About the role

About The Meridiem

The Meridiem is a fast-growing technology media platform committed to delivering timely, high-quality journalism covering AI, startups, venture capital, cybersecurity, and enterprise tech. Built on Next.js 16 and deployed globally on Cloudflare Workers, our platform serves technology leaders, founders, and engineers who depend on us for sharp morning briefings and deep evening analysis.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Motion/Interaction Designer to bring life and polish to The Meridiem's web experience. You will design and implement micro-interactions, page transitions, scroll-driven animations, data visualizations, and animated editorial content that make our platform feel responsive, modern, and delightful. This role bridges design and engineering — you will prototype in design tools and collaborate closely with frontend developers to ship production-quality motion on the web.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and prototype micro-interactions for navigation, content loading, user feedback states, and interactive UI elements across the platform.
• Create smooth, performant page transitions and scroll-based animations that enhance the reading experience without sacrificing speed.
• Develop animated data visualizations and interactive graphics for editorial content covering technology trends, funding data, and market analysis.
• Build motion specs and interaction documentation that enable frontend engineers to implement animations consistently using CSS and Framer Motion.
• Collaborate with the UI/UX team to define interaction patterns for the design system, including hover states, focus indicators, toast notifications, and modal behaviors.
• Produce animated assets for social media, newsletters, and marketing — short loops, explainer animations, and branded motion graphics.
• Optimize all motion work for web performance, ensuring animations run at 60fps and respect reduced-motion accessibility preferences.
• Prototype interactive storytelling formats that push beyond traditional article layouts — timelines, explorable data, and visual narratives.
• Establish motion design principles and a shared animation language (easing curves, duration scales, choreography patterns) for the platform.
• Partner with the editorial team to concept and execute animated content for high-impact feature stories and special coverage.
• Stay current with web animation capabilities, CSS animation features, and emerging interaction patterns in digital media.

Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in motion design, interaction design, or a hybrid design-engineering role focused on web.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating web-native motion work — micro-interactions, page transitions, data visualizations, and animated UI patterns.
• Proficiency in motion and prototyping tools such as After Effects, Lottie, Rive, Framer, or Principle.
• Solid understanding of CSS animations, transitions, and keyframes, with familiarity in Framer Motion or GSAP.
• Knowledge of web performance constraints and the ability to design motion that enhances rather than degrades page speed.
• Experience creating accessible motion that respects prefers-reduced-motion and avoids vestibular triggers.
• Strong sense of timing, easing, and choreography — the ability to make interactions feel natural and intentional.
• Comfort working in a fast-moving startup where you will both design and help implement your work.

Nice-to-Have

• Experience with React component animation patterns and Framer Motion API.
• Familiarity with Lottie/Rive for lightweight web animations.
• Background in data visualization using D3.js, Observable, or similar tools.
• Experience designing motion for news, editorial, or content-heavy platforms.
• Ability to write production-ready CSS animations or basic React animation code.
• Understanding of Tailwind CSS and how utility-first frameworks handle animation.
• Video editing or motion graphics experience for short-form social content.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary ($110,000 - $145,000) with meaningful equity in a Series A startup.
• Fully remote work environment with flexible scheduling and async-first communication.
• Annual learning budget of $2,500 for conferences, courses, tools, and creative development.
• Premium health, dental, and vision insurance coverage.
• Generous PTO policy with company-wide recharge weeks.
• A platform where your motion work will be experienced by hundreds of thousands of technology professionals.
• Access to any creative and development tools you need — After Effects, Figma, Rive, and more.

How to Apply

Send your resume, portfolio (including web motion examples or case studies), and a brief note on how motion design can elevate digital journalism to support@themeridiem.com with the subject line "Motion/Interaction Designer Application." We review applications on a rolling basis and aim to respond within one week.