Design Engineer

hud (YC W25)

. Design and build interfaces across HUD’s platform and marketplace, from early concepts through shipped product .

Posted 10/24/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California • United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $130,000 - $225,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates strong product and interaction design judgment, with the ability to create and evaluate user interfaces for complex tools. Proficient in front-end engineering and capable of collaborating with users, researchers, and engineers to enhance product usability and functionality.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Product And Interaction Design JudgmentFront-End Engineering SkillsUser-Centric Design ImprovementClear Communication With Technical TeamsExperience With AI Agents And Reinforcement Learning

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Front-End EngineeringProduct DesignInteraction DesignUsability StandardsReinforcement LearningEvaluation WorkflowsInterface Pattern CreationTechnical Concept PresentationUser Feedback IntegrationData-Rich Product Design

Soft Skills

Clear CommunicationGood JudgmentCollaborationUser ObservationIndependent Work

Industry Keywords

AI AgentsDeveloper ToolsResearch SoftwareTraining DataEarly-Stage Company Experience

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design and build interfaces across HUD’s platform and marketplace, from early concepts through shipped product
Make agent runs, evaluation results, reward signals, and quality feedback understandable and actionable
Work with research and engineering to turn complex reinforcement learning and evaluation workflows into useful tools
Talk with users, observe where they struggle, and use findings to improve the product
Develop thoughtful interaction patterns and maintain high standards for usability, visual quality, and implementation
Help users create and evaluate environments, understand agent behavior, improve training data, and use results to decide next steps
Collaborate closely with users, researchers, and engineers
Complete a 2–3 day work trial as part of the hiring process

Requirements

What you’ll need

Strong product and interaction design judgment, especially for complex tools or workflows
Front-end engineering skills and ability to turn designs into working product interfaces
Record of shipping products, learning from users, and improving what was built
Ability to understand technical concepts well enough to present them clearly to users
Good judgment about when to ship quickly and when an experience needs more care
Clear communication and comfort working closely with engineers, researchers, and users
Experience designing developer tools, data-rich products, or research software may be beneficial
Familiarity with AI agents, evaluations, reinforcement learning, or training data may be beneficial
Experience creating reusable interface patterns as a product grows may be beneficial
Experience working independently in an early-stage company may be beneficial
Technical aptitude and learning potential prioritized over years of experience
Work hours must overlap 70–80% with either San Francisco or Singapore time zones for remote candidates
Personal website or portfolio of work required
LinkedIn profile or resume: at least one required

Benefits

Comp & perks

100% covered top-of-the-line medical, dental, and vision (US and Singapore employees)
Lunch and dinner for in-office employees
Company-wide holiday break (Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day) on top of PTO and paid holidays
401k with a 4% match
Equinox membership (US employees)
Commuter benefits (US employees)
Health/wellness stipend (Singapore employees)
Unlimited access to tokens for ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, etc.
Two top-floor offices in San Francisco’s Union Square and Singapore’s Raffles Place
Annual travel budget to visit either office
Support for relocation and visas for strong full-time candidates to the US or Singapore
Competitive compensation