The posting
Government technology has failed citizens, veterans, public servants, and service members for decades.
Kaizen powers America’s application layer. We replace the legacy systems federal agencies run on with modern software, built with craft. The ticketing platform a resident uses to visit a presidential library. The marketplace DoW uses to procure counter-drone systems to protect lives and critical infrastructure. The system a Veteran uses to access benefits. We build systems of record, of national consequence. Our AI-native modules and harness allow us to do so in weeks, not years.
This year, our revenue has grown 35x. Next year, our software will serve over 100 million Americans across dozens of federal agencies.
Founded in 2022 and based in New York City and DC, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital.
Location
New York, NY (in office four days a week)
The Role
Kaizen is winning more deals than ever, and every engagement runs on Taproot, our modular platform and a library of reusable modules with the Canopy design system at its core. Blacksmith, our AI configuration system, reads a government program's requirements and assembles a working application from Taproot modules, so a new engagement starts from a running product in days instead of a blank repo.
Platform-level patterns are the starting point for every program we build. This role owns the Canopy design system and the shared platform: reusable modules and components, and the shared surfaces and patterns every delivery team builds on. It's one of the most important roles on the team, and it answers a simple question: can our platform scale at the rate we're winning work, and stay good while it does?
What You'll Do
- Own the Canopy Design System end to end: components, tokens, documentation and guidelines, built so spacing, type, states, density and accessibility are right at the source.
- Design every module and shared product surface in the Taproot platform, from scoping through ship.
- Work with project teams across delivery engagements to learn what the platform needs, and decide what becomes a shared pattern and what stays a one-off.
- Set the platform design roadmap and the processes teams use to request, adopt and contribute to the system.
- Roll out system changes across live products without breaking what has already shipped to users.
- Pair with the Platform engineers on feature build outs, docs and guidelines, and ship components yourself.
- Make every delivery team faster as the system grows, so users get services that work the first time.
What You'll Bring
- Deep UI craft at the component level. You sweat spacing, type, states, density and accessible behavior (WCAG, Section 508), because every decision you make ships many times over.
- Experience evolving a design system across a growing suite of products, including rolling out changes without breaking live surfaces.
- The judgment to tell a one-off request from a real pattern, and the discipline to abstract only what earns it.
- A track record of driving adoption: you treat a design system as a product, get teams building on it, and can show it made them faster.
- Comfort owning a roadmap and working directly with engineers and delivery teams who don't report to you.
Strong Candidates May Also...
- Write front-end code: you build components yourself and have an engineer review them.
- Have designed for platform at a fast moving startup.
- Keep a whole portfolio of products in view, so a decision that helps one doesn't cost another.
Don't Apply If...
- You'd rather go deep on one product than build the system many teams depend on.
- You fix problems on the screen in front of you and leave the component as it was.
- You see a design system as a library to maintain, not a product to grow.
- You'd rather say yes to every team's request than make the call on what belongs in the system.
- You want your work to end at the handoff file.
Every component you ship here ends up in front of someone applying for housing, benefits or records they need. It has to be right everywhere it shows up.
WHAT KAIZEN OFFERS
Health & Insurance
- 100% coverage across the board: medical through Oxford/United (Gold and Platinum PPO plans), dental through Guardian PPO, and vision through Beam — all fully covered for employees, with 100% coverage for dependents.
- $100,000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA.
- One Medical membership, on us — same-day primary care, 24/7 virtual visits, and offices all over the city.
- Fertility and family-building support through Carrot.
- 401(k) through Guideline, with a 2% company match.
Family & Time Off
- 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.
- Unlimited PTO, with a two-week minimum (we mean it when we say take time off!)
- Closed for all federal holidays.
- Company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.
- Company offsites throughout the year.
Office & Remote Setup
- Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees.
- $50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).
- Expensed lunch while in the office.
- Dinner and Uber rides home will be expensed if you choose to work in the office past 7pm.
- Company-provided laptop of your choice.
Wellness
- NYC employees: Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse https://grindhousemhttn.com/ — right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us.
- Non-NYC employees: $100 per month, dedicated to gym / physical fitness reimbursement.
Stipends
- $100/month utility stipend.
- $250/quarter home cleaning stipend
- $500/year professional development.
- $250/year recreation.
- $300/quarter pet care stipend.
