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Software Engineer, Design Systems

AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Full time · Information Technology

Posted Sep 2, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

How do you write documentation a developer will actually read before asking?

What they are checking: Whether they treat documentation as part of the product, since in a design system the docs decide whether developers use a component correctly.

How do you work with designers when the design and the code drift apart?

What they are checking: Whether they can keep design files and code in sync through shared tokens and regular review, rather than letting either side quietly drift.

What would you do

The posting calls this seat the visible face of the system to developer and design communities. How do you support teams without becoming a help desk?

What they are checking: Whether they can scale support through docs, office hours and clear boundaries, because answering every question one by one buries the actual system work.

How do you ship a breaking change to a component that dozens of applications depend on?

What they are checking: Whether they plan deprecation, codemods and migration paths, since a careless breaking change erodes trust and teams stop upgrading for years afterward.

A team says the component does not do what they need. How do you decide whether to extend it or tell them no?

What they are checking: Whether they can weigh one team's need against the whole system's coherence, and say no kindly while still offering that team a workable path.

About the work

This role sits on the developer-facing side of an enterprise design system, maintaining shared tokens, components, standards and documentation. What design system work have you done?

What they are checking: Whether they have built and maintained a shared design system, since general front-end work rarely teaches you to serve other teams as customers.

How do you design a component so that teams use it rather than forking it?

What they are checking: Whether they understand that adoption is the real goal, because a component teams fork quietly creates the inconsistency the system exists to prevent.

The posting names tokens. How would you structure a token system so theming and accessibility both work?

What they are checking: Whether they can layer tokens from raw values to semantic names, so themes and contrast requirements change in one place instead of hundreds.

The system is meant to enable compliant, high-quality work. What does compliance mean for a user interface component in a pharmaceutical company?

What they are checking: Whether they connect accessibility, audit trails and validated behavior to components, because in pharma a broken interface can affect regulated records and patient-facing tools.

The posting describes a hands-on, full-stack-leaning engineer working independently across the team, technology group and developer community. Where are you strongest, and what would be new?

What they are checking: Whether they can honestly map their strengths against a broad, independent role, because overclaiming here shows up fast when you work without close supervision.

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The full job description

As published by AbbVie.

Unity is AbbVie's enterprise design system — the shared tokens, components, standards, and documentation that enable rapid, compliant, high-quality digital product delivery at scale. The Unity Design System team is transitioning Unity into a fully AI-enabled, agent-ready platform: AI-assisted design-to-code, Claude Code skills, MCP integrations, and AI-driven UI delivery, with humans in the loop to curate, approve, and evolve standards. This role sits on the developer-facing side of Unity. The person in this seat is a hands-on, full-stack-leaning engineer and the visible “face” of Unity development — building the React component library and developer tooling, pioneering agentic AI workflows, and serving the 600+ member developer community as a trusted, go-to resource. Work collaboratively across the Unity Design System team, BTS, and AbbVie’s developer and design communities to independently identify, conceive, design, engineer, and optimize developer-facing components, tooling, and AI-assisted workflows that accelerate compliant, high-quality digital product delivery across the enterprise. Serve as a hands-on, full-stack-leaning builder across React/TypeScript components and design tokens, Python/Node.js services and automation, and agentic AI integrations; gather requirements directly from developers, QA work, deploy solutions, and close fast feedback loops. Establish trust and credibility as a go-to resource for Unity development needs and act as the developer-facing face of the design system. Responsibilities: • Design, build, test, and maintain reusable, accessible React/TypeScript components for the Unity React library, with deep attention to design tokens/tokenization, theming (light/dark, density modes), composability, and Storybook documentation. • Build and advance AI-assisted and agentic developer workflows — including Claude Code skills, MCP server integrations (Figma, Storybook), context/markdown files, and prompt-to-code/design-to-code pipelines — that enable developers and AI agents to deliver Unity-compliant UI at scale. • Develop full-stack supporting services, front-end automation, and build/release/validation tooling using Python and Node.js (CI/CD, design-ops, compliance checks). • Own quality end-to-end - write and maintain automated tests, perform accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA) and cross-browser QA using the team toolstack (Storybook, Axe, GitHub), and QA your own work before release. • Act as the developer-facing face of Unity — provide community support, outreach, and management; build relationships, run demos/office hours/presentations, and establish trust and credibility as the go-to resource for Unity development. • Independently gather and generate requirements from developer-community needs, translate them into actionable work, maintain appropriate technical documentation, and communicate project objectives, progress, issues, and escalations to relevant stakeholders through quick feedback loops. • Contribute to Unity's data-visualization capabilities and support data-science-driven features, applying a data-science background and data-visualization experience where applicable. • Wear multiple hats and context-switch as a co-owner of team responsibilities across requirements, development, QA/testing, deployment, application development, community building, and presentations. • Learn, master, and stay current with evolving AI development and productivity tooling; pilot, evaluate, and help roll out improvements (e.g., Storybook MCP, AI documentation, and new productivity tools) across the team. • Contribute technical guidance and support or mentor colleagues as appropriate; partner with designers, brand, accessibility, and BTS stakeholders; and adhere to corporate standards, including the code of conduct, data security, GxP compliance where applicable, and the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Required: • Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field and 5 years’ experience, or Master’s Degree in a relevant field and 4 years of experience. • Experienced front-end engineer with strong/proficient React and TypeScript skills, strong HTML/CSS, and proven design-system/component-library development experience. • Strong understanding and awareness of design tokens / tokenization and scalable theming. • Demonstrated hands-on experience developing agentic AI and AI workflows, including Claude Code skills and AI-assisted developer tooling. • Backend and full-stack capability with Python and Node.js. • Proficiency with the team toolstack: Storybook, GitHub, and accessibility/WCAG testing tools (e.g., Axe). • Strong testing and QA discipline — consistently QAs own work. • Experience building products for a developer-facing audience, with the ability to “meet developers where they are.” • Proven ability to work independently, generate and gather requirements, document technical work, communicate with stakeholders, appropriately escalate issues, and operate with fast feedback loops while co-owning responsibilities. • Excellent written and oral English communication; strong community outreach and relationship-building; a proactive, collaborative team player. Preferred: • Developer skills beyond JS/React (e.g., Angular, additional languages/frameworks). • Data science background and data-visualization experience. • Front-end automation experience. • Familiarity with MCP servers (Figma MCP, Storybook MCP), Figma / Code Connect, and OutSystems. • Experience with developer relations (DevRel) and community management. • Mobile development experience (nice to have). Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law: ​ • The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future. ​ • We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick), medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.​ • This job is eligible to participate in our short-term incentive programs. ​ Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law. ​ AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community.  Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled. US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more: https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html

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