Principal UX Designer
This role aligns with industry-level titles such as "Lead Visual Designer" or "Staff Visual Designer".
Reports to:
Group Visual Design Manager, Design Systems About Pearson Pearson is an innovative ed tech company dedicated to forming direct connections with millions of lifelong learners. With over 18,000 employees operating in 70 countries, we provide comprehensive content, assessment, and digital services to learners, educational institutions, employers, governments, and other partners worldwide. Our mission is to equip learners with the skills necessary to expand their opportunities, believing that where learning thrives, individuals flourish. The Role Pearson is reinventing education for the AI era, and we are in search of a remarkable visual design leader to drive this transformation. As a Principal Visual Designer on the Design Systems team, you will be the senior design voice, laying the visual groundwork for Pearson's unified design system across our Higher Education product portfolio. This is a high-impact position where your design choices will influence numerous product teams and enhance the experiences of millions of learners and educators. In this role, you will oversee the complete visual design quality of our design system—from setting foundational design tokens and component specifications to developing a cohesive visual language that keeps our products modern and competitive in an AI-driven educational landscape. Your work will involve strategic and tactical planning: directing the creative approach for the evolution of our design system while also crafting production-ready components and templates for product teams to utilize confidently. As a design leader, you will conduct design critiques, mentor fellow designers, and build influential relationships with product management and engineering teams through effective communication. Your goal is to define excellence and create the design infrastructure that supports scalability. If you are a seasoned designer with exceptional visual skills, systems thinking, collaborative leadership, and the ability to navigate intricate organizational dynamics, this role represents the creative challenge and strategic influence you seek. What You Will Own You will take charge of the visual design quality of our design system—from creating foundational design tokens and component specifications to curating a visual language that ensures our products are cohesive and competitive. You will engage in both strategic and hands-on work while leading the design team. Define and enhance the visual design language for our unified design system, establishing standards for typography, color, iconography, spacing, layout, and motion that integrate seamlessly across web and mobile platforms.
Design comprehensive, production-ready component libraries in Figma—from foundational elements to intricate components—ensuring every component is accessible, adaptable, and well-documented for implementation.
Lead visual design for significant product redesigns, producing high-fidelity reference screens and templates for student and instructor experiences in our innovative agentic learning platform.
Collaborate closely with Creative Technologists to translate your visual designs into code (e.g., React components in Storybook), conducting visual QA and creating detailed motion specifications, including timing, easing, and state transition behaviors.
Facilitate design critiques for the team, mentor other designers, and cultivate positive relationships with product management, engineering leadership, and key stakeholders across Pearson, advocating for design quality through persuasive communication and sound reasoning.
Envision next-generation interaction patterns and contexts like voice user interfaces and multi-modal interactions (AR/VR) that will propel our product vision into the future.
About You You are a senior designer who merges outstanding visual craftsmanship with systems thinking, collaborative leadership, and the ability to maneuver through complex organizational dynamics. You influence through your work rather than through authority, earning trust by demonstrating design value and engaging in collaborative problem-solving efforts. 7-10 years of visual design experience with a portfolio showcasing exceptional craftsmanship in UI design, component-based design systems, and comprehensive product experiences across web and mobile platforms.
Expert-level proficiency in Figma, including advanced component architecture, library management, and design token systems. You are skilled at organizing Figma files for collaborative use and long-term sustainability.
Strong motion design skills for product interfaces, with proficiency in After Effects, Framer, Principle, or similar tools to articulate animation, timing, easing curves, and interaction behaviors.
Demonstrated ability to design, build, or contribute to large-scale design systems, understanding the complete lifecycle and recognizing when to enforce consistency versus allow flexibility to balance design quality with engineering feasibility.
High level of ownership and effective communication ability across varied audiences, from detailed critique sessions with designers to strategic discussions with executives, with sound judgment about when to maintain system consistency versus advocate for exceptions.
