assumptions and invent patterns native to AI and developer tools.

• 2–5+ years of experience in design engineering, front-end, or product design roles, with a portfolio or shipped work demonstrating both engineering rigor and visual craft.

• A proven track record of shipping complex technical products end-to-end in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.

• Experience building or contributing to design systems and component libraries across multiple platforms.

• Strong command of modern front-end tooling (TypeScript, React, CSS, animation libraries) and modern design tools (e.g., Figma).

• Excellent collaboration and communication skills across cross-functional teams.

• Experience at developer-focused companies (e.g., GitHub, Postman, Hasura) or building developer tools.

• A background in or strong understanding of software development and Git workflows.

• Experience with IDE extensions (VS Code, JetBrains), Electron, or building cross-platform apps.

• Experience designing or building AI/ML-powered interfaces, or motion design and micro-interactions.

• Contributions to open-source projects or design systems.

• The chance to define the design language for a category-defining AI product used by millions of developers.

• A collaborative, high-velocity environment working alongside strong engineers and AI researchers.

• Competitive salary, meaningful equity, and benefits.

• Professional development and the resources to do the best work of your career.