Lead Design Engineer

Who we are

Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, which is a platform that enables organizations that depend on physical operations to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. At Samsara, we are helping improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of the physical operations that power our global economy. Representing more than 40% of global GDP, these industries are the infrastructure of our planet, including agriculture, construction, field services, transportation, and manufacturing — and we are excited to help digitally transform their operations at scale.

Working at Samsara means you’ll help define the future of physical operations and be on a team that’s shaping an exciting array of product solutions, including Video-Based Safety, Vehicle Telematics, Apps and Driver Workflows, and Equipment Monitoring. As part of a recently public company, you’ll have the autonomy and support to make an impact as we build for the long term.

About this Role:

As a Lead Design Engineer at Samsara, you'll build the systems that power our product and scale our impact as a design team. You'll define the components, patterns, tokens, and guidelines for both people and agents to build with. You'll work in design and in code, shipping highly interactive UI across web and mobile. You’ll codify our principles, heuristics, and taste for high quality ai generation. Your work will shape how quickly teams can build, how reliably our products behave, and how confidently customers use them.

This is a remote role open to candidates residing in the US.

You should apply if:

• You want to impact the industries that run our world: Your efforts will result in real-world impact – helping to keep the lights on, get food into grocery stores, reduce emissions, and most importantly, ensure workers return home safely.
• You are the architect of your own career: If you put in the work, this role won’t be your last at Samsara. We set up our employees for success and have built a culture that encourages rapid career development, countless opportunities to experiment and master your craft in a hyper growth environment.
• You’re energized by our opportunity: The vision we have to digitize large sectors of the global economy requires your full focus and best efforts to bring forth creative, ambitious ideas for our customers.
• You want to be with the best: At Samsara, we win together, celebrate together and support each other. You will be surrounded by a high-calibre team that will encourage you to do your best.

In this role, you will: 

• Develop core system components, evals, and feedback loops to harden AI design and code generation.
• Govern taste through structure, preventing ai slop from ever making it into our customers’ hands.
• Make sure system decisions translate cleanly into code, with shared ownership of quality, performance, and maintainability.
• Build accessibility, responsiveness, and performance into the system by default.
• Set clear contribution, governance, and deprecation models that balance speed with system integrity.
• Meet regularly with the designers and engineers who use the system, and bring their feedback alongside usage data into what you build next.
• Share the AI tools, workflows, and tactics that work with the wider design and engineering teams.
• Champion, role model, and embed Samsara’s cultural principles (Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team) as the company scales globally across new offices.

Minimum Requirements: 

• 8+ years of experience in design engineering, design systems, product design, or front-end engineering, building UX/UI for web and mobile applications.
• Shipped design system or component library work, with a portfolio, case studies, or code samples that explain what you built, how you decided, and how teams adopted it. We cannot consider applications without a portfolio at this time.
• Strong interaction and visual design skills, with the judgment to know when to use an established pattern and when to invent one.
• Experience with design tokens, theming, and accessibility standards.
• AI tools in your regular practice (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, Figma Make), with shipped work you can attribute to them, and experience connecting them to a design system. You can explain, review, and debug the code they generate.
• Experience partnering with designers, engineers, and product managers on short cycles.

The compensation range shown spans approved pay zones for this role. Your primary work location determines the range applicable to you, which may be narrower than the full range displayed.

The range of annual base salary for full-time employees for this position is below. Please note that base pay offered may vary depending on factors including your city of residence, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. This role is also eligible for an initial RSU grant with no vesting cliff, and ongoing refresh opportunities tied to performance, subject to plan terms and conditions. Learn more about our total rewards and benefits below.

Total Rewards

At Samsara, we build for the people who keep the global economy moving. We want owners, not passengers, which is why our rewards are designed to fuel high-impact builders. Our compensation program delivers above-market total compensation through a combination of base salary, performance-based bonus/variable pay, and equity (for eligible roles) in a high-growth public company. We meaningfully differentiate pay for our top performers, who have the opportunity to earn above-market compensation that can outpace the broader market over time.

Beyond compensation, we provide the foundations that enable long-term success: a flexible, employee-led remote model, a professional development stipend, comprehensive health and parental leave plans, and more. If you’re ready to build for the long term and own the outcome, your journey starts here.

Flexible Working 

At Samsara, we embrace a flexible working model that caters to the diverse needs of our teams. Our offices are open for those who prefer to work in-person and we also support remote work where it aligns with our operational requirements. For certain positions, being close to one of our offices or within a specific geographic area is important to facilitate collaboration, access to resources, or alignment with our service regions. In these cases, the job description will clearly indicate any working location requirements. Our goal is to ensure that all members of our team can contribute effectively, whether they are working on-site, in a hybrid model, or fully remotely. All offers of employment are contingent upon an individual’s ability to secure and maintain the legal right to work at the company and in the specified work location, if applicable.

Belonging at Samsara

At Samsara, we welcome everyone regardless of their background. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, and other characteristics protected by law. We depend on the unique approaches of our team members to help us solve complex problems and want to ensure that Samsara is a place where people from all backgrounds can make an impact.

Accommodations 

Samsara is an inclusive work environment, and we are committed to ensuring equal opportunity in employment for qualified persons with disabilities. Please email accessibleinterviewing@samsara.com or click here if you require any reasonable accommodations throughout the recruiting process.

Our Commitment to Authenticity

We use Tofu, a fraud detection tool, to validate the authenticity of applications and protect against identity fraud. This ensures we are connecting with real people and allows us to prioritize genuine candidates. Please see Samsara’s Candidate Privacy Notice for more information.

Fraudulent Employment Offers

Samsara is aware of scams involving fake job interviews and offers. Please know we do not charge fees to applicants at any stage of the hiring process. Official communication about your application will only come from emails ending in @samsara.com, @us-greenhouse-mail.io or @mail3.guide.co. For more information regarding fraudulent employment offers, please visit our blog post here.