Principal Product Designer

Outsmart; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary + equity

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Parental leave

15 PTO days, winter break, 12+ company

Remote work days

Lunch in-office

Working with talented people

Job summary

Outsmart is seeking a Senior Product Designer to shape a new college experience from the ground up. You will lead design for major areas, collaborating with Product, Engineering, and leadership to translate complex problems into simple, delightful student experiences.

You will mentor designers, own end-to-end design, and help evolve our design system as Outsmart scales. This is a high-impact, fast-moving role in a mission-driven startup.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of product design experience with consumer-facing products.
• Experience designing and leading design teams.
• Portfolio showing product thinking, interaction design, and visual craft.
• Experience owning complex products from strategy through launch.
• Strong prototyping skills and hands-on tooling (Figma preferred).
• Ability to collaborate with Product and Engineering across disciplines.
• Experience using AI tools to accelerate design and exploration.
• High standards for craft and the ability to ship and iterate.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end design for major areas of the Outsmart student experience.
• Turn ambiguous problems into clear strategies, flows, prototypes, and polished experiences.
• Mentor and manage designers, raising the overall quality of work.
• Lead critiques and foster constructive feedback culture.
• Help establish design processes for speed without sacrificing quality.
• Use research, data, experimentation, and rapid prototyping to inform decisions.
• Evolve Outsmart's design system and product language.
• Grow the design team and shape its culture as the company scales.

Skills

Product design

Leadership

Figma

Prototyping

AI tools

Cross-functional collaboration

Mentoring designers

Hands-on execution

Tools

Figma

Job description

Outsmart is a mission-driven, early-stage startup reimagining higher education for the age of AI by creating an entirely new collegiate experience that expands access and opportunity. Backed by $38M from top venture firms including Khosla Ventures, Forerunner, DST Global Partners, and Lightspeed, the company is led by former Duolingo executives and a founding team that also includes Emmy Award winners. With a strong culture centered around high-impact, detail-oriented team members, Outsmart is already seeing significant traction, generating 1–5 million weekly organic views on social media.

What You’ll Be Doing

As a Senior Product Designer at Outsmart, you’ll help shape an entirely new kind of college experience from the ground up. You’ll lead design for major areas of the product, working closely with Product, Engineering, and leadership to turn complex problems into simple, intuitive, and delightful experiences for students.

Who You Are

• Experienced product designer and design leader who has shipped exceptional consumer products and managed other designers
• Combines strong product thinking with excellent visual and interaction design skills
• Comfortable moving between big-picture product strategy and the smallest details of an interaction
• Gives clear, constructive feedback, develops designers, and creates an environment where great work can happen
• Comfortable with ambiguity, moves quickly, and brings structure to problems without adding unnecessary process
• Genuinely curious about AI, actively using new tools to prototype, explore, and rethink how products and design teams can work

What You’ll Own

• Lead end-to-end design for major areas of the Outsmart student experience
• Turn ambiguous product problems into clear strategies, flows, prototypes, and polished experiencesPartner closely with Product and Engineering from early exploration through launch and iteration
• Mentor and manage designers, helping them grow while raising the quality of their work
• Lead critiques and create a culture of thoughtful, direct, and productive feedback
• Help establish design processes that allow a small team to move quickly and maintain a high quality bar
• Use research, data, experimentation, and rapid prototyping to inform product decisions
• Evolve Outsmart’s design system and overall product language
• Help grow the design team and shape its culture as the company scales

What Helps You Succeed

• 8+ years of product design experience, with significant experience designing consumer-facing digital products
• Previous experience managing and developing product designers
• A portfolio demonstrating exceptional product thinking, interaction design, and visual craft
• Experience owning complex products or major product areas from strategy through launch
• A strong track record of shipping products used by real customers at meaningful scale
• Excellent Figma and prototyping skills, with a willingness to stay deeply hands-on
• Strong collaboration with Product and Engineering, including comfort navigating technical and business constraints
• Experience using AI tools to accelerate design, prototyping, and exploration
• Strong communication skills and the ability to influence product direction across disciplines
• High standards for craft paired with the judgment to know when to ship and iterate
• A low-ego approach to leadership, collaboration, critique, and feedback
• Bonus: experience with consumer education, social, gaming, or other highly engaging products

Salary Range

$175,000–$225,000.

Perks

• Competitive salary, equity, and benefits
• Healthcare for you and your dependents (medical, dental, and vision)
• Parental leave for any full-time employee (birthing, non-birthing, and adoptive parents)
• 15 PTO days per year, a winter break, and 12+ paid company holidays per year
• Remote work days
• Lunch provided in-office daily
• Working with super talented people who want to make a difference in the world

Outsmart is committed to building an equitable and inclusive workplace and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants for employment regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.