Product Designer

About Primer

Primer is expanding a network of K–8 schools built to bring back the strongest parts of traditional American education. The school model draws inspiration from the original primers that helped shape generations of readers, thinkers, and makers. Primer focuses on close-knit learning settings, strong educators, and a culture that treats children as capable learners and leaders.

Primer’s first 200 years shaped children in America; Primer aims to prepare them for what comes next.

About the Role

As Product Designer, you will own design from start to finish across the products and spaces that keep Primer’s schools running. That includes the family-facing mobile app, tools for teachers to plan and stay connected, the everyday student experience, and the physical campus environment, including signage and interiors. You’ll move projects from early research all the way to final execution, while helping establish the quality bar as the design team expands.

This role goes beyond typical edtech product design. Primer operates real schools, which means the work extends past screens into real environments. The same designer who improves onboarding also helps shape how a hallway feels. That makes the work more demanding, but also more meaningful.

You’ll partner closely with product, engineering, and executive leadership on challenges that stretch beyond the app. You’ll lead weekly design critiques with non-designers, sharpen copy and voice, and advocate for strong craft in terms that are clear to people outside design. Your work will be centered on making life easier for teachers and families.

You will join as the third full-time designer on the team.

Responsibilities

• Own design initiatives from early discovery and research through polished delivery and launch.
• Shift comfortably between visual design, interaction design, and systems thinking based on the needs of each problem.
• Conduct research with students, families, and teachers, then translate those insights into interfaces, systems, and physical environments.
• Improve microcopy, tone, and visual details so each product feels unified and intentional.
• Help build, refine, and extend the design system.
• Contribute to design work beyond digital products when needed, such as campus signage, interior elements, and other physical touchpoints.
• Facilitate weekly design reviews with cross-functional stakeholders and explain design decisions in accessible language.
• Raise the standard of design craft and help define what great looks like as the team grows.

Requirements

• At least 3 years of experience in product design or UI/UX design.
• A portfolio that demonstrates strong polish, refined taste, careful attention to detail, and a cohesive modern style.
• Proven experience leading projects from concept through high-fidelity execution.
• Strong sensitivity to language and consistency, including an ability to refine copy and tone alongside layout work.
• Comfort blending user insight with judgment, including the ability to make confident decisions without waiting for perfect research.
• Strong interpersonal skills and high emotional intelligence, especially when collaborating with non-designers and receiving feedback in group settings.
• Clear interest in Primer’s mission and enthusiasm for work that extends beyond the app.
• Willingness to work on-site in San Francisco.

Bonus Background

Experience from an unconventional field such as real estate, interior design, data visualization, compliance, or another nontraditional background is considered an added advantage, though it is not required.

Why This Role May Not Be a Fit

• This role is not suitable for someone who wants to work remotely, since it requires being on-site in San Francisco with product, engineering, and executive teams.
• If you prefer to wait for formal research before making a call, this role may feel uncomfortable because it values strong instincts and decisive judgment.
• If you do your best work in complete solitude, this may not be the right fit, as the role includes active participation in weekly critiques and defending craft to non-design audiences.

Mission and Working Style

Primer is a mission-led company. The team believes the most effective way to create positive change is by focusing on mission execution. As part of that approach, work is kept centered on the mission and avoids social or political activism at work when it is unrelated to the mission. Candidates who are energized by that approach are encouraged to apply.

Work Location

This position is based in San Francisco, CA and is on-site.