Lead Product Designer

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) is hiring a Lead Product Designer to lead visual design and development for print and digital learning experiences, especially teacher guides and student editions. The role establishes program visual identities, builds scalable design systems and templates, and collaborates with editorial, instructional, production, and other teams to deliver engaging, usable educational materials.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the visual design and page development of Teacher Guides, Student Editions, workbooks, and other print instructional materials from concept through final production
• Translate complex instructional content into clear, engaging, and highly usable page layouts for teachers and students
• Apply expert knowledge of typography, grid systems, visual hierarchy, color, imagery, and information design to create cohesive and modern educational experiences
• Design print components that balance instructional clarity, visual engagement, accessibility, age appropriateness, and efficient classroom use
• Partner with editorial and instructional teams to understand content structure and recommend design approaches that improve comprehension, navigation, and engagement
• Ensure visual consistency and coherence across print components while accounting for the distinct needs of teacher-facing and student-facing materials
• Establish and evolve the visual identity of assigned programs in alignment with HMH brand standards, market expectations, and the unique instructional purpose of each solution
• Bring forward innovative design approaches that modernize print experiences and differentiate HMH programs in the market
• Use customer research, educator feedback, usability findings, and market insights to identify design opportunities and refine solutions
• Develop and present multiple design directions, clearly articulating the rationale behind visual and structural decisions
• Set a high bar for design quality and provide clear design guidance, reviews, and feedback to other designers, vendors, and cross-functional partners
• Stay current on trends and emerging practices in educational publishing, editorial design, visual communication, and print production
• Create scalable print design systems, templates, style guides, master pages, and component libraries that support consistency and efficient development
• Establish clear specifications and production standards that enable seamless handoff to production designers, vendors, and manufacturing partners
• Anticipate production needs and design materials that can be efficiently updated, versioned, and extended across grades, editions, and product configurations
• Partner with production, editorial, and operations teams to resolve design and workflow challenges before they affect quality, schedule, or budget
• Review layouts, proofs, and final files to ensure visual quality, accuracy, consistency, and adherence to established design standards
• Ensure projects are organized and documented so that internal teams and external partners can execute reliably and efficiently
• Identify opportunities to improve design and production workflows, including the responsible use of AI and automation tools
• Partner with internal designers and external vendors to ensure design execution aligns with program vision, schedule, and quality standards
• Work closely with the Senior Director of Design to establish program vision, priorities, and quality standards
• Collaborate with Learning Experience Design, Editorial, Product Management, Production, Research, and other cross-functional teams throughout the product-development process
• Translate instructional, editorial, customer, and business requirements into strong visual design solutions
• Facilitate design reviews, incorporate feedback thoughtfully, and build alignment among senior stakeholders
• Advocate for the needs of teachers and students while balancing instructional goals, production constraints, schedules, and budgets
• Serve as a trusted design partner who can navigate ambiguity, make informed decisions, and move complex projects forward
• Work independently while maintaining close collaboration with the Senior Director of Design and cross-functional partners
• Attend and actively contribute to project meetings, design reviews, customer-insight discussions, and product-planning sessions
• Develop a deep understanding of each program’s instructional model, users, market position, and brand identity
• Manage design priorities and deliverables across multiple projects while meeting quality, schedule, and production requirements

Requirements:

• applicants must provide a portfolio link within their resume that demonstrates relevant work and experience
• Bachelor's degree in graphic design, communication design, visual design, publication design, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience
• At least 7 years of experience in graphic design, editorial design, educational publishing, or a related field
• Portfolio demonstrating exceptional print and editorial design, including complex, multi-page publications
• Demonstrated experience designing Teacher Guides, Student Editions, textbooks, workbooks, or comparable educational or professional publications
• Advanced expertise in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and related design and production tools
• Deep knowledge of typography, page composition, grid systems, information hierarchy, image selection, and visual storytelling
• Experience developing scalable design systems, templates, master pages, style guides, and production specifications for complex print programs
• Strong understanding of print production, prepress requirements, file preparation, proofing, and vendor handoff
• Experience leading design work independently and providing creative direction or guidance to other designers
• Demonstrated ability to use customer insights, research, and feedback to improve design solutions
• Strong presentation, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills
• Ability to manage multiple complex workstreams while maintaining attention to detail and design quality
• Experience designing K–12 curriculum or intervention products for teachers and students
• Experience evolving the visual identity of established product lines or creating distinct identities across a portfolio of programs
• Experience working with large-scale publishing workflows, content-management systems, or automated page-production processes
• Knowledge of accessibility and inclusive-design practices for print instructional materials
• Experience directing illustrators, photographers, agencies, freelancers, or external production vendors
• Familiarity with digital product design and the ability to support visual coherence between print and digital experiences