Staff UX Software Engineer
Sonatype is the software supply chain management company that invented componentized software development and pioneered the software supply chain category. As leaders in the open-source community and the DevSecOps industry, we run the world’s largest repository of Java open-source components—Maven Central.
Our groundbreaking, full-spectrum platform empowers customers to rapidly create, deploy, and maintain innovative software at scale, all while aligning directly to their business needs. Trusted by more than 2,000 organizations—including 70% of the Fortune 100—and over 15 million software developers, Sonatype ’s tools and guidance help deliver exceptional, secure software.
From inventing modern artifact management with Nexus Repository to introducing the world’s only solution that halts malicious open-source malware in its tracks, we’re committed to constant innovation. We leverage AI/ML to give our clients, developers, and the industry complete confidence in the quality, automation, and security of their software. Learn more at
Role Summary
Sonatype has evolved how product design works inside a modern engineering organization. We’ve moved beyond static Figma artifacts and are designing in code, co-creating solutions with engineering and PM, and leveraging AI to accelerate iteration and handoff.
If you’re a UX Engineer who thrives on understanding complex developer workflows, building real prototypes, and shaping UX with your team (not in an isolated Design bubble), you’ll be right at home here.
What You Will Do - Core Work
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Develop a deep understanding of Sonatype ’s multi-product developer platform, personas, and core Jobs To Be Done.
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Work closely with PMs and engineers to co-create user flows and experience direction - UX leads the thinking, but the outputs are created and iterated on together , not in isolation.
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Map complex IA, developer workflows, permissions models, and multi-product interactions into clear, intuitive experience patterns.
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Create user, product, and system flow diagrams in Miro that reflect real constraints, technical realities, and team input.
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Shape conceptual designs and UX architectures for new features and continuous, iterative improvements.
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Build coded UX prototypes using Claude Code, VS Code, GitHub workflows, and front-end fundamentals (HTML/CSS/JS/React).
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Ensure your prototypes are structured enough that AI tools can generate engineering specs, scope definitions, and implementation requirements directly from your code diffs.
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Conduct lightweight, practical research (interviews, surveys, UAT, quick validation) when needed - and know when to proceed without research to keep momentum.
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Collaborate early and often to align constraints, scope, design direction, and technical feasibility.
What You Will Do - Supporting Responsibilities
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Facilitate iterative design and exploration sessions with PMs and engineers; guide direction without owning every artifact yourself.
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Provide clear, structured UX reviews and guidance across product teams working on related areas.
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Coach engineers on UX fundamentals, usability, accessibility, and interaction patterns when it relates to a project - raising the UX baseline across teams.
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Contribute high-fidelity coded prototypes that solve customer problems in clear, easy ways while working with our design system and existing user flows
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Support the UX Guild’s goal of improving UX quality and alignment across teams without introducing heavy processes.
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Help evolve our AI-accelerated design workflows and strengthen our design system alignment.
What Success Looks Like
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Your prototypes aren’t just illustrative — they behave like real product experiences and provide enough structure for AI tools to generate engineering specs, scope, and implementation requirements directly from your code diffs.
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Teams ship better UX because your influence is pragmatic, collaborative, and grounded in technical realities.
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