Senior Front-end Engineer - AI-native UI Architect

We're engineering the UI for AI agents, not just humans. You will architect the "Proof Packet"—the deterministic React components that visualize probabilistic truth from our ShopGraph "brain." You'll own the "Guardian of Checkout" interface, turning AI's uncertainty into user confidence. This is not a Figma-to-code role.

The Stack & Systems You'll Work With

Table Stakes (Required Fluency)

• React & TypeScript: Deep, expert-level fluency. You build typed, reusable, deterministic components, not just pages.
• Modern Web Stack: Next.js, TailwindCSS, Vercel, Storybook.
• API & State Management: Expertise in consuming GraphQL / REST APIs and managing complex client-side state.
• Design Systems: Experience building, maintaining, and scaling component libraries.

Differentiation Skills (Preferred, Not Required)

• Experience designing for probabilistic states (e.g., loading, partial data, high/low confidence).
• Deep passion for Interaction Design (IxD) and prototyping.
• A background in Conversational AI or building agentic interfaces.
• Experience with Figma (as a collaborator, not an operator).

The Constraints You'll Navigate

• The Probabilistic Taint: You will be the "deterministic island." Your job is to architect a reliable, predictable React application that safely contains and communicates the outputs of a probabilistic, non-deterministic AI core.
• Graceful Failure is the Default: You must design for failure as the default state, not an edge case. Your components are the primary tool for turning a "hallucination" or a failed verification into a trust-building "diagnostic" moment.
• Latency as a Design Medium: You will architect for a system with high, multi-stage latency. You must design interfaces that manage user perception and trust during the AI's "thinking" process.

Why This Matters

The internet is shifting from search engines (which provide relevance) to answer engines (which must provide truth). This has created a "Crisis of Confidence," as generic AI floods the world with plausible falsehoods.

Demand.io is building the truth layer for the $8.1T agentic commerce economy. We facilitate over $1B in e-commerce transactions annually by providing verifiable, ground-truth data that powers confident decisions.

Our core products are an interconnected system:

• ShopGraph: Our proprietary, bitemporal commerce knowledge graph—the "brain" that models the truth.
• SimplyCodes: Our AI agent that delivers "cognitive closure" at checkout. Its mission is to be the "Guardian of Checkout," ending user anxiety by providing verifiable proof.

We are a profitable, founder-led team of ~40. We have no VC pressure, no politics, and no bureaucracy. We operate as a tight "Special Forces unit" running on our AI-native OS (AIOS), not a traditional corporate hierarchy.

How We Work (The AIOS Mandate)

Our founder designed a new, proprietary system for Context Engineering from first principles. We run on AIOS (AI Operating System), our internal knowledge graph and cognitive acceleration system that allows a small team to achieve 10x leverage.

At Demand.io, Context Engineering is the work. Your impact scales not by holding knowledge in your head, but by encoding it into our AIOS so both humans and AI can operate with leverage.

• You'll architect grounding files (like this one) to codify strategy into executable, AI-readable truth.
• You'll orchestrate AI systems as the conductor, not the instrument, guiding AI to generate, test, and refine outcomes.
• You'll compound the OS, making our "shared brain" smarter and creating compounding leverage for the entire company.

Your Mission (Problems to be Owned)

This is a builder role, not a "ticket-taker" role. You will own the high-ambiguity, 0-to-1 problem of inventing the user interface for agentic commerce.

• You will architect the "Proof Packet" framework. This is our core product. You will design and build the front-end components that visualize our system's verification data (timestamps, success rates, sources) to build user trust.
• You will own the "Graceful Failure" library. You will build the components that turn a failed code into a trust-building diagnostic, providing forensic explanations for why it failed (e.g., "This code is for new customers only").
• You will design the UI for "Calibrated Uncertainty." You will solve the problem of communicating probabilistic data to users. How do you visualize "70% confidence" in a way that feels honest but not paralyzing?
• You will be the primary "Curator" and "Validator" of the AI-native front-end. You will move from pure authorship to guiding, validating, and curating the output of AI-assisted development, enforcing architectural coherence and quality.

