Senior Visual Architect for AI-Native Design

We're designing the UI for AI agents, not just humans. You'll architect the "stable skeleton" GUI that visualizes probabilistic truth from our ShopGraph "brain." You'll own the screen-based UI for our extension, mobile app, and AEO content, turning AI's uncertainty into user confidence. This is not a "Figma-to-code" playbook role.

The Stack & Systems You'll Master

Table Stakes (Required Fluency)

• UI/UX & Systems Design: A world-class portfolio of screen-based work (web, mobile). You think in systems, not pages.
• Core Craft: Deep expertise in Figma, design systems, information architecture, and prototyping.
• User-Centricity: You have a first-principles, "Jobs-To-Be-Done" approach to deconstructing user problems.
• Exceptional Written Communication: Your design rationale is as clear as your visuals.

Differentiation Skills (Preferred, Not Required)

• Demonstrated AI Interest: You've actively experimented with LLMs (prompting, side projects) and are hungry to master AI-native design.
• SEO/AEO Experience: You've designed for content-heavy sites and understand how to build UI that supports AEO/SEO goals.
• Technical Literacy: You can read API docs and have a basic understanding of React/CSS.

The Constraints You'll Navigate

• The Probabilistic Rupture: You must design for a system that is non-deterministic by default. Your job is to create a deterministic UI for a probabilistic backend.
• Elasticity Over Responsiveness: Your containers must adapt to unknown, non-deterministic content, not just known screen sizes.
• The Visual Dominance Problem: You must architect a visual language where typography, weight, and texture—not just text disclaimers—honestly communicate the AI's confidence level.

Why This Matters (The "Glow")

The commerce economy is being rewired by AI agents. This creates a fundamental "Crisis of Confidence," as users are forced to trust "black-box" systems. The companies that win will be those that built the "truth layer" first.

Demand.io is building that truth layer. Our mission is to restore humanity to commerce by creating the definitive knowledge graph (ShopGraph) and the intelligent agents that run on it (SimplyCodes, Product.ai).

We are a profitable, founder-led core team of ~30 supported by a ~100-person global staff. We facilitate over $1B in ecommerce transactions annually. We have no VC pressure, no politics, and no bullshit. We operate as a tight "Special Forces unit" running on our proprietary AI-native OS (AIOS), not a traditional corporate hierarchy.

How We Work (The AIOS Mandate)

This is not a traditional company. 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. Your work is not just to design; it is to participate in this advanced cognitive system. This means you will:

• Architect Grounding Files: You will codify your design frameworks, interaction policies, and component logic into structured markdown. This is how you "teach" our AI agents and compound your knowledge.
• Orchestrate AI Systems: You will act as a conductor, guiding AI to generate, test, and refine outcomes based on the context you've engineered.
• Compound the OS: Every system you ship and every framework you codify makes our core OS smarter, creating compounding leverage for the entire company.

Your Mission (Problems to be Owned)

You will be the primary design owner for all screen-based, human-facing surfaces at Demand.io. Your mission is to invent the "Probabilistic GUI" and architect the visual language of trust for our AI agents.

• You will own the "Probabilistic Design System" (PDS). You will evolve our design system from a static component library into an executable "Generative Grammar" that defines the allowed UI schemas and components an AI can populate.
• You will architect the visual language for "Calibrated Uncertainty." You will solve the "Visual Dominance Problem" by designing the components that visually distinguish a "Tier 1 Canonical Fact" from a "Tier 3 Emerging Signal," using visual weight, texture, and typography.
• You will design the "Cite or Fade" interaction. You will own the UI that makes evidence a first-class object, designing how we visualize provenance and sources to make our claims auditable.
• You will own the "Stable Skeleton" for our core products. You will be the primary screen designer for the SimplyCodes Browser Extension, Mobile App, and our AEO-focused website MLPs, integrating deterministic UI with generative content regions.

Who You Are

This role is for a First-Principles Visual Architect who is excited by the rupture of deterministic design.

• You are a master of visual craft who sees that the "pixel-perfect GUI" is being demoted. You aren't afraid of this; you're energized by the new frontier.
• You are a "Designer-Engineer" hybrid (even if just in mindset). You think in systems, constraints, and policies, not just static layouts.
• You are a "Trust Architect." You understand that your new medium is uncertainty and your final product is calibrated trust.
• You thrive in ambiguity. You don't need a playbook. A 0-to-1 probabilistic system is not stressful; it's the ultimate design challenge.
• You own outcomes, not tasks. You are psychologically allergic to "ticket-taking." You want to be held accountable for the user's confidence, not just for shipping a component.

The Anti-Profile

You will hate this role if...

• You are a "Figma Operator" whose primary craft is delivering pixel-perfect mocks from a detailed PRD. Your primary deliverables here will be systems, policies, and prototypes.
• You believe the layout is the "source of truth." The user's intent is the source of truth, and your layout must be an elastic policy that responds to it.
• You are unwilling to learn the "why." You must be hungry to understand the technical constraints of AI, from latency to token budgets.
• You are an "Optimizer, not a Builder." We need you to invent a new visual language, not just A/B test an existing one.

What You Bring

At Demand.io, resumes, pedigree, and credentials are "irrelevant". We filter for your cognitive identity and your proof-of-work, not your resume.

Minimum (Hard Filter)

• 3-8+ years of Product Design experience with a world-class portfolio of screen-based products (web, mobile, or desktop apps).
• A portfolio that demonstrates deep systems thinking (e.g., design systems, complex information architecture), not just visual craft. We must see your "why."
• Expert-level mastery of Figma and modern design/prototyping tools.
• Exceptional written communication (memos, specs, documentation).
• Based in or willing to relocate to Santa Monica, CA.

Preferred (Signals of "10x")

• Demonstrated interest in AI/LLMs (e.g., side projects, prompt engineering, writing on the topic).
• Experience designing for content-heavy sites (SEO/AEO) or e-commerce.
• Technical literacy (e.g., basic understanding of HTML/CSS/React).
• 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 (systems design, visual craft), 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 thinker with 10x potential, we want to hear from you.

The Contract

This is a high-trust partnership, built on radical transparency.

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 basis points (0.10% - 0.50%) of the company.
• Partners Program (PSB): Our profit-sharing bonus model provides a ~50-100%+ cash uplift above base for most roles. This is our mechanism for founder-level alignment.

Location & Work Model

• HQ: Santa Monica, CA
• Work Model: We operate 5 days in-office at our Santa Monica HQ to maximize collaborative velocity, with hybrid flexibility for deep work.
• Relocation: We support relocation to LA for the right candidate.

Benefits & Perks

• Health, Dental, Vision: We cover 100% of premiums for you and all dependents.
• Paid Lunch Daily: We eat together as a team.
• Unlimited PTO: We trust you to manage your time and energy.

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. Velocity is a cultural signal.

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 Michael Quoc (CEO) 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.)