What You Will Receive This moment at Pearson is pivotal. You will have ample latitude to define what visual excellence means for our products. This is not a position where you follow someone else's vision; you will be the senior design voice, shaping creative direction, proposing innovative approaches, and influencing the evolution of design system thinking within our organization. Strategic Design Impact:
Your contributions will set the visual and interaction standards for numerous products and significantly affect the daily experiences of millions as we establish the design infrastructure that strengthens our competitive stance in an AI-driven educational landscape.
Career-Defining Growth:
Enhance your expertise in design systems leadership at an enterprise scale, tackling challenges that push your craft, strategic thinking, and leadership capabilities.
Creative Ownership:
Shape Pearson's visual evolution and define creative direction; your designs will serve as the reference standard for other teams, ensuring your work has genuine strategic impact.
Collaborative Environment:
Join a talented group of Creative Technologists, UX Designers, and Visual Designers who share your dedication to craft, with frequent opportunities for design critique, knowledge sharing, and collaborative problem-solving with product teams eager for design leadership.
Ready to Make an Impact? If you are a senior visual designer who excels in craft, thinks systematically, and aims to shape the future of educational technology, we want to hear from you. Apply now and help us build the design foundation for the next generation of learning. Compensation at Pearson is influenced by a variety of factors, including but not limited to skill set, experience level, and specific location. In accordance with relevant state laws, the pay range for this position is as follows: The minimum full-time salary range is between $130,000 - $155,000. This position is eligible for participation in an annual incentive program, with information on benefits provided. Applications will be accepted until February 19th. This application window may be extended depending on business needs. Who We Are: At Pearson, our mission is clear: to help individuals realize their envisioned lives through learning. Every learning opportunity is a potential breakthrough. We are the world's lifelong learning company. For us, learning is not just our activity; it defines our essence. To learn more: We are Pearson. Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are founded on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We invite applications from qualified candidates without consideration of race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you are an individual with a disability and have difficulty using or accessing our career site due to your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by contacting us via email. Job:
UX Design Job Family:
PRODUCT Organization:
Direct to Consumer Schedule:
FULL_TIME Workplace Type:
Remote Req ID:
22578
Group Visual Design Manager, Design Systems About Pearson Pearson is an innovative ed tech company dedicated to forming direct connections with millions of lifelong learners. With over 18,000 employees operating in 70 countries, we provide comprehensive content, assessment, and digital services to learners, educational institutions, employers, governments, and other partners worldwide. Our mission is to equip learners with the skills necessary to expand their opportunities, believing that where learning thrives, individuals flourish. The Role Pearson is reinventing education for the AI era, and we are in search of a remarkable visual design leader to drive this transformation. As a Principal Visual Designer on the Design Systems team, you will be the senior design voice, laying the visual groundwork for Pearson's unified design system across our Higher Education product portfolio. This is a high-impact position where your design choices will influence numerous product teams and enhance the experiences of millions of learners and educators. In this role, you will oversee the complete visual design quality of our design system—from setting foundational design tokens and component specifications to developing a cohesive visual language that keeps our products modern and competitive in an AI-driven educational landscape. Your work will involve strategic and tactical planning: directing the creative approach for the evolution of our design system while also crafting production-ready components and templates for product teams to utilize confidently. As a design leader, you will conduct design critiques, mentor fellow designers, and build influential relationships with product management and engineering teams through effective communication. Your goal is to define excellence and create the design infrastructure that supports scalability. If you are a seasoned designer with exceptional visual skills, systems thinking, collaborative leadership, and the ability to navigate intricate organizational dynamics, this role represents the creative challenge and strategic influence you seek. What You Will Own You will take charge of the visual design quality of our design system—from creating foundational design tokens and component specifications to curating a visual language that ensures our products are cohesive and competitive. You will engage in both strategic and hands-on work while leading the design team. Define and enhance the visual design language for our unified design system, establishing standards for typography, color, iconography, spacing, layout, and motion that integrate seamlessly across web and mobile platforms.
Design comprehensive, production-ready component libraries in Figma—from foundational elements to intricate components—ensuring every component is accessible, adaptable, and well-documented for implementation.
