Design Lead

Key Responsibilities
Steward the Design System
Maintain and evolve the Summit K12 design system — components, patterns, typography, color, accessibility standards, and interaction behaviors
Keep the system documented, versioned, and genuinely used, so teams move faster with it than without it
Partner with Engineering to ensure components are technically feasible and consistently implemented
Drive adoption — you and your fellow Design Leads share accountability for the system actually being used across teams, reducing UX fragmentation through enablement and reusable patterns rather than policing
Decide, jointly with your fellow Design Leads, what enters the system and when projects in your area can deviate from it, escalating consequential additions, cross-product deviations, and any calls the leads can't align on.

Consult with Product
Act as a design consultant and force multiplier to Product Managers — in a world where a PM can spin up an AI prototype in an afternoon, you're the one who makes it shippable: coherent, accessible, and on-system
Engage early in discovery to shape solutions, not just review them at the end
Make the case for design through outcomes — demonstrate how strong UX reduces rework, support burden, and churn
Be the Design Lead your teams trust for day-to-day design calls

Design, Hands-On
Spend real time in Figma — this is a shipping role, not a pure oversight role
Translate platform experience strategy into concrete, consistent navigation, workflows, and interaction patterns across all user types
Leverage AI tools (e.g., Claude, v0, Figma AI) to accelerate design and development workflows
Integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles into the design system so interaction patterns work for the full range of learner abilities

Validate Lean
Use lightweight validation — heuristic reviews, quick user feedback loops, analytics, and support signals — in place of heavyweight research studies
Know when a decision needs evidence and when experienced judgment is enough
Advocate for accessibility, clarity, and simplicity in every experience

Set The Standard
Set clear expectations for quality, ownership, and accountability
Run lean design workflows in Figma and Jira that support fast iteration and predictable delivery
Foster a culture of user empathy, experimentation, and low-ego collaboration
Lead, mentor and develop the designers you work with

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Required
6+ years in product/UX design, including owning a design system
Experience leading or mentoring designers while staying hands-on
Fluency in Figma and comfort managing design work in Jira
Active use of AI tools in your design workflow, and enthusiasm for operating as an AI-leveraged, lean design function
Strong grounding in user-centered design, interaction design, and Universal Design for Learning
Experience with WCAG accessibility standards, including interpreting ACRs and driving remediation
A track record of building design cohesion through cross-functional partnership — influence earned, not imposed
Comfort operating in a fast-moving environment: shipping without waiting for perfect data, with limited resources and tight timelines

Preferred
EdTech experience, or deep accessibility/UDL work that translates quickly to K-12 contexts
Experience designing SaaS or platform-based products
Understanding of the workflows and daily realities of teachers, school administrators, and district leaders
Experience collaborating with distributed or global teams across time zones
Experience in lean or scaling organizations

How We'll Know It's Working
A single, consistently applied design system across all products
Product Managers seek out design partnership because it makes their features better and faster to ship
Reduced UX inconsistency and rework during development
Faster delivery through reusable patterns and clear standards
Positive usability feedback from teachers, students, and administrators