At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the engineering direction of Pleo's design system and enhance developer experience.
- Company: Join a progressive team at Pleo, transforming spend management for over 40,000 customers.
- Benefits: Enjoy catered lunches, comprehensive healthcare, 25 days holiday, and flexible working options.
- Other info: Be part of a kind, ambitious team dedicated to innovation and growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on product design while collaborating with diverse teams.
- Qualifications: Experience in frontend engineering, component libraries, and a passion for accessibility.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
About Pleo
Messy spend management is tricky business.
And tedious processes are a lose-lose situation for all involved, not just finance.
At Pleo, we’re changing that.
We build spend solutions that make managing money seamless, empowering, and surprisingly effective for finance teams and employees alike – with a vision to help all businesses ‘go beyond’.
The word ‘Pleo’ actually means ‘more than you’d expect’, and living by that mantra has been the secret to our success over the last 10 years.
Now, we’re at a pivotal moment in our journey; every move we make has a direct impact on our 40,000+ customers, our business, and our collective success.
We need people who take pride in uncovering customer needs, who turn complex problems into simple solutions, challenge the way things are done (respectfully), and always aim high.
With great ambitions driving us forward, we can’t say we’ve got this whole thing figured out.
And frankly, that’s half the fun!
What we can say is that we’re a driven, progressive, and, importantly, a kind bunch of 850+ people from over 100 nationalities, all committed to delivering the future of business spending, together.
We at Pleo are on a mission to make spend management surprisingly effective and empowering.
We build a product used by thousands of companies across Europe, and our design system is a core part of delivering a consistent, accessible, high-quality experience.
- We’re hiring a
- Staff Engineer to join the
Design Systems team. This will help lead the engineering direction and execution of our design system across web and mobile.
- What Design Systems does
- Own and evolve Telescope, Pleo’s design system (components, patterns, guidelines, and tooling).
- Enable product teams to ship faster with consistent UI, accessibility, and quality.
- Partner with Design and Engineering across the company to drive adoption and improve the contribution experience.
- Steward shared foundations (tokens, components, documentation, and best practices).
- What you’ll be doing
- Set technical direction for key parts of Telescope (architecture, component standards, release practices, and quality bars)
- Drive and evolve our contribution model and how teams interact with Design Systems
- Own and improve how requests flow into the team (triage, prioritisation, and expectations)
- Improve the developer and contributor experience through tooling and automation, including:
- Design system visual testing and workflows
- Supporting internal operational needs where relevant
- Improving how we measure and communicate adoption and system health
- Evolving our docs publishing workflow
- Lead rituals that keep the team effective and aligned
- Represent Design Systems in cross-team initiatives and align stakeholders across Design and Engineering
- Coach and mentor engineers, and help grow technical leadership in the frontend community
- Contribute hands‑on in code. This role blends strategy and execution. You should expect to be coding a meaningful part of the time.
- You’ll bring solid experience with
- Building and maintaining component libraries or platform-like products that serve multiple teams.
- Type Script and modern frontend engineering (React experience is a plus).
- Designing maintainable systems with clear boundaries, versioning, and backwards compatibility.
- Testing practices and tooling (unit, integration, end-to-end) and a strong quality mindset.
- Accessibility and performance best practices for UI systems.
- Collaboration with designers and product engineers, and navigating tradeoffs across stakeholders.
- Your colleagues would say you
- Lead by example and raise the bar with pragmatism and care.
- Communicate clearly, listen well, and bring people along in decisions.
- Enjoy breaking down complex problems, gathering input, and driving to a solution.
- Coach others and create space for people to grow.
- Prefer progress over perfection, while still caring deeply about quality.
Benefits
- Your own Pleo card (no more out-of-pocket spending!)
- Lunch is on us for your work days – enjoy catered meals or receive a lunch allowance based on your local office.
- Comprehensive private healthcare – depending on your location, coverage options include Vitality, Alan or Médis.
- We offer 25 days of holiday + your public holidays.
- Hybrid and fully remote working options.
- Mynd Up access for free mental health and well‑being support.
- Paid parental leave – we want to support families and make sure you don’t have to compromise your family due to work.
- #J-18808-Ljbffr
Staff Frontend Engineer - Design Systems in London employer: Pleo
Pleo is an exceptional employer that fosters a vibrant and inclusive culture, making it an ideal place for professionals passionate about AI and data engineering. With a strong emphasis on employee growth and development, Pleo offers unique opportunities to lead multidisciplinary teams in delivering cutting-edge solutions while shaping the future of spending management. Join us to be part of a collaborative environment where innovation thrives and your contributions are valued.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Staff Frontend Engineer - Design Systems in London
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Pleo or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Pleo.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Pleo.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Pleo that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Staff Frontend Engineer - Design Systems in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Pleo.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Pleo and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Pleo
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Pleo uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.