Who You Are

This role is for a First-Principles Architect who is a true "Designer-Engineer" hybrid. You believe the interface is the product, and you are obsessed with the craft of building human-centric systems. You:

• Reason from constraints, not resources. You deconstruct problems to their immutable "physics" before proposing solutions. You reject reasoning by analogy ("this is what we did at Google").
• Are a "Trust Architect." You understand that in an AI world, the UI's primary job is to architect trust, not just usability.
• Thrive in ambiguity. You don't need a pixel-perfect Figma file. You see a "nebulous, 0-to-1 problem" as an energizing "clean slate" to demonstrate mastery.
• Are a Deep Generalist. You are a world-class engineer who also thinks like a product designer. You can hold the entire system—from the user's psychological state to the API contract—in your head at once.
• Own outcomes, not tasks. You are psychologically allergic to being a "Figma operator." You want to be held accountable for the trust and confidence the user feels, not just for shipping a component.

The Anti-Profile

You will hate this role if:

• You are a "Playbook Operator" who wants to be told exactly what to build from a static Figma file.
• You are a "Pixel-Pusher" who sees your job as visual fidelity alone.
• You are an "Optimizer, not a Builder." We need you to invent a new UI paradigm from scratch, not just A/B test an existing one.
• You see AI as a "tool" to be used, not a new probabilistic medium that fundamentally changes the craft of engineering.

What You Bring

Minimum (Hard Filter)

• 5-10+ years shipping production-grade, component-based React applications.
• Deep, expert-level fluency in TypeScript.
• A portfolio of work that demonstrates a strong "product sense" and a deep passion for interaction design and usability (even if you weren't the "designer").
• A track record of owning 0-to-1 systems from design to deployment.
• Exceptional written communication: The ability to codify complex UI/UX logic and design principles into clear Grounding Files.
• Based in or willing to relocate to Santa Monica, CA.

Preferred (Signals of "10x")

• Experience building or contributing to a mature Design System.
• Experience with Conversational AI, LLMs, or agentic systems.
• A "Designer-Engineer" hybrid background.
• Early-stage startup experience (<50 people).

A note on AI requirements: We're inventing a new discipline. We don't expect you to be a 10-year expert in a 2-year-old field. We hire for a steep trajectory: 70% excellence in your core craft (React, TypeScript, systems thinking), 20% demonstrated AI experimentation, and 10% raw learning velocity. We will provide the domain; you must provide the hunger.

A note on the "Preferred" list: If you don't check every box but you're a first-principles builder with 10x potential, we want to hear from you.

The Contract

Compensation

• Year 1 Cash Comp: $220,000 - $360,000 (This range is intentionally wide, based on 75th-90th percentile market data, and will be calibrated to your specific experience and domain expertise.)
• Equity: 10-50 bps (0.10% - 0.50% of the company)
• Partners Program (PSB): Our profit-sharing bonus model, which is the core of our "founder-level alignment," provides a ~50-100%+ cash uplift above base for most roles, and 100%+ for top performers.

Location & Work Model

• HQ: Santa Monica, CA.
• Work Model: We operate 5 days in-office... with hybrid flexibility for deep work. This is a non-negotiable part of our high-velocity, high-collaboration "Special Forces unit" culture.
• Relocation: We support relocation to LA for the right candidate.

Benefits & Perks

• 100% health, dental, and vision coverage for you and all dependents.
• Paid Lunch (we eat together as a team).
• Unlimited PTO (we trust you to manage your energy and time).

Our Application Process

We run a high-signal, diagnostic-first process that respects your time and craft. We've abolished "Easy Apply" and generic recruiter screens.

We review all diagnostics within 48 hours. The entire process, from L1 submission to offer, can take as little as 1-2 weeks for the right candidate.

To begin, please visit our careers hub.

→ Start Your Application

Amplify This Signal

• Follow our Company Page on LinkedIn to see more roles and content.
• Connect with our founder, Michael Quoc, if this mission resonates with you.

(Connecting with us signals your genuine interest in our mission and what we're building. We prioritize candidates based on mission alignment.)