Ycombinator
Software Product Design Engineer
San Francisco Bay Area. Posted 10 months ago
The role
You will design user experiences and translate high-fidelity mocks into production code. You will work on internal tools, public products, and AI-powered systems at YC.
What you will do
- Design compelling, clear UI/UX and produce high-quality mocks.
- Turn design mocks into pixel-perfect, production-ready frontends using modern web tech.
- Iterate on existing interfaces by improving layout, interaction quality, motion, and design consistency.
- Work closely with engineers, partners, and stakeholders to own design and implementation end-to-end.
- Rapidly prototype and vibe code to explore ideas and iterate quickly.
- Contribute to design systems, component libraries, and patterns.
- Talk to users and improve the experience based on real signals.
Required qualifications
- Strong UX and visual design skills with proven taste and craftsmanship.
- Frontend engineering experience with React, TypeScript, and modern CSS.
- Ability to move fluidly between design tools and frontend code.
- A get things done mindset.
- Care deeply about polish including typography, spacing, micro-interactions and transitions.
- Comfort with ambiguity.
- Must live in the SF Bay Area or be willing to relocate.
Nice to have
- Experience building or maintaining design systems.
- Contributions to open source UI libraries or design resources.
- Background in internal tools, admin dashboards, or developer-facing products.
Benefits
- Medical, vision, and dental plans
- Infertility benefit
- STD/LTD
- Life insurance
- Commuter benefits
- Flexible spending account
- Health savings account
- 401(k) + 4% matching
- Generous parental leave
- Paid holidays
- Flexible paid time off policy
- Generous relocation support
Before you apply
- Y Combinator is willing to sponsor certain employment visas in accordance with company policy.
About the company
Y Combinator builds the software that runs YC, including internal tools, public products, and AI-powered systems. The team is small and ships real product to real users frequently.