Product & Design Lead

Blackboard is a company focused on advancing teaching excellence through technology. They are seeking a Product & Design Lead to define the user experience and prototype interactions for a new AI-native product, while owning the full product vision from the user's perspective.

Responsibilities:

• Define the user experience, prototype interactions directly in code with AI tools, and work hand-in-hand with engineering to ship
• Own the product roadmap from v1 through v2 in close partnership with the technical and scientific leads
• Define success metrics for the user experience and build feedback loops that inform iteration
• Translate evidence-based principles into product decisions — not as a constraint, but as a competitive advantage
• Build and maintain a component library that enables the engineering team to move fast without breaking consistency
• Establish a design culture that is opinionated, user-first, and evidence-informed
• Create a proactive, daily user experience that surfaces the right information at the right moment — without cognitive overload
• Design interfaces that make AI-driven recommendations feel clear, trustworthy, and actionable — not robotic
• Develop progress and momentum mechanics grounded in learning science — habit formation, not dark patterns
• Create visual systems that communicate state and trajectory in ways users actually understand and act on

Requirements:

• You've shipped consumer-facing products that real users actually love — and you have a portfolio that proves it
• You can prototype directly in code using AI tools (Cursor, Claude Code, or equivalent) — Figma isn't the starting point for exploration
• Strong visual and interaction design craft — you can produce high-fidelity work yourself, not just direct others
• Product thinking that goes beyond UI — you understand retention, habit formation, and behavior change
• You've worked in deeply integrated cross-functional teams where design and engineering aren't separated by handoffs
• You use AI tools actively in your current workflow and can articulate how they've changed how you work
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Experience designing AI-powered or data-driven consumer products
• Background in domains where behavior change and motivation design matter (EdTech, health tech, fitness tech)
• Familiarity with learning science principles — spaced repetition, metacognition, cognitive load
• Prior experience as a founding or solo designer/PM at an early-stage company