Audit the walk-up experience end to end and ship your first measurable improvement to the live demo.
FOUNDING ROLE BRIEF / DESIGN ENGINEERING / 05 OF 05
Lead UX Engineer
Design and build the walk-up Terminal experience first, then establish the interaction system future surfaces can inherit.
THE ROLE / WHAT YOU OWN
About this role.
The current artifact is a full-screen Terminal software demo. You will make that interaction legible, calm, accessible and pilot-ready: arrival, listening, grounded answer, route, private continuation, recovery and handoff.
The fixed Terminal comes first. A future Host, richer presence and mobile companions should inherit a design system proven on the simpler form, not force the first product to pretend those embodiments already exist.
THE RAMP / START WITH WHAT EXISTS
Your first 90 days.
Every role starts with real work on the current software prototype and the first pilot plan. We will agree the milestones together and measure the result.
Stand up the design system: tokens, motion rules and voice states documented and enforced in code.
Test a pilot-ready experience on candidate Terminal hardware with non-team users under controlled noise, glare and accessibility conditions.
RESPONSIBILITIES / THE WORK
What you will do.
- 01
Design and build the on-terminal experience in React and TypeScript on kiosk hardware
- 02
Own voice-first interaction patterns: listening states, latency masking, interruption and graceful recovery
- 03
Stage the digital humans: framing, motion and presence that feel calm instead of uncanny
- 04
Design and build the 3D wayfinding presentation on top of our venue models
- 05
Make the experience work on public floors: reach, glare, noise, language and WCAG accessibility
- 06
Build and govern a design system for Terminal, with future Host and mobile extensions clearly separated
- 07
Hold the performance budget so the experience stays fluid on fixed hardware
TECH / THE STACK
What you will work with.
The current Terminal is a local software demo. Deployment profiles may combine local, edge and cloud components; every provider must earn its place on latency, privacy, cost and reliability.
Design
- Figma and prototyping
- Motion and interaction design
- Design tokens and systems
Build
- React and TypeScript
- Three.js and WebGL
- Animation and spring physics
Interfaces
- Voice and audio-reactive UI
- Kiosk and fixed-hardware constraints
- Multilingual typography
Quality
- Accessibility and WCAG
- Performance profiling
- Usability testing on real floors
QUALIFICATIONS / THE BAR
What you bring.
Must have
- 6+ years across product design and front-end engineering, with shipped work you both designed and built
- A portfolio that shows motion, interaction depth and taste
- Strong React and TypeScript; you are credible in an engineering code review
- Accessibility fluency beyond the checklist
- You test with real people and change your mind on evidence
Bonus points
- Voice interface experience
- 3D, WebGL or game UI work
- Kiosk, automotive or embedded screen experience
- Avatar or character presentation work
THE CULTURE / DAY TO DAY
How we work.
EVIDENCE OVER OPINION
Prototypes, evaluation harnesses, non-team tests and pilot measurements settle debates. The best argument is inspectable evidence.
PROTOTYPE TO PILOT
Work moves from the current software demo to hardware tests and then to a bounded venue pilot. Each stage is labeled, measured and allowed to fail honestly.
SMALL AND SENIOR
No layers, no committees. Five hires, two founders, one room when it matters.
DESIGNED FOR REAL FLOORS
We test for noise, glare, accessibility, latency and failure before a venue depends on the system.
WHAT WE OFFER / TERMS IN WRITING
Know the terms before you decide.
Cash and equity bands, operating location, employment jurisdiction and work-authorization policy are not yet published. Before an interview process advances, we will supply them and separate cash, equity, vesting and any profit-sharing terms in writing.
- A written offer that separates cash, equity, vesting and any profit-sharing terms
- Role scope and decision rights agreed before the start date
- Operating location, employment route, work authorization and travel expectations confirmed before interviews advance
- Direct work with both founders and senior ownership of a defined product layer
- A working pattern agreed for the role, including field research and pilot travel where needed
- A hardware and tools budget agreed before the start date
APPLY / DESIGN ENGINEERING
Tell us what you would build first.
Twelve months from now, people in the first pilot should walk up, understand the interface without instruction and complete a grounded task. Send a short note with your portfolio, with at least one thing you designed and built yourself. A conversation with a founder follows within days.
Express interest in Lead UX Engineer