Partner 20, Design Systems Lead

Founded in Silicon Valley in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz (aka a16z) is a venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. We are stage agnostic. We invest in seed to venture to growth-stage technology companies, across AI, bio + healthcare, consumer, crypto, enterprise, fintech, games, and companies building toward American dynamism. a16z has $100B+ under management across multiple funds.

We’ve established a team that is defined by respect for the entrepreneur and the company-building process; we know what it’s like to be in the founder’s shoes. We’ve invested in companies like Anduril, Airbnb, Coinbase, Cursor, Databricks, Deel, Figma, GitHub, Roblox, SpaceX, and Stripe. Our team is at the forefront of new technology, helping founders and their companies impact and change the world.

Design at a16z

Most design orgs are built to execute. A request comes in, a designer makes the thing, and it goes out the door. That model works (until the volume of requests outpaces the size of the team), and suddenly design becomes a bottleneck instead of a multiplier.

We're building something different. The future of design at a16z isn't a bigger team cranking out more assets: it's a design function that scales through systems. Templates, tools, AI-powered workflows, and self-serve infrastructure that let anyone at the firm create high-quality, on-brand work without routing every request through a designer. AI makes this possible in ways it wasn't before. But only if someone builds the design systems  right, which means deeply understanding our brand, not just the tools.

We have an existing foundation: brand guidelines, component libraries, AI skills and apps, and other templates across our core use cases—and we're looking for someone to take that foundation and continue to build it into something the whole firm can run on.

The Role

We're hiring a Design Systems Lead to own and evolve that infrastructure. This is a clear ownership role: you're the person accountable for the quality, consistency, and reach of our design systems, and for what gets built next.

The work itself is equal parts brand design and systems building: half deep, intuitive command of the a16z visual language, half thinking in components, workflows, and repeatable outputs. You'll translate our brand into component libraries, AI skills, AI-powered tools, and self-serve templates the whole firm can use. That means writing clean markdown files, building high-functioning AI skills from scratch, and vibe-coding lightweight apps purpose-built for design use cases. What you're building is the invisible design framework for the firm. The work it produces shouldn't be.

We are open to candidates based in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA or New York City, NY. 

To join our team, you should be excited to: 

• Take clear ownership of the a16z design systems function: setting the direction, maintaining the standards, and being accountable for what gets built and how well it works
• Translate a16z brand systems into scalable templates, components, and modular frameworks across Krea, Figma, Google Workspace, Claude, Codex, Gamma, and many other core platforms with enough command of the brand to make those systems feel designed, not just functional
• Build repeatable systems for high-volume design needs (presentations, social assets, event materials, charts) so these don't require a designer every time
• Write and maintain markdown-based brand documentation, style references, and skill instruction files that serve as the source of truth for AI-generated outputs
• Build high-functioning AI skills from scratch: structured prompts, reference frameworks, and training inputs that produce design work that's distinctly and consistently a16z
• Vibe-code lightweight apps and custom tools purpose-built for design use cases (generators, formatters, asset builders, etc.) using whatever combination of AI models, APIs, and front-end code gets the job done
• Create tools and templates that let non-designers produce polished, on-brand work independently, without the output looking like it came from a template
• Partner with designers to distill complex visual systems into usable building blocks, and keep those systems current as the brand evolves
• Spot patterns in repeatable work, build toward them, and continuously improve what's running based on real usage and feedback
• Occasionally train people across the firm on the tools and systems we build (whether that's written documentation, a quick video walkthrough, or a 1:1) so what we make actually gets used the way it was intended
• Work with the project manager and new media ops team to track adoption and efficiency gains across the firm

Minimum Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in brand design, design systems, product design, or a related field
• A deep command of visual identity: quick to sense when something’s off, and able to diagnose and resolve it systematically
• Strong Figma skills, including building and maintaining design systems, libraries, and component structures others actually use
• Fluent in typography, layout, and the details that separate considered design from competent design
• Experience writing and scaling AI skills, not just prompting, but structuring reference frameworks, markdown files, and instruction sets that produce reliably on-brand outputs
• Comfortable vibe-coding: you've built lightweight apps, generators, or custom tools for design use cases, and you know where the edges are
• AI is already part of how you work, not something you're experimenting with; you've used tools like Claude, Codex, Krea, Midjourney, or similar and you’re curious about what’s next.
• You see the forest and the tree(s): if given a recurring design problem, your instinct is to build something comprehensive, not just solve it once
• A natural collaborator with low ego and high empathy: you work well across teams and can translate between design thinking and the needs of people who don't speak it

The anticipated salary range for this role is between $210,000 - $245,000, actual starting pay may vary based on a range of factors which can include experience, skills, and scope.

This role is eligible to participate in the a16z carry program and various discretionary bonus programs as well as benefit and perquisite plans including health, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, 401K plan, vacation, and sick leave.