Staff Product Designer

About Us
Academia.edu is a venture-backed, for-profit, and profitable company based in San Francisco. We are recognized as the world’s leading platform for researchers and scholars to share work, discover research, and connect with academics globally. Our bold vision is to democratize and accelerate the world's research, enhancing the speed of scientific discovery and technological progress for the benefit of everyone. We imagine a world where accessing academic papers is effortless, keeping track of cutting-edge research is seamless and collaborating with researchers is easier than ever before. Our platform empowers millions of scholars worldwide to push the boundaries of human understanding. We believe in the power of knowledge to change lives and the world, and our commitment to this mission drives everything we do.
Join us as we continue to redefine what's possible in the world of research. Discover careers that challenge, inspire and propel you toward a future where your ideas can truly change the world. At Academia.edu, we're not just shaping the future of research-we're shaping the future of possibilities.
Our design team is small, entrepreneurial, and ambitious. We go beyond design to shape product strategy and drive growth. In this new age of AI, the lines between Product, Design, Data, and Engineering are increasingly fluid, and we embrace that. Designers at Academia are builders and strategists as much as craft experts. You’ll have the opportunity to expand your skillset far beyond design, collaborating deeply across disciplines to create intelligent, data-driven experiences that move research forward.
About the Role
As a Staff Product Designer at Academia, you’ll play a foundational role in shaping and scaling key product experiences from concept to launch. You’ll partner closely with product, engineers, analysts, and cross-functional leaders to design tools that empower researchers and enhance how knowledge is created, shared, and discovered.
You’ll own design strategy and execution end to end, driving clarity in ambiguity, prototyping rapidly, and using both data and empathy to inform decisions. You’ll think like a founder, balancing user needs, business goals, and technical constraints to shape products that make a real impact on global research. If you’re a designer who thrives in ambiguity, moves fast, and obsesses over real-world impact, we’d love to talk. Come help us reimagine how research is funded, and shape the future of Academia.
Key Responsibilities
1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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

Learn more on our Careers Page!
Academia is a proud equal-opportunity employer and we are committed to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
Compensation: $185K - $225K