What a design systems job actually asks of you — what you would be doing, and what you need to know before applying — read out of the postings themselves and sliced by discipline, role, workplace and seniority. Counted fresh every time you load the page.
Counted from 130 open jobs, of which 130 carry a description. 128 of those say what you would be doing and 128 say what you need to know — read from the brief every job page shows, or from the posting's own headings where it has none. Every figure is counted against the postings that have the section, never against the whole board; a group of fewer than 8 says so rather than implying a trend; and a term a posting names is a term it names, which is not the same as one it needs.
How the board divides up
Plain counts, needing no reading of anybody's prose: every job carries these. A field is counted only where a posting states it, so each list says its own total.
Discipline
Design outnumbers engineering three to one here. A design systems job is mostly a designer's job on this board.
- Design
- 63% , 78 of 123 jobs that state it
- Engineering
- 32% , 39 of 123 jobs that state it
- Product
- 5% , 6 of 123 jobs that state it
Of 123 jobs that state it.
Role
Most of this board is Product Designer postings with design systems work attached, not dedicated design systems titles.
- Product Designer
-
37% - Design Systems Manager
-
18% - Design Engineer
-
13% - Software Engineer
-
12% - UX Designer
-
7% - Product Manager
-
5% - Frontend Engineer
-
4% - Mobile Engineer
-
2% - UI Designer
-
1% - Visual Designer
-
1%
Of 123 jobs that state it.
Workplace
Hybrid is the default and remote is a minority option, so location still narrows what is open to you.
- Hybrid
- 44% , 40 of 91 jobs that state it
- Remote
- 33% , 30 of 91 jobs that state it
- Onsite
- 23% , 21 of 91 jobs that state it
Of 91 jobs that state it.
Seniority
One mid-level posting in the whole set. There is no entry route into this work, only transfers from people already senior elsewhere.
- Senior
-
42% - Manager
-
16% - Lead
-
15% - Staff
-
11% - Principal
-
8% - Head/Director
-
7% - Intern
-
1% - Junior
-
1%
Of 89 jobs that state it.
Type
Contract and freelance barely exist here. This is permanent headcount work.
- Full time
- 93% , 121 of 130 jobs that state it
- Contract
- 5% , 7 of 130 jobs that state it
- Internship
- 1% , 1 of 130 jobs that state it
- Part-time
- 1% , 1 of 130 jobs that state it
Of 130 jobs that state it.
Country
Half the board is American. France posts more of these roles than the UK does.
A job posted in three countries counts in all three, so these add up to more than the board.
- United States
-
53% - Germany
-
8% - United Kingdom
-
7% - France
-
5% - India
-
5% - Canada
-
4% - Spain
-
3% - Sweden
-
3% - Brazil
-
3% - Mexico
-
2%
Of 128 jobs that state it.
24 more with fewer jobs each, not shown.
Postings a month
By the date each board gave its posting, which is when it was published rather than when this site first saw it. The bar compares each month against the busiest.
- July 2024
-
1 - December 2024
-
1 - June 2025
-
1 - December 2025
-
1 - January 2026
-
1 - February 2026
-
1 - March 2026
-
1 - April 2026
-
2 - May 2026
-
3 - June 2026
-
6 - July 2026
-
11 - August 2026
-
22 - September 2026
-
30 - October 2026
-
45 - November 2026
-
4
What the postings ask of you
What you would be doing
Documentation, adoption, governance: most of the job is making other people use the system. Building components ranks near the bottom.
- Documentation
-
65% - Accessibility
-
60% - Design tokens
-
52% - Adoption
-
46% - Roadmap and strategy
-
44% - Governance
-
41% - Figma
-
31% - Mentoring
-
26%
Of 128 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Figma, accessibility and tokens are the shared vocabulary of this board. Code skills split by discipline; those three don't.
- Design tokens
-
55% - Figma
-
55% - Accessibility
-
54% - Documentation
-
40% - React
-
33% - HTML and CSS
-
30% - JavaScript
-
27% - Component libraries
-
25%
Of 128 postings that say what you need.
