Head Of Design

Quizlet; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

40 hours volunteer time off

20 vacation days

Job summary

Quizlet is seeking a hands-on principal designer to define the visual and experiential direction of its next-generation learning platform. You will ship prototypes with AI-assisted tooling, while building a scalable design system and leading the design organization.

The role reports to the VP of User Experience and collaborates with product, engineering, and marketing. This is a hybrid position in our San Francisco/NYC offices, requiring in-office presence 2 days a week — Wednesdays and

Qualifications

• 15+ years of product design experience, including consumer products at scale.
• Proven systems design ability with multi-surface design systems.
• Fluency in setting design strategy and executing polished work at high velocity.
• AI-first design practice using AI tools to design, prototype, and ship faster.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration across product, engineering, and marketing.
• Hands-on IC first, leadership second in a small team.

Responsibilities

• Design core learning experiences used by 60M+ learners and 1B+ interactions weekly.
• Set visual and experiential direction for Quizlet's future and ship working prototypes with AI tooling.
• Build and maintain design systems across product, marketing, and internal tools.
• Own how design learns by partnering with research, data science and marketing.
• Execute high-visibility brand and marketing design when needed.
• Transition into leading design across the organization, hiring and managing designers and contractors.
• Partner with product, engineering, marketing, and leadership to balance priorities and keep velocity.
• Champion AI-first working methods across design.

Skills

Product design

Design systems

Cross-functional collaboration

AI in design

Creative direction

Contract design management

Job description

About Quizlet:

At Quizlet, our mission is to help every learner achieve their outcomes in the most effective and delightful way. We’re a $1B+ learning platform used by two-thirds of U.S. high school students and half of college students, powering over 1 billion learning interactions each week.

We blend cognitive science with machine learning to personalize and enhance the learning experience for students, professionals, and lifelong learners alike. We’re energized by the potential to power more learners through multiple approaches and various tools.

Let’s Build the Future of Learning

Join us to design and deliver AI-powered learning tools that scale across the world and unlock human potential.

Why Join Quizlet?

Massive reach: 60M+ users, 1B+ interactions per week
Cutting-edge tech: Generative AI, adaptive learning, cognitive science
Strong momentum: Top-tier investors, sustainable business, real traction
Mission-first: Work that makes a difference in people’s lives
Inclusive culture: Committed to equity, diversity, and belonging

About the Team:

Design at Quizlet is a small but mighty team with outsized reach: our work touches 60M+ learners and over a billion learning interactions every week. We own design across the full surface area of the company — the Quizlet product itself, our brand and marketing, and the internal tools that make us fast.. We work embedded with product, engineering, and user research in tight weekly cycles, and we demo working software, not mockups. Right now we're doing the most exciting work in the company's history: reimagining Quizlet from the ground up as an AI-native adaptive learning platform.

About the Role:

This role has a deliberate arc. You'll join as a hands-on principal designer: for your first several months, your job is to get your hands dirty shipping the future of Quizlet — setting the visual and experiential direction of our next-generation learning experience and building it yourself, using AI tooling that lets a single designer produce working, production-quality prototypes at a pace that used to require a team. Once you've shipped and learned deep context, you'll step up to lead design across the company — managing our product designers and the contractor network behind our brand and marketing work. You'll report to the VP User Experience and work daily with product, engineering, and marketing leadership. If you've been waiting for a role where you get to both define what a company looks and feels like and build it with your own hands, this is it.

We’re happy to share that this is an Hybrid position in our San Francisco/NYC office. To support collaboration, we ask employees to be in the office at least 2 days a week: Wednesday and Thursday.

In this role, you will:

• Design core learning experiences used by 60M+ learners generating 1B+ interactions per week — work where a small improvement reaches more students than almost any product in education.
• Set the visual and experiential direction for the future of Quizlet, and ship it: working prototypes built with AI-assisted design and development tooling, not static mockups handed over a wall.
• Build and maintain design systems that span product, marketing, and internal tools — systems robust enough that contractors, PMs, and marketers can build with them without heavy oversight, and that evolve as the product does.
• Own how design learns — partner with user research, data science and product marketing to turn learner insight, market trends, and brand signals into design standards the whole team builds against.
• Execute high-visibility brand and marketing design when the work demands it: campaigns, feature identities, executive and board presentations, motion work, and launch moments.
• Transition into leading the design organization — hiring, developing, and managing designers and a contractor network across product and brand, and owning design quality company-wide, with final sign-off on the look, feel, and experience of everything we ship.
• Partner closely with product, engineering, marketing, and executive leadership to navigate competing priorities and keep design velocity high as the company moves fast.
• Champion an AI-first way of working across design — raising the bar for what one designer can ship and helping the whole team operate at that new speed.

What you bring to the table:

• 15+ years of product design experience, including consumer products at significant scale, with a portfolio demonstrating principal-level craft and strong visual taste.
• Proven systems design ability: you've designed and maintained design systems spanning multiple surfaces that other contributors could pick up and run with.
• Fluency operating at both altitudes — setting design strategy and creative direction, and personally executing polished work at high velocity when the workload demands it.
• An AI-first design practice: you already use AI tools to design, prototype, and ship faster, and you're eager to push that further.
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally — navigating difficult conversations and competing priorities across product, engineering, and marketing with low ego and high effectiveness.
• Comfort with the arc of this role: hands-on IC first, leadership second, in a small team where everyone builds.

Bonus points if you have:

• Brand marketing or creative direction experience — you've set brand strategy that ladders up to company vision, defined illustration systems, or led a rebrand.
• Agency background, with the range and speed that comes from building across unfamiliar categories.
• Motion design and animation chops.
• Experience managing and project-managing contract designers.
• A genuine interest in learning science and education — the "why" behind everything we build.
• Ambition to grow with the role: our five-year vision is that this person builds and leads the design organization of an AI-native company that redefines how the world learns.

Compensation, Benefits & Perks:

• Collaborate with your manager and team to create a healthy work-life balance
• 20 vacation days that we expect you to take!
• Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance (100% employee and 75% dependent PPO, Dental, VSP Choice)
• Employer-sponsored 401k plan with company match
• Access to LinkedIn Learning and other resources to support professional growth
• Paid Family Leave, FSA, HSA, Commuter benefits, and Wellness benefits
• 40 hours of annual paid time off to participate in volunteer programs of choice

We strive to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome!

We work to create a holistic interview process, where both Quizlet and candidates have an opportunity to view what it would be like to work together, in exploring a mutually beneficial partnership.

We provide a transparent setting that gives a comprehensive view of who we are!

In Closing:

At Quizlet, we’re excited about passionate people joining our team—even if you don’t check every box on the requirements list. We value unique perspectives and believe everyone has something meaningful to contribute. Our culture is all about taking initiative, learning through challenges, and striving for high-quality work while staying curious and open to new ideas. We believe in honest, respectful communication, thoughtful collaboration, and creating a supportive space where everyone can grow and succeed together.”

Quizlet’s success as an online learning community depends on a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

As an equal opportunity employer and a tech company committed to societal change, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. Women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. Come join us!

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