Design Engineer

We know applying for jobs is exhausting. Endless text full of buzzwords and requirements you'll never actually use. We'll skip that.

We're vvd. We make tools for storytellers — worldbuilders, writers, creators. Our goal is simple: empower people to create worlds, stories, and experiences that others can get lost in.

We're still at the beginning of our own story, and we're looking for a few people to help write the next chapters.

In a moment where "AI creative tools" are pumping out slop on one side and vicious debate on the other, we're choosing a different path: use this technology to empower human creativity and craft, not replace it.

This isn't going to be easy — but you'll actually shape something real. Something that will reach millions of people. You'll own it end-to-end, in a way that leaves a mark you can point to and say: I built that.

What you'll do:

You're a design engineer — someone who lives at the intersection of how things look and how they work. You don't just design screens; you build them. You don't just write code; you obsess over whether it feels right.

• Design and implement features end-to-end — from concept to production.
• Move fast. We mean it. You're fluent with AI-powered dev tools (Cursor, Claude Code, etc.) and use them to ship at a pace that would be impossible without them.
• Own the frontend experience — layout, interaction, motion, polish.
• Work directly with engineering and product, iterate in hours not weeks.
• Communicate directly. No corporate padding.

Extra pluses

• Experience with Figma or similar design tools for rapid prototyping.
• You care about accessibility.
• You read fiction, build worlds, or create things for fun.

Requirements

What we care about

Experience helps, but it's not a gate. If you've built and shipped real things — jobs, side projects, experiments — and can walk us through what you built, why you built it that way, what broke, and how you solved it, you're good for it.

Ownership matters more than pedigree.

Specifically

• Strong frontend chops (React, TypeScript, Next.js or similar).
• Taste. You can look at an interface and immediately feel what's working and what isn't — and you know how to fix it. Not pixel-counting, but genuine aesthetic judgment.
• You can go from a rough idea to a polished, interactive implementation without waiting for a spec.
• You use AI tools daily to accelerate your work — not as a crutch, but as a multiplier. You know how to prompt, iterate, and ship with them.
• You understand enough about the backend to be dangerous — APIs, data flow, auth — so nothing blocks you.
• You've built things with motion and interaction that felt good, not just functional.