We're looking for a frontend engineer to help build and grow the Admiral Design System (ADS) — the components, tokens and documentation that teams across Admiral use to build consistent, accessible interfaces.
We care most about the fundamentals, done really well. Accessible semantic HTML and modern CSS do most of the heavy lifting in our components; we reach for JavaScript only when the platform can't give us the behaviour for free. We build small, composable components that extend HTML rather than replace it — not large configurable templates that bury everything in the shadow DOM. We'd rather expose what the browser already does well than reinvent it, and favour composition (and slots) over sprawling prop sets. We're as careful about what we choose not to build as what we do.
Because our work is used everywhere, the decisions you make travel a long way. A component is built once and consumed across native web, React and Angular — and increasingly by AI tools that build with our system too — so clear thinking about architecture, APIs and long-term maintainability matters more than any one framework. Accessibility and performance aren't things we bolt on at the end; they're part of what we mean by "finished."
You'll sit at the front of frontend, close to design and UX, helping shape how UI gets built across Admiral and handing components and docs to the product teams who rely on them. We're after someone who's strong on the fundamentals and has good instincts for component design — the years on paper matter less than how you think.
What you'll be doing
- Building and maintaining ADS components with Stencil.js, documented in Storybook, and distributed for native web, React and Angular.
- Leaning on the platform — semantic HTML, native elements, modern CSS — and adding complexity only when there's a genuine need.
- Making architecture and API decisions that keep components simple, composable and easy to adopt, with downstream impact (versioning, performance, adoption) in mind.
- Partnering with the ADS design team in Figma — shaping component interfaces and helping decide what should be a component, a recipe, or a throwaway example.
- Writing clear documentation for component APIs, usage and accessibility — written once and distributed everywhere, so we never maintain two copies of the same thing.
- Building accessibility and performance in from the start, and proving it (a11y checks, Core Web Vitals, component testing).
- Helping the design system become something AI tools can consume and build with correctly (see below).
- Helping product teams adopt components and unblocking the issues that slow them down.
Essential Experience
- Accessible, semantic HTML and modern CSS. This is the foundation, and it matters more than any specific framework or tool.
- Building UI components with clear APIs, sensible composition (slots over large prop sets) and an instinct for keeping things simple.
- Web Components / custom elements — understanding how they extend the platform, and where shadow DOM helps versus where it gets in the way.
- Sound judgement on scalable, maintainable component architecture and the downstream consequences of API decisions.
- Working with designers in Figma — reading design intent and shaping component interfaces together, including when something shouldn't be a component at all.
- Accessibility to WCAG 2.2 AA, and a real feel for performance — bundle size, runtime, Core Web Vitals.
- Stencil.js (or comparable component tooling) and Storybook for building and documenting components in isolation.
- Clear technical writing for a developer audience.
Desirable Skills
- Consuming web components from React and Angular. (Stencil generates most of the framework wrappers for you, so this is about understanding the model, not hand-rolling integration.)
- Build, release and distribution: npm packaging, versioning, CI for UI validation.
- Performance techniques: lazy loading, hydration strategies, SSR/pre-rendering concepts.
- Experience making documentation or systems AI-consumable — structured metadata, LLM-friendly docs, agent/MCP workflows.
- Monorepos (Nx, Turborepo) for co-locating components and wrappers.
- Our wider toolchain: GitHub, Docker, JFrog Artifactory, Azure DevOps, Jira/Confluence.
This role requires in office attendance once per month.
Please note - we may close this vacancy early if we receive lots of applications or business priorities change.
Admiral: Where You Can
We take pride in being a diverse and inclusive business. It's a place where you can Be You, and show up as you are. We’re committed to fostering a people-first culture where everyone is accepted, supported, and empowered to be brilliant. You can, Grow And Progress at a pace and direction that suits you, Make A Difference for our customers and each other, and Share in Our Future with all colleagues eligible for up to £3,600 of free shares each year after one year of service.
Everyone receives 33 days holiday (including bank holidays) when they join us, increasing the longer you stay with us, up to a maximum of 38 days (including bank holidays). You also have the option to buy or sell up to an additional five days of annual leave.
We’re proud of our people-first culture. In fact, we've been recognised as a Great Place to Work for Women, a Great Place to Work for Wellbeing, and an overall Great Place to Work for over 25 years! We’re fully committed to making sure your progression is not slowed or halted by barriers related to race, gender, age, sexuality or any of the protected characteristics.
Our fantastic benefits make sure our colleagues have a great work-life balance; You can view some of our other key benefits here.
Disability Confident Leader
As a Disability Confident Leader, for candidates with a disability or long-term health condition, that opt into the Disability Confident scheme, we’ll invite a fair and proportionate number of applicants that meet the essential requirements of the role to the first stage of our selection process.
If you need any adjustments or support with your application or during the recruitment process, just let us know. Please email [email protected] or contact us on 07796 039828. This number is dedicated to supporting candidates that require reasonable adjustments or support during the application process.
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