---
title: 'Designer at Zed'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/designer-zed-the-americas-north-cy5f7ymstxbe'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-04'
---

# Designer at Zed

- **Company:** Zed
- **Location:** The Americas (North, Central, South)
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2025-10-17
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-04
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/zed/6871e6ed-0358-4d36-b666-d10e6b3c31cf

## Job description

Zed is building a new kind of programming environment. We’re not just designing a code editor. We’re designing the environment where humans and AI build software together. Zed combines high-performance local editing, real-time collaboration, and AI agents that can work directly in the codebase. We’re looking for a Product Design Engineer to help shape how this environment works. Designers at Zed work closely with engineers, prototype ideas directly in the product, and often implement parts of the interface themselves.

## What you'll work on

The editor sits at the center of how developers read, understand, and evolve complex systems. Small interaction decisions can meaningfully shape that process. You might work on:

- Collaborative programming workflows
- Interaction models for AI agents that read and modify code
- Navigating and understanding large codebases
- Keyboard-driven workflows and command systems
- Interfaces for Git, debugging, and code exploration
- Zed’s design system and interaction patterns
- Prototyping and implementing UI in the product

Many of the interaction patterns we’re exploring don’t yet have established precedents.

## How you'll work

Design is tightly integrated with engineering. Designers often pair with engineers, exploring ideas directly in the product. Many interactions start as small experiments in the codebase rather than static mockups. We care deeply about clarity, performance, simplicity, and craft.

## What we're looking for

You might be a good fit if you:

- Have strong product design experience
- Care deeply about interaction design
- Enjoy working on technical products
- Prototype ideas in code
- You enjoy operating on the bleeding edge, work well with ambiguity, and ship
- You are excited to learn some Rust and get your hands dirty creating interfaces in [Zed's custom-built UI framework, GPUI](https://www.gpui.rs/)

Strongly Preferred Experience We’re especially excited about designers who have worked on:

- Developer tools or IDEs
- Code editors or programming environments
- Technical productivity software
- AI-assisted tools or developer platforms
- Complex productivity products

## About Zed

Zed is open source and built in public by the team behind Atom and Tree-sitter. The editor is written in Rust with GPU acceleration for every frame. When you type or move the cursor, pixels respond instantly. That responsiveness keeps you in flow. Zed is multiplayer by default, allowing developers to work together in the same codebase in real time. Much of our work happens through pair programming, with engineers collaborating directly inside the editor. We ship improvements weekly and work closely with a community that cares deeply about the craft of developer tools. Join us in revolutionizing the development experience. Your expertise could drive Zed's next game-changing feature!

Location: Remote (American or European time zones)

## About Zed

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Zed Industries builds a high-performance, multiplayer code editor in Rust with GPU acceleration and real-time collaboration, aiming to be the world’s best text editor.
- **Entity Type**: Private (funded – Seed, Series A & B)
- **Headquarters**: Oakland, California, USA
- **Founded**: Not publicly available
- **Founders**: Nathan Sobo, Max Brunsfeld, Antonio Scandurra

## Core Business
- **Industry**: Developer tools / code editors / real-time collaboration platforms
- **Target Customers**: B2D (developers) – individual developers, teams, and enterprises
- **Mission**: “Building the world’s best text editor” and creating “a better way to write software” through handcrafted, hyper‑responsive tools that make collaboration seamless.

## Products & Services
- **Zed Editor**: Desktop application (macOS, Linux, Windows) built from scratch in Rust with GPU‑accelerated rendering (GPUI), real‑time multiplayer editing via CRDTs, built‑in AI features (DeltaDB), and integrated chat. Open source.
- **GPUI**: Proprietary GPU‑accelerated UI framework owned by Zed, used to render the editor efficiently across platforms (Metal, Direct3D, Vulkan).
- **Tree‑sitter**: Incremental parsing framework previously created by the founders; now used globally in editors and GitHub.
- **DeltaDB**: System that captures the operational history of development (edits, discussions, AI interactions) to enable AI systems that understand how code evolves over time.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – amounts not disclosed, but known rounds include Seed, Series A, and Series B.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not disclosed in available sources
- **Growth Signals**: Hired 20+ engineers in the past year; expanding to Windows and Linux; building a large open‑source community; developing innovative AI‑first features (DeltaDB).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Vertical integration**: Zed owns the rendering, UI framework, editor, collaboration protocol, and cloud – reducing black boxes and allowing deep optimization.
- **Performance obsession**: GPU‑accelerated rendering, custom data structures (SumTree), deterministic testing of the full stack, and sub‑pixel latency.
- **Real‑time collaboration built‑in**: CRDT‑based multi‑player editing with shared buffers, audio, and built‑in chat – far tighter than pull‑request workflows.
- **AI that understands code evolution**: DeltaDB gives AI models access to the full operational history, not just static snapshots.
- **Founder pedigree**: Team behind Atom, Electron, and Tree‑sitter – decades of editor experience.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI integration**: Deepening AI capabilities through DeltaDB and in‑editor AI agents.
- **Cross‑platform parity**: Continued investment in Windows and Linux support.
- **Community & open source**: Growing the open‑source ecosystem around Zed.
- **Enterprise readiness**: Improving collaboration and security features for team and enterprise use.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Small, passionate team that values craftsmanship, collaboration, and autonomy. Pair programming is a core practice.
- **Remote‑first**: Fully remote environment with teams spanning American and European time zones.
- **Perks**: Unlimited PTO, comprehensive health insurance, best‑in‑class hardware, annual team summit at inspiring locations.
- **Engineering**: Work on a nearly 1 million‑line Rust codebase spanning GPU rendering, distributed systems, language tooling, and AI. High ownership and immediate impact.
- **Open source**: Build in public; contributions and open‑source engagement are valued pathways to employment.

## Sources
1. [zed.dev/jobs](https://zed.dev/jobs)
2. [zed.dev/about](https://zed.dev/about)
3. [zed.dev/team](https://zed.dev/team)
4. [zed.dev/blog/hiring](https://zed.dev/blog/hiring)
5. [zed.dev/jobs/rust-engineer](https://zed.dev/jobs/rust-engineer)

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