By discipline
Design
78 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Writing and maintaining the docs beats working in Figma by a wide margin once you're in the job.
- Documentation
-
69% - Design tokens
-
57% - Accessibility
-
56% - Adoption
-
49% - Roadmap and strategy
-
48% - Governance
-
47%
Of 77 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Figma gets you the interview, documentation does not — it's asked for at half the rate it's later required of you.
- Figma
-
61% - Design tokens
-
57% - Accessibility
-
50% - Documentation
-
39% - Governance
-
29% - HTML and CSS
-
26%
Of 76 postings that say what you need.
Engineering
39 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Accessibility is the engineering job here, ahead of components and tokens. Half of these postings include mentoring too.
- Accessibility
-
74% - Documentation
-
61% - Design tokens
-
47% - Figma
-
34% - Component libraries
-
32% - Adoption
-
32%
Of 38 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Accessibility is asked for more often than React or JavaScript. It's the skill engineers most often lack going in.
- JavaScript
-
67% - Accessibility
-
64% - Design tokens
-
56% - React
-
54% - HTML and CSS
-
49% - Documentation
-
46%
Of 39 postings that say what you need.
Not shown, for want of enough postings to read anything into: Product.
By role
Product Designer
45 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Tokens and documentation, not screens. The job title says product designer; the work is systems maintenance.
- Documentation
-
70% - Design tokens
-
66% - Accessibility
-
50% - Adoption
-
50% - Governance
-
43% - Figma
-
41%
Of 44 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
A quarter want HTML and CSS from a product designer. Front-end literacy is no longer an optional extra.
- Figma
-
68% - Design tokens
-
59% - Accessibility
-
50% - Documentation
-
43% - Governance
-
34% - HTML and CSS
-
32%
Of 44 postings that say what you need.
Design Systems Manager
22 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Governance and adoption rank above tokens. Managing the system means arguing about who uses it, not building it.
- Roadmap and strategy
-
68% - Documentation
-
59% - Accessibility
-
55% - Adoption
-
55% - Governance
-
41% - Design tokens
-
32%
Of 22 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Still expected to know Figma and tokens hands-on, and a quarter want React. Management here does not mean leaving the tools.
- Accessibility
-
43% - Design tokens
-
38% - Roadmap and strategy
-
38% - Mentoring
-
33% - Documentation
-
29% - Figma
-
29%
Of 21 postings that say what you need.
Design Engineer
16 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Small sample, but documentation and accessibility lead the same way they do everywhere else on this board.
- Accessibility
-
69% - Documentation
-
63% - Design tokens
-
44% - Adoption
-
38% - Figma
-
38% - Governance
-
31%
Of 16 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Accessibility, React and Figma in the same posting. The design engineer role is defined by sitting across both toolchains.
- JavaScript
-
69% - Design tokens
-
63% - Accessibility
-
63% - HTML and CSS
-
50% - React
-
50% - Documentation
-
44%
Of 16 postings that say what you need.
Software Engineer
15 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Versioning and testing show up here as they don't elsewhere — the release side of a system is engineering's problem.
- Accessibility
-
71% - Documentation
-
64% - Roadmap and strategy
-
50% - Design tokens
-
43% - Component libraries
-
43% - Mentoring
-
43%
Of 14 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Two thirds want Figma from a software engineer, matching React. The file is a spec they're expected to read.
- JavaScript
-
67% - Documentation
-
60% - Figma
-
60% - React
-
60% - Accessibility
-
53% - Design tokens
-
47%
Of 15 postings that say what you need.
UX Designer
9 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
- Accessibility
-
89% - Documentation
-
89% - Design tokens
-
78% - Governance
-
78% - Roadmap and strategy
-
56% - Adoption
-
33%
Of 9 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Figma comes up in 100% of these against 50% of the rest of the board. It is the biggest difference between this group and the others, and the thing to prepare for if you are choosing between them.