Lead visual design for significant product redesigns, producing high-fidelity reference screens and templates for student and instructor experiences in our innovative agentic learning platform.
Collaborate closely with Creative Technologists to translate your visual designs into code (e.g., React components in Storybook), conducting visual QA and creating detailed motion specifications, including timing, easing, and state transition behaviors.
Facilitate design critiques for the team, mentor other designers, and cultivate positive relationships with product management, engineering leadership, and key stakeholders across Pearson, advocating for design quality through persuasive communication and sound reasoning.
Envision next-generation interaction patterns and contexts like voice user interfaces and multi-modal interactions (AR/VR) that will propel our product vision into the future.
About You You are a senior designer who merges outstanding visual craftsmanship with systems thinking, collaborative leadership, and the ability to maneuver through complex organizational dynamics. You influence through your work rather than through authority, earning trust by demonstrating design value and engaging in collaborative problem-solving efforts. 7-10 years of visual design experience with a portfolio showcasing exceptional craftsmanship in UI design, component-based design systems, and comprehensive product experiences across web and mobile platforms.
Expert-level proficiency in Figma, including advanced component architecture, library management, and design token systems. You are skilled at organizing Figma files for collaborative use and long-term sustainability.
Strong motion design skills for product interfaces, with proficiency in After Effects, Framer, Principle, or similar tools to articulate animation, timing, easing curves, and interaction behaviors.
Demonstrated ability to design, build, or contribute to large-scale design systems, understanding the complete lifecycle and recognizing when to enforce consistency versus allow flexibility to balance design quality with engineering feasibility.
High level of ownership and effective communication ability across varied audiences, from detailed critique sessions with designers to strategic discussions with executives, with sound judgment about when to maintain system consistency versus advocate for exceptions.
What You Will Receive This moment at Pearson is pivotal. You will have ample latitude to define what visual excellence means for our products. This is not a position where you follow someone else's vision; you will be the senior design voice, shaping creative direction, proposing innovative approaches, and influencing the evolution of design system thinking within our organization. Strategic Design Impact:
Your contributions will set the visual and interaction standards for numerous products and significantly affect the daily experiences of millions as we establish the design infrastructure that strengthens our competitive stance in an AI-driven educational landscape.
Career-Defining Growth:
Enhance your expertise in design systems leadership at an enterprise scale, tackling challenges that push your craft, strategic thinking, and leadership capabilities.
Creative Ownership:
Shape Pearson's visual evolution and define creative direction; your designs will serve as the reference standard for other teams, ensuring your work has genuine strategic impact.
Collaborative Environment:
Join a talented group of Creative Technologists, UX Designers, and Visual Designers who share your dedication to craft, with frequent opportunities for design critique, knowledge sharing, and collaborative problem-solving with product teams eager for design leadership.
Ready to Make an Impact? If you are a senior visual designer who excels in craft, thinks systematically, and aims to shape the future of educational technology, we want to hear from you. Apply now and help us build the design foundation for the next generation of learning. Compensation at Pearson is influenced by a variety of factors, including but not limited to skill set, experience level, and specific location. In accordance with relevant state laws, the pay range for this position is as follows: The minimum full-time salary range is between $130,000 - $155,000. This position is eligible for participation in an annual incentive program, with information on benefits provided. Applications will be accepted until February 19th. This application window may be extended depending on business needs. Who We Are: At Pearson, our mission is clear: to help individuals realize their envisioned lives through learning. Every learning opportunity is a potential breakthrough. We are the world's lifelong learning company. For us, learning is not just our activity; it defines our essence. To learn more: We are Pearson. Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are founded on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We invite applications from qualified candidates without consideration of race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you are an individual with a disability and have difficulty using or accessing our career site due to your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by contacting us via email. Job:
UX Design Job Family:
PRODUCT Organization:
Direct to Consumer Schedule:
FULL_TIME Workplace Type:
Remote Req ID:
22578