Hybrid Staff Product Designer

at Academia.edu

• Job title: Staff Product Designer
• Job type: Contract
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: $185,000 - $225,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, San Francisco, United States

About the role

• Staff Product Designer shaping and scaling key product experiences at Academia.edu for researchers. Collaborating across disciplines to create intelligent, data-driven experiences that advance global research.

Responsibilities

• Design leadership & strategy
• Lead the design vision and strategy for your product area, shaping its long-term direction and immediate roadmap.
• Act as a strategic partner, helping identify high-leverage opportunities that drive both user value and company growth.
• Proactively identify, articulate, and advocate for new, high-impact product opportunities, driving them onto the roadmap.
• Champion a startup mindset within the design org: urgency, experimentation, and 80/20 judgment.
• Balance speed with impact: know when something needs to be perfect and when “good enough” keeps us moving.
• Co-own key metrics with Product General Managers, focusing on measurable outcomes like conversion, activation, engagement, and retention.
• Design execution
• Design end-to-end experiences from concept to polished UI while moving fluidly between rapid iteration and deep craft.
• Own the full design funnel: from early idea and in-product UX to marketing surfaces like landing pages, signup flows, and conversion funnels.
• Prototype quickly and test hypotheses through A/B experiments and user feedback.
• Deliver build-ready designs with strong interaction models and scalable systems.
• Maintain a high bar for usability and quality while moving fast under startup constraints.
• Leverage new technologies (AI, data insights, automation) to explore what’s newly possible for researchers and the platform.
• Collaboration
• Partner directly with product, engineers, and analysts to frame problems, define hypotheses, and prioritize solutions.
• Run live design sessions: jump into Figma with product and engineers to rough out ideas in minutes, not days.
• Lead design critiques and mentor other designers, raising the craft and clarity of work across the org.
• Navigate ambiguity and disagreement with calm, strategic communication—turn tension into alignment.
• Work closely with engineers throughout build and QA to ensure that shipped work matches the design intent.
• Collaborate with Executive stakeholders to translate their vision into actionable strategy, offering constructive feedback and leveraging deep experience to define the most viable path forward.

Requirements

• 8+ years of product design experience, with a track record of shipping large, complex products that drive measurable results.
• Proven ability to move from messy, ambiguous problem spaces to crisp, validated design outcomes.
• Deep business fluency—you understand how your design decisions influence engagement, retention, and revenue.
• Experience designing and running experiments (A/B tests, funnel optimizations, conversion experiments).
• Ability to self-direct with minimal oversight; you don’t wait for permission to start, and you unblock yourself fast.
• Skilled at balancing speed and quality, knowing when to polish and when to learn.
• A portfolio that demonstrates strategic impact, not just beautiful design.
• Bonus: experience with products serving academics, researchers, or other professional communities.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Healthcare Coverage: 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your dependents
• Generous Time Off: 21 paid vacation days, 12 paid company holidays, and unlimited sick days; paid parental leave and other leaves for life’s needs; 6-week paid sabbatical every 4 years
• Flexible Work Arrangements: Flexible daily schedules within a hybrid work environment, annual remote-office budget, and monthly WFH internet stipend
• Competitive Compensation: Competitive salary, 401k plan, and stock options
• Mission-Driven Company: Join a mission-driven company to accelerate and democratize the world’s research