Sr. Director, Product DesignDiscovery Education,Inc.

Location: Virtual
Req Number: Req# 345
Date Posted: Posted Friday, January 23, 2026 | Expires Wednesday, January 28, 2026

As a Sr. Director, Product Design at Discovery Education, you will lead the multi-product vision and strategy for human-centered experience design across our global suite of K–12 digital learning solutions. The person in this role will oversee an organization of UX, UI/visual design, and design operations leaders; scale our design culture and practices; and ensure our design system and processes deliver intuitive, elegant, accessible, and measurable outcomes for students and educators—while driving product engagement, learning impact, and business growth.

You’ll thrive here if you are passionate about improving education through technology, skilled at building and scaling design organizations, and confident operating at the intersection of strategy, systems, and creativity. We’re seeking a leader who inspires teams, influences executives, and translates complex instructional, product, and technical problems into meaningful, scalable design solutions.

In This Role You Will:

Design Vision, Strategy & Innovation

• Define and drive a global product design strategy aligned with Discovery Education’s long‑term product, instructional, and business objectives.
• Champion a user‑centered, equitable, and inclusive design philosophy, prioritizing accessibility, universal design, and culturally responsive experiences.
• Lead the evolution and governance of Discovery Education’s design system, ensuring consistency, quality, and scalability across products and platforms.
• Identify opportunities to integrate emerging technologies—including AI—to improve creativity, accelerate workflows, and elevate design quality and efficiency.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Collaboration

• Partner with executive leadership in Product, Engineering, Curriculum, and Research to align design impact to company OKRs and roadmap priorities.
• Collaborate closely with Product Management, Engineering, Curriculum, and Research to define problem spaces, align roadmaps, and ensure feasibility of design solutions within Agile/Lean delivery.
• Integrate qualitative and quantitative insights—partnering with UXR and Analytics—to inform decisions, measure outcomes, and connect design impact to learning and business metrics.
• Facilitate cross‑functional workshops, design sprints, and collaborative sessions to drive alignment and accelerate innovation.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders through clear storytelling, communication of design intent, and thoughtful discussion of tradeoffs.

Team Leadership, Culture & Organizational Development

• Lead, mentor, and inspire a high‑performing design organization while cultivating curiosity, psychological safety, inclusivity, and continuous improvement.
• Build succession plans and leadership capacity across the design function; coach design leaders through structured feedback and development conversations.
• Develop and implement career pathways, growth frameworks, and skill‑development plans to support advancement and strengthen design capabilities.
• Establish team rituals—including critiques, research readouts, and quality reviews—to promote craftsmanship and consistency across distributed teams.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition to attract top-tier design talent and maintain an inclusive pipeline.

Operational Excellence & Execution

• Operationalize design processes, tooling, and governance that enable clarity, speed, and measurable quality improvements across a multi‑product ecosystem.
• Oversee resource management, capacity planning, prioritization, and alignment across portfolios, ensuring visibility into dependencies and platform constraints.
• Establish and maintain documentation, workflow standards, and design governance—including intake processes, decision logs, component usage guidelines, and accessibility reviews.
• Partner with Product and Data teams to evaluate feature performance, inform iterative improvements, and drive continuous learning.

Core Competencies for Success:

• Strategic Systems Thinking – Navigates complex instructional, product, and technical considerations while balancing long‑term vision with scalable execution.
• Builds High‑Performing Organizations – Proven experience recruiting, coaching, and developing leaders and cultivating healthy, inclusive teams.
• Expertise in UX, UI, Accessibility & Design Systems – Deep mastery of digital platform design, accessibility standards, and scalable system frameworks.
• Communicates & Influences Effectively – Exceptional written, verbal, and visual communication skills, including storytelling for executive audiences.
• Facilitates Collaboration & Innovation – Skilled at leading workshops, sprints, and cross‑functional alignment in complex problem spaces.
• Agile/Lean Product Practices – Strong command of Figma, prototyping tools, and modern product development methodologies.
• Growth Mindset & Adaptability – Thrives in a mission‑driven environment with evolving needs.

Credentials and Experience:

• 12+ years of progressive product design experience, including 5+ years leading managers or multi‑team design portfolios.
• Demonstrated success scaling design strategy, design systems, and design operations within global or multi‑product SaaS environments; K‑12 or broader ed‑tech strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to translate research, analytics, and user insights into actionable design decisions and measurable outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating with senior executives to align design strategy with organizational goals and influence product direction at scale.

• Background in K–12 education, ed-tech, or adjacent industries preferred.
• Experience in global or multi-product SaaS environments strongly preferred.

• Legal authorization to work in the United States.

This role is designed to be remote.

The hiring range for this position is between $191,600 - $212,900 annually, however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location. Additionally, this position is eligible for an Annual Bonus.

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At Discovery Education, we are fulfilling our mission of preparing learners for tomorrow by creating innovative classrooms connected to today's world.

Serving more than 4.5 million educators and 45 million students, available in approximately half of U.S. classrooms and primary schools in the UK, and more than 140 countries around the globe; we are on a journey to transform teaching and learning though innovative partnerships with school districts, states, ministries of education, and other like-minded organizations.

We have built an award-winning and highly reputable organization because of talented and driven people who work together to accelerate student achievement by tapping into students' natural curiosity and desire to learn by capturing their minds and imagination through the fascination of Discovery.

Why Join Discovery Education?

Discovery Education believes empowering each team member is vital to cultivating high performing, highly engaged teams. Being a part of our team means we partner together to achieve mutual goals. To this end, Discovery Education offers a robust and comprehensive insurance package. You can find a complete listing on our Career Page.

Along with traditional insurance offerings, our inclusive offerings center around:

• Career Development Ownership - Be the driver of your success!
• Continuing Education AND Tuition Reimbursement Programs
• Mentorship program and collaboration with veteran leaders
• Constant opportunities for cross-functional training and skill building
• Uncapped career growth

Team Member Wellness – When you feel great, you do great work!

• Leave for life’s moments including 7 recognized holidays
• Take PTO without the vacation guilt
• Up to 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Annual Winter Holiday Break (typically the last week of December)

This opportunity is perfect for people interested in joining a high-performing, collaborative team, who enjoy a dynamic industry, and are excited about high-impact, project-based work.

Inspired? We would love the opportunity to review your candidacy! Select the blue “Apply Now” button at the bottom left of the screen to begin your application.

Discovery Education is an equal opportunity employer. Discovery Education is committed to being an employer of choice, not just a good place to work, but a great and inclusive place to work. To that end, we strive to recruit and maintain a workforce that meaningfully represents the communities we serve. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, protected veteran status or disabled status, or genetic information.

Other details

Pay Type Salary



Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

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