Lead Product Designer

HMH; United States; Remote; USD 85,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

HMH, a learning-technology company, seeks a Lead Product Designer to guide visual design for Teacher Guides, Student Editions, and related materials. You will shape the program's visual identity, ensure instructional alignment, and lead print and editorial design from concept to production.

You will collaborate with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to incorporate user insights, craft scalable design systems, and maintain high quality across print and editorial outputs while advancing

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in graphic/visual design and related field.
• 7+ years in graphic design, editorial design, or educational publishing.
• Portfolio demonstrating print/editorial design including multi-page publications.
• Experience designing Teacher Guides, Student Editions, textbooks, or similar publications.
• Advanced expertise with InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop.
• Strong knowledge of typography, grids, and visual hierarchy.
• Experience building scalable design systems and templates for print programs.
• Knowledge of print production, prepress, and vendor handoff.
• Experience leading design work and guiding other designers.
• Ability to leverage customer insights to improve design solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead the visual design and page development of Teacher Guides, Student Editions, workbooks, and other print materials from concept to final production.
• Translate complex instructional content into clear, engaging page layouts for teachers and students.
• Apply typography, grid systems, visual hierarchy, color, imagery, and information design to create cohesive educational experiences.
• Design print components balancing clarity, engagement, accessibility, age-appropriateness, and classroom use.
• Partner with editorial and instructional teams to understand content structure and recommend design approaches.
• Ensure visual consistency across print components for teacher-facing and student-facing materials.
• Establish and evolve the visual identity of programs in alignment with brand and instructional goals.
• Bring innovative design approaches to modernize print experiences and differentiate programs.
• Use research and market insights to identify design opportunities and refine solutions.
• Develop and present multiple design directions with rationale behind visual decisions.
• Set high design quality standards and guide vendors and cross-functional partners.
• Stay current on trends in educational publishing and editorial design.
• Create scalable print design systems, templates, and production-ready specifications.

Skills

Editorial design

Typography

Layout

Design systems

Communication

Leadership

Print production

Education

Bachelor's degree in graphic design or related field

7+ years in graphic/editorial design or educational publishing

Portfolio of print/editorial design

Experience with Teacher Guides/Student Editions

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Typography/grid/visual storytelling

Design systems and templates for print

Print production and vendor handoff

Independent design leadership

Customer insights to design

Tools

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Job description

HMH is a learning technology company committed to delivering connected solutions that engage learners, empower educators and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of K-12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention solutions, and professional learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock students' potential and extend teachers' capabilities.

HMH serves more than 50 million students and 4 million educators in 150 countries. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com

Location:

Remote (US)

**To be considered for this role, applicants must provide a portfolio link within their resume that demonstrates relevant work and experience**

The Lead Product Designer will lead the visual design and development of high-quality print and digital learning experiences, with a primary focus on Teacher Guides, Student Editions, and related instructional components. This role requires an accomplished graphic designer with deep expertise in editorial design, page architecture, typography, visual hierarchy, and the production of complex educational materials.

Working closely with the Senior Director of Design, the Lead Product Designer will establish and evolve the visual identity of assigned programs while ensuring that designs support instructional goals, customer needs, usability, and efficient production. This individual will bring modern design thinking to established educational products, use customer and market insights to improve the experience, and create design systems and templates that enable seamless execution across internal teams and external partners.

Key Responsibilities

Print and Editorial Design

• Lead the visual design and page development of Teacher Guides, Student Editions, workbooks, and other print instructional materials from concept through final production.
• Translate complex instructional content into clear, engaging, and highly usable page layouts for teachers and students.
• Apply expert knowledge of typography, grid systems, visual hierarchy, color, imagery, and information design to create cohesive and modern educational experiences.
• Design print components that balance instructional clarity, visual engagement, accessibility, age appropriateness, and efficient classroom use.
• Partner with editorial and instructional teams to understand content structure and recommend design approaches that improve comprehension, navigation, and engagement.
• Ensure visual consistency and coherence across print components while accounting for the distinct needs of teacher-facing and student-facing materials.

