Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Spear AI builds data management and AI systems for real-world maritime missions and supports U.S. Navy decision-making. The Senior Design Engineer will design and implement complex, data-rich product surfaces for the Horizon maritime acoustic data platform, improve product flows, champion accessibility and performance, and mentor designers and frontend engineers.
Responsibilities
- Design and implement complex, data-rich product surfaces on Horizon, our maritime acoustic data platform, from first sketch to production
- Spot opportunities to redesign or refine key features and flows, as well as smaller quality issues and “paper cuts”
- Sit in kickoffs, understand the product and the audience, and propose how it should look and feel. You're not waiting for a spec - you're helping write it
- Champion performance, accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA), and maintainability as first-class concerns, not afterthoughts
- Set the bar through review and mentorship. Run design audits and pull request reviews that level up the people around you
- Help shape how Design Engineering scales at Spear AI
Skills
- Successful candidates typically have 7+ years of design engineering (design/frontend) experience, including time spent operating at a senior IC level on a high-bar team
- You have a deep understanding of design workflows •and• the technical constraints that surround them
- You sweat the small stuff: animation, loading states, typography rhythm, accessibility, responsiveness, and performance
- You've substantially shaped or maintained a design system at scale, not just consumed one. You think hard about component API design, token architecture, accessibility primitives, and how a system holds up under pressure across many teams and applications
- You have the courage to ask questions, experiment, and advocate for what you feel is right
- You've mentored other designers and/or frontend engineers, set patterns others adopted, and made teammates better through your reviews and your work
- You thrive in ambiguity. Mission-critical work in defense isn't always tidy. Priorities shift. You stay calm, adjust, and iterate
- You make the team better. On a team of two, every hire shapes how we work. You bring your own strengths but check your ego at the door. You give honest feedback, take it just as well, and treat your teammates' wins as your own. The work we ship is a reflection of how we work together
- A solid background in Product Design with a strong sense of layout, color theory, typography, and visual hierarchy
- Expertise with Tailwind CSS and deep understanding of modern CSS (container queries, cascade layers, OKLCH, view transitions, etc.)
- Experience with frontend technologies like React, Next.js, and TypeScript
- Strong grasp of accessibility standards (WCAG 2.2) and performance metrics (Core Web Vitals, Lighthouse)
- Excellent communication skills. You can explain a technical decision, a design rationale, or a trade-off in writing in a way that lands with the audience
- Demonstrated experience designing and building design systems/component libraries used by other engineering teams
- Fluency in Figma — including variables, modes, auto layout, and component architecture that mirrors code
- Comfort designing data-dense interfaces — tables, charts, dashboards, real-time displays
- Prior experience shaping and maintaining a shared design system
- Geospatial / mapping experience (Mapbox, MapLibre, [deck.gl](http://deck.gl), Cesium)
- Experience shipping in a regulated or secure environment (defense, finance, healthcare)
Benefits
- Unlimited PTO — Take the time you need to recharge and maintain work-life balance.
- Dedicated sick time — Your health and well-being come first.
- Comprehensive health and benefits – Medical, dental, and vision coverage to keep you and your family protected.
- 11 Paid Holidays — Enjoy time off throughout the year to celebrate and spend time with loved ones.
- Professional development — Educational opportunities and resources to help you grow your skills and advance your career.
- Collaborative environment — Work directly with leadership in our flat organizational structure, where your ideas and contributions matter.
- Mission-driven work — Contribute to projects that directly support national security and make a real-world impact.
- Growth opportunities — Join us during an exciting expansion phase where you can help shape our future.
- 401(k) with company match.
- Onsite / Remote / Flexible work arrangements or hybrid options (position dependent).
- Relocation assistance (position dependent).
- Referral bonuses.
- Performance bonuses.
- Life insurance and disability coverage.
- Technology home office setup stipend.
- Professional certification reimbursement (position dependent).
Company Overview