Product Designer

About Primer

Primer is a growing network of K–8 schools restoring the timeless foundations of American education. Inspired by the original teaching primers that shaped a nation of readers, thinkers, and builders, our schools begin with what has always worked, and build for what lies ahead. Close-knit learning environments. Skilled educators. A culture that takes kids seriously as learners and leaders.

Primers shaped the first 200 years of American children. Primer will ready them for the next.

About the role

You'll own design end to end for the products and spaces that make Primer's schools work — the mobile app families live in, the tools teachers use to plan and connect, the daily experience that guides a student's learning, and the physical campuses themselves, down to the signage and interiors. You'll take projects from the earliest research to the final pixel, and you'll set the standard for craft as our design team grows.

Most edtech companies design software and stop there. We run real schools — we source the real estate, hire the teachers, and build the rooms where learning happens. That means design isn't confined to a screen. The same person who sweats the onboarding flow also has a point of view on how a hallway should feel. The work is harder because of it, and it matters more.

You'll work closely with the product, engineering, and executive teams on problems that reach well past the app. You'll run weekly design reviews with non-designers, clarify fuzzy goals, refine copy and tone, and make the case for craft to people who don't speak in design terms. The teachers and families you're designing for are the heroes of this story; your job is to make their lives feel effortless.

You’ll be joining as the third full-time designer on the team.

Responsibilities

• Lead design projects from initial research through high-fidelity execution and launch.

• Move fluidly between visual design, interaction design, and systems thinking depending on what the problem needs.

• Run user research with students, families, and teachers, and turn what you learn into interfaces, systems, and environments.

• Refine copy, tone, and visual detail so every product feels cohesive and intentional.

• Contribute to and help shape the design system.

• Design beyond the screen when the work calls for it — campus signage, interior spaces, and the physical details of how a school feels.

• Run weekly design reviews with non-designer stakeholders and make the case for craft in plain language.

• Help set Primer's design standards and raise the ceiling of the team as it grows.

What we're looking for

• 3+ years of product or UI/UX design experience.

• A portfolio that shows exceptional polish — strong visual taste, real attention to detail, and a modern, cohesive aesthetic.

• A track record of owning projects end to end, from concept through high-fidelity execution.

• A strong sense of language and consistency — you refine copy and tone as naturally as you refine a layout.

• Comfort balancing insight with intuition. You can commit to a direction without waiting for formal research to hand you the answer.

• High EQ. You work well with people who aren't designers, take feedback in a room full of them, and can read what students, families, and teachers actually need.

• Genuine excitement about Primer's mission, and about work that lives partly outside the app.

• Eagerness to be on-site in San Francisco.

• A bonus, not a requirement: an unusual background — real estate, interior design, data visualization, compliance, or something else entirely. Different perspectives make the work better.

Why this role may not be a fit

• You want to stay remote. This role is on-site in our San Francisco office. The work depends on being in the room with product, engineering, and the executive team.

• You need formal research to validate a direction before you'll commit. We value research, but this role rewards good instincts and decisive calls.

• You do your best work alone and quietly. You'll be defending craft in weekly reviews to people who don't speak design, and that's a feature of the role.

Primer is a mission-first company. We believe our mission is the highest-leverage way we can create positive change. In service of that, we keep work centered on mission execution and avoid social or political activism at work that’s unrelated to the mission. If that energizes you, we’d love to see you apply.