Design System Lead

Job#: 3043577

Job Description:
Design System Lead

Location: Vienna, Virginia (Hybrid)

Role Overview

The Platform Design Systems Lead is responsible for the strategic development, governance, and adoption of design-system practices for an assigned platform. This role ensures platform-specific design tokens, components, patterns, and documentation stay aligned with enterprise guidance. The position enables scalable, consistent, and accessible digital experiences by fostering shared patterns, reusable guidance, and sustainable design-to-development workflows.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the platform design-system roadmap in alignment with product goals and enterprise guidance.
• Champion design-system adoption within the assigned platform, driving consistent use of approved patterns, tokens, and components.
• Represent platform needs and feedback in design-system conversations to ensure practical platform implementation.
• Partner with platform design, engineering, product, and accessibility stakeholders to ensure solutions meet user and business needs.
• Maintain platform-level governance models, contribution workflows, and scalable processes.
• Apply working knowledge of front-end technologies to evaluate implementation feasibility and support collaboration with engineering partners.
• Build and maintain platform documentation in tools such as Storybook and Zeroheight.
• Create training, workshops, and support materials to onboard platform teams and promote best practices.
• Plan and conduct regular platform audits for design consistency, code alignment, and accessibility conformance.

Required Qualifications

Experience: 5+ years of experience in design systems, product design, design operations, front-end engineering, or a related digital product discipline. A proven track record of leading, governing, or significantly contributing to design-system adoption for a product area, platform, or large-scale digital experience is required.

Technical Skills: A working knowledge of front-end technologies such as HTML, CSS/SCSS, JavaScript/TypeScript, and modern component frameworks or libraries such as React or Vue is necessary. Familiarity with design token management, theming systems, and component-library architecture is expected. An understanding of CI/CD concepts relevant to design-system delivery, including build, test, release, versioning, and documentation workflows, is also required. Experience with design tools such as Figma and documentation platforms such as Storybook or Zeroheight is needed.

Other Skills: The role requires the ability to identify technical and process gaps and collaborate with designers, developers, and product partners. A strong understanding of design principles, UI/UX best practices, accessibility standards (including WCAG), and inclusive digital experience practices is essential. Excellent communication, facilitation, leadership, and change-management skills are required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience partnering with front-end engineering teams on component-library workflows, design token pipelines, or CI/CD practices.
• Hands-on experience creating front-end prototypes or implementation examples using technologies like HTML, CSS/SCSS, JavaScript/TypeScript, React, or Vue.
• Experience supporting a hybrid design-system model where enterprise guidance is adapted into platform-specific practices.
• Experience with mobile or cross-platform design-system considerations, including React Native, SwiftUI, or Jetpack Compose.
• Background in design operations, design tooling, documentation strategy, or platform-level design-system governance.
• Experience supporting accessibility audits, design-system quality reviews, or adoption measurement.
• Contributions to open-source design systems, UI libraries, or reusable internal platform libraries.

Everforth Apex is a world-class IT services company that serves thousands of clients across the globe. When you join Everforth Apex, you become part of a team that values innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. We offer quality career resources, training, certifications, development opportunities, and a comprehensive benefits package. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in many awards, including ClearlyRateds Best of Staffing in Talent Satisfaction in the United States and Great Place to Work in the United Kingdom and Mexico.

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Everforth Apex Benefits Overview: Everforth Apex offers a range of supplemental benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and other insurance plans that offer an optional layer of financial protection. We offer an ESPP (employee stock purchase program) and a 401K program which allows you to contribute typically within 30 days of starting, with a company match after 12 months of tenure. Everforth Apex also offers a HSA (Health Savings Account on the HDHP plan), a SupportLinc Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with up to 8 free counseling sessions, a corporate discount savings program and other discounts. In terms of professional development, Everforth Apex hosts an on-demand training program, provides access to certification prep and a library of technical and leadership courses/books/seminars once you have 6+ months of tenure, and certification discounts and other perks to associations that include CompTIA and IIBA. Everforth Apex has a dedicated customer service team for our Consultants that can address questions around benefits and other resources, as well as a certified Career Coach. You can access a full list of our benefits, programs, support teams and resources within our 'Welcome Packet' as well, which an Everforth Apex team member can provide.

Everforth Apex Systems is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, genetic information, registered domestic partner status, marital status, disability, status as a crime victim, protected veteran status, political affiliation, union membership, or any other characteristic protected by law. Everforth Apex will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law.

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