- Figma
-
100% - Design tokens
-
89% - Accessibility
-
67% - Documentation
-
44% - Component libraries
-
44% - HTML and CSS
-
44%
Of 9 postings that say what you need.
Not shown, for want of enough postings to read anything into: Product Manager, Frontend Engineer, Mobile Engineer, UI Designer, Visual Designer.
By seniority
Senior
37 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Senior means building tokens and writing docs. Governance is the least common part of the job at this level.
- Documentation
-
72% - Accessibility
-
64% - Design tokens
-
61% - Roadmap and strategy
-
47% - Figma
-
44% - Adoption
-
39%
Of 36 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Tooling first: Figma, accessibility, tokens. Governance is not on the list of what you need to walk in with.
- Figma
-
67% - Design tokens
-
64% - Documentation
-
56% - React
-
56% - Accessibility
-
53% - HTML and CSS
-
44%
Of 36 postings that say what you need.
Manager
14 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Adoption and governance, not craft. The manager job is getting other teams to use the thing.
- Roadmap and strategy
-
79% - Governance
-
50% - Adoption
-
50% - Accessibility
-
43% - Documentation
-
43% - Mentoring
-
29%
Of 14 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Tokens and Figma are still the entry requirement, but accessibility and governance are rarely asked for upfront.
- Accessibility
-
43% - Design tokens
-
36% - Adoption
-
36% - Roadmap and strategy
-
36% - Figma
-
36% - Mentoring
-
29%
Of 14 postings that say what you need.
Lead
13 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Documentation is near-universal for leads. Whoever runs the system owns the writing.
- Documentation
-
85% - Accessibility
-
77% - Roadmap and strategy
-
69% - Adoption
-
62% - Design tokens
-
54% - Governance
-
54%
Of 13 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Storybook is asked for more often at lead than anywhere else, alongside governance. Leads are expected to know the publishing pipeline.
- Design tokens
-
54% - Accessibility
-
46% - Figma
-
46% - Documentation
-
38% - Governance
-
38% - React
-
38%
Of 13 postings that say what you need.
Staff
10 live jobs with a description.
What you would be doing
Mentoring ties with accessibility at staff level, and versioning appears. The scope widens from making to maintaining and teaching.
- Documentation
-
100% - Design tokens
-
80% - Accessibility
-
80% - Adoption
-
80% - Governance
-
50% - Versioning
-
50%
Of 10 postings that say what you would do.
What you need to know
Documentation is rarely a prerequisite at staff level, though it's the most common part of the job once you arrive.
- Accessibility
-
80% - HTML and CSS
-
60% - Design tokens
-
50% - Component libraries
-
50% - React
-
50% - JavaScript
-
40%
Of 10 postings that say what you need.
Not shown, for want of enough postings to read anything into: Principal, Head/Director, Intern, Junior.
Pay
49 of 130 jobs state a range, and 39 of those are in $. Only those are counted below: converting would invent a number and mixing would average dollars with euros. Across all of them the median range runs $174,000 to $253,000, which is the least useful number on this page — the question is what a level or a discipline earns, so that is what follows.
By seniority
Staff money starts above where Senior money stops, and the Staff band is far wider. Senior is the level where the range is narrow and the negotiating is already done.
- Manager
-
$204,000–$290,900 - Lead
-
$185,000–$253,000 - Senior
-
$134,000–$185,000
Each bar is the top of that range, against the highest here.
Fewer than 5 stated ranges, so no median: Staff (4), Head/Director (3), Principal (2).
By discipline
Similar floors, but engineering's ceiling runs $25,000 higher. The upside is on the code side.
- Design
-
$175,000–$253,000 - Engineering
-
$170,000–$195,000
Each bar is the top of that range, against the highest here.
Fewer than 5 stated ranges, so no median: Product (1).
By country
This one the board cannot answer. Almost every posting that states pay is American — 37 of 39 — so there is nothing to compare a country against. Where pay is published is a fact about disclosure law, not about what the work is worth.