Principal Product Designer — AI-Driven Education Platform

Lever, Inc.; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity

Healthcare for you and dependents

Parental leave

15 PTO days per year and holidays

Winter break and 12+ company holidays

Job summary

Outsmart is hiring a Principal Product Designer to shape a new college experience. You’ll lead design for major product areas, partner with Product and Engineering from exploration to launch, and mentor other designers.

This hands-on leadership role emphasizes shipping high-quality experiences and evolving the design system in a fast-growing startup. Ideal candidates bring 8+ years in product design, a strong portfolio, and a track record of shipping consumer-facing products.

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end design for major areas of the Outsmart student experience.
• Turn ambiguous product problems into clear strategies, flows, prototypes, and polished experiences.
• Partner 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.

Skills

Product design

Design leadership

AI tools

Prototyping

Cross-functional collaboration

Mentoring designers

Communication

Strategy

Tools

Figma

Job description

Outsmart is hiring a Principal Product Designer to shape a new college experience. You’ll lead design for major product areas, partner with Product and Engineering from exploration to launch, and mentor other designers.

This hands-on leadership role emphasizes shipping high-quality experiences and evolving the design system in a fast-growing startup. Ideal candidates bring 8+ years in product design, a strong portfolio, and a track record of shipping consumer-facing products.