Design Leadership and Innovation

• Establish and evolve the visual identity of assigned programs in alignment with HMH brand standards, market expectations, and the unique instructional purpose of each solution.
• Bring forward innovative design approaches that modernize print experiences and differentiate HMH programs in the market.
• Use customer research, educator feedback, usability findings, and market insights to identify design opportunities and refine solutions.
• Develop and present multiple design directions, clearly articulating the rationale behind visual and structural decisions.
• Set a high bar for design quality and provide clear design guidance, reviews, and feedback to other designers, vendors, and cross-functional partners.
• Stay current on trends and emerging practices in educational publishing, editorial design, visual communication, and print production.

Design Systems and Production Readiness

• Create scalable print design systems, templates, style guides, master pages, and component libraries that support consistency and efficient development.
• Establish clear specifications and production standards that enable seamless handoff to production designers, vendors, and manufacturing partners.
• Anticipate production needs and design materials that can be efficiently updated, versioned, and extended across grades, editions, and product configurations.
• Partner with production, editorial, and operations teams to resolve design and workflow challenges before they affect quality, schedule, or budget.
• Review layouts, proofs, and final files to ensure visual quality, accuracy, consistency, and adherence to established design standards.
• Ensure projects are organized and documented so that internal teams and external partners can execute reliably and efficiently.
• Identify opportunities to improve design and production workflows, including the responsible use of AI and automation tools.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with internal designers and external vendors to ensure design execution aligns with program vision, schedule, and quality standards.
• Work closely with the Senior Director of Design to establish program vision, priorities, and quality standards.
• Collaborate with Learning Experience Design, Editorial, Product Management, Production, Research, and other cross-functional teams throughout the product-development process.
• Translate instructional, editorial, customer, and business requirements into strong visual design solutions.
• Facilitate design reviews, incorporate feedback thoughtfully, and build alignment among senior stakeholders.
• Advocate for the needs of teachers and students while balancing instructional goals, production constraints, schedules, and budgets.
• Serve as a trusted design partner who can navigate ambiguity, make informed decisions, and move complex projects forward.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in graphic design, communication design, visual design, publication design, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 7 years of experience in graphic design, editorial design, educational publishing, or a related field.
• Portfolio demonstrating exceptional print and editorial design, including complex, multi-page publications.
• Demonstrated experience designing Teacher Guides, Student Editions, textbooks, workbooks, or comparable educational or professional publications.
• Advanced expertise in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and related design and production tools.
• Deep knowledge of typography, page composition, grid systems, information hierarchy, image selection, and visual storytelling.
• Experience developing scalable design systems, templates, master pages, style guides, and production specifications for complex print programs.
• Strong understanding of print production, prepress requirements, file preparation, proofing, and vendor handoff.
• Experience leading design work independently and providing creative direction or guidance to other designers.
• Demonstrated ability to use customer insights, research, and feedback to improve design solutions.
• Strong presentation, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple complex workstreams while maintaining attention to detail and design quality.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing K-12 curriculum or intervention products for teachers and students.
• Experience evolving the visual identity of established product lines or creating distinct identities across a portfolio of programs.
• Experience working with large-scale publishing workflows, content-management systems, or automated page-production processes.
• Knowledge of accessibility and inclusive-design practices for print instructional materials.
• Experience directing illustrators, photographers, agencies, freelancers, or external production vendors.
• Familiarity with digital product design and the ability to support visual coherence between print and digital experiences.

Work Expectations

• Work independently while maintaining close collaboration with the Senior Director of Design and cross-functional partners.
• Attend and actively contribute to project meetings, design reviews, customer‑insight discussions, and product‑planning sessions.
• Develop a deep understanding of each program's instructional model, users, market position, and brand identity.
• Manage design priorities and deliverables across multiple projects while meeting quality, schedule, and production requirements.

Benefits and Salary Range:

Salary Range - $85,000 to $100,000. Our salary ranges are based on national averages.We have wide ranges so we can be flexible and determine compensation based on a number of factors including the candidate's skills, experience, education, and location.

Our Culture and Benefits - https://careers.hmhco.com/culture_benefits

HMH is fully committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and to attracting, retaining, developing and promoting the most qualified employees without regard to race, gender, color, religion, sexual orientation, family status, marital status, pregnancy, gender identity, ethnic/national origin, ancestry, age, disability, military status, genetic predisposition, citizenship status, status as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, Armed Forces service medal veteran, other covered veteran, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. We are dedicated to providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment, and where employees are treated with respect and dignity. We actively participate in E-Verify.