Design Systems Expert, 2-3 Month Contract

Role Overview

• The goal is to get the foundations right (visual language, interaction principles, motion, the key journeys) and cover roughly half the component set. What matters most is that what you leave behind is solid, well-documented, and structured clearly enough that we can build from it with confidence.
• Phase 1 · Audit & Consolidation
• Get under the skin of what we have. Walk the product, understand the essential journeys, and form a clear picture of where the system is working, where it's duplicating effort, and where it's broken. Come back with a consolidation roadmap that we can align on before the build phase.
• Deliverable: Audit report + consolidation roadmap
• Phase 2 · Design System Build
• The core of the engagement. Establish the visual and interaction foundations (typography, spacing, motion, dark mode, brand moments) oriented towards AI-native interface patterns. Consolidate and build out the component set in Figma and Tailwind. The priority areas we know need addressing are forms and inputs, layouts, feedback and status patterns, and modal surfaces, though we're open to your read on sequencing and scope.
• Deliverable: Figma library + implemented components
• Phase 3 · Documentation & Handoff
• Leave us in a position to carry this forward confidently. And crucially, leave the system in a state that AI tooling can consume and work with. Documentation should serve both our human designers and the MCPs that will be using the system. Close out with a live demo of the system in action.
• Deliverable: Design system docs + team training + live demo

Requirements

• You're a designer first, but deeply comfortable in code, particularly CSS and Tailwind. You've built or overhauled a design system before, at a senior level and leading the work rather than supporting it, and you know the difference between a good one and a pretty one. You care about systems thinking as much as visual craft.
• You're already working in the space of AI interfaces and interaction design. Not reading about it, not curious about it, actively experimenting, shipping, or consulting on it. You understand how AI-native products ask different things of a design system than traditional SaaS, and you have a point of view on what good looks like beyond 2026.
• Strong visual design sensibility with a systems mindset: you think in patterns, not one-offs
• Active, hands-on experience designing for AI-native interfaces and emerging IxD paradigms: streaming states, real-time feedback, AI-surfaced insights, conversational or agent-driven UI patterns
• Instinctive job-to-be-done thinking: you design for what people are trying to accomplish, not just what features need a UI
• Your design tool of choice is Figma
• Solid CSS and Tailwind: you can implement as well as spec
• Experience auditing and consolidating messy, real-world component libraries (not greenfield only)
• Comfortable writing documentation that non-designers (and AI tools) can actually follow
• Experience with or a strong understanding of MCP integrations or AI tooling workflows
• Bonus: a point of view on motion. Ideally you've thought about or built design systems where motion is a first-class principle, not a polish layer
• Bonus: familiarity with B2B SaaS or creator economy products
• You'll be working closely with Jack (our senior product designer) and me, but the dynamic here is important. You're not being managed through this; you're coming in as the specialist and leading it. Jack and I will be your collaborators and sounding board and we'll have opinions worth hearing, but the design systems expertise sits with you. We want someone who can take the lead, guide us where needed, and bring a perspective that challenges and elevates what we've been doing.