Partner, Product and UX Lead

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Partner, Product and UX Lead

Company: Transcend

Location: Flexible (Continental United States)

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Product & Experience Design / Operations

Date Posted: May 21, 2026

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (5-10 years)

Remote Status: Fully Remote (United States)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the strategic design and end-to-end product lifecycle for technology-enabled tools supporting innovative school redesign, driving significant impact in K-12 education.

• Build and establish Transcend's experience design (UX) practice, initially partnering with contractors and eventually leading a multidisciplinary team.

• Translate complex real-world educational processes and user needs into intuitive, coherent, and delightful digital experiences.

• Drive product discovery, iteration, and launch by collaborating closely with users, program leadership, engineering contractors, and cross-functional stakeholders.

• Leverage AI and emerging technologies to enhance the effectiveness, accessibility, and user experience of Transcend's suite of tools.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title includes "Partner," this role is framed as an inaugural, hands-on individual contributor leading product and UX, with a future path to team leadership. The "Partner" aspect likely refers to collaborating closely with internal and external stakeholders rather than a formal partnership equity structure. The role is crucial for scaling Transcend's impact through technology.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Product Strategy & Design Leadership: Identify opportunities and lead the product design and strategy for core technology-enabled tools, in partnership with the Chief Program Officer and Tech & Information Lead.

• UX Practice Development: Help build and mature Transcend's experience design/UX practice, including defining standards, processes, and potentially managing UX/UI contractors and future team members.

• User-Centric Discovery & Research: Drive discovery phases through user research, field studies, and synthesis to identify and deeply understand user needs, pain points, and workflows within the K-12 education context.

• Digital Experience Translation: Translate complex, real-world school design processes, services, and workflows into intuitive, elegant, and user-friendly digital tools and platforms.

• End-to-End Product Management: Manage key products and tools from early concept and prototyping through iterative development, testing, and successful launch, ensuring alignment with strategic goals.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with engineering contractors, program team leadership, and other stakeholders to ensure seamless product development and integration.

• AI & Technology Experimentation: Actively explore and experiment with emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools, to enhance product effectiveness, accessibility, and user experience.

• User Journey & Interaction Design: Define the strategic approach to product challenges while meticulously crafting every interaction detail, balancing big-picture systems thinking with thoughtful execution.

• Information Architecture & UI Craft: Develop strong visual design craft and information architecture skills, utilizing layout, labeling, hierarchy, workflow, and accessibility principles to create polished, engaging interfaces.

• Requirement Definition & Documentation: Collaborate with Product & Engineering teams to identify, capture, and document requirements directly from customers and stakeholders.

• Iterative Design & Feedback Integration: Incorporate user feedback rapidly into refined UX designs, ensuring continuous improvement aligned with the product strategy and roadmap.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a blend of strategic thinking, hands-on design execution, and product management. The role requires an individual comfortable with ambiguity and taking ownership from ideation to delivery, particularly in translating complex educational concepts into digital solutions. The "inaugural" nature of the role means significant opportunity to shape processes and standards.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Education Technology, or a related field is highly beneficial.

Experience: Minimum of 5-10 years of progressive experience in product design, UX/UI design, and product management, with a strong focus on digital products and user-centered methodologies.

Required Skills:

• Product Strategy & Design: Proven ability to define and lead product strategy and design for digital tools, from concept to launch.

• UX/UI Design Expertise: Deep understanding of UX principles, UI design craft, interaction design, and visual design; ability to create intuitive and engaging interfaces.

• User Research & Synthesis: Experience conducting user research, field studies, and synthesizing insights into actionable design direction.

• Information Architecture & Wireframing: Strong skills in information architecture, developing wireframes, user flows, and interaction models.

• Product Management Fundamentals: Experience in product management, including defining requirements, managing roadmaps, and overseeing product lifecycles.

• Prototyping & Design Tools: Fluency with modern design and collaboration tools such as Figma, Miro, and prototyping software.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to thrive in cross-functional settings, working effectively with engineers, product leaders, and stakeholders.

• Problem-Solving & Ambiguity Navigation: Ability to take loosely defined needs and ambiguous problems, translating them into concrete, thoughtful, and testable solutions.

• Communication & Storytelling: Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain design rationale clearly and present compelling narratives.

• AI Integration: Experience incorporating AI into workflows to support strong execution and enhance product development.

Preferred Skills:

• K-12 Education Context: Direct experience working within the K-12 education sector (teacher, school leader, or product development for education).

• Design Thinking Facilitation: Experience facilitating design thinking workshops or similar collaborative design processes.

• Data Visualization & Analytics Tools: Familiarity with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau) or experience designing interfaces for data-driven insights.

• Accessibility Standards: Knowledge of web accessibility standards (WCAG) and best practices.

• Agile/Scrum Methodologies: Experience working within Agile or Scrum development frameworks.

• Experience Design Practice Building: Prior experience in establishing or scaling UX/design practices within an organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The required experience level suggests a need for significant autonomy and leadership in shaping product direction and design processes. The emphasis on K-12 context is a strong differentiator. AI integration is highlighted as a key skill, indicating a forward-thinking approach to technology adoption.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Product Case Studies: Showcase 2-3 comprehensive case studies detailing your involvement in the complete product lifecycle, from initial problem identification and user research through design, prototyping, iteration, and launch.

• Problem-Solving & Translation: Demonstrate how you translated complex real-world educational processes or user needs into intuitive and elegant digital solutions.

• UX/UI Design Examples: Include examples of user interfaces, wireframes, user flows, and interaction models that highlight your design craft, information architecture skills, and attention to detail.

• User Research & Validation: Provide evidence of user research methodologies employed and how user feedback was incorporated into iterative design improvements.

• Collaboration & Stakeholder Management: Illustrate instances where you collaborated effectively with cross-functional teams (engineers, product managers, stakeholders) to bring products to life.

• Impact & Results: Quantify the impact of your work where possible, using metrics or qualitative feedback to demonstrate user value, efficiency gains, or achievement of product goals.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Showcase examples of how you mapped and designed user workflows, identifying areas for optimization and streamlining within digital products.

• System Implementation Standards: If applicable, provide examples of how you contributed to the implementation of digital tools or platforms, ensuring adherence to design standards and user experience best practices.

• User-Centric Design Methodologies: Document your approach to user-centered design, including methodologies used for discovery, ideation, testing, and iteration.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given this is an inaugural role, the portfolio needs to strongly demonstrate the ability to build processes and lead end-to-end, not just execute within existing frameworks. Case studies should clearly articulate the "why" behind design decisions and the tangible outcomes achieved. The ability to show how AI was leveraged in any past projects would be a significant advantage.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

Based on the provided geo-bands and the role's mid-to-senior level, the estimated salary range is:

• Geo Comp 1 (High Cost of Living): $140,000 - $195,000 USD per year

• Geo Comp 2 (Medium Cost of Living): $133,000 - $185,250 USD per year

• Geo Comp 3 (Lower Cost of Living): $126,000 - $175,500 USD per year

📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary ranges are directly from the job description. The range is broad due to the tiered geo-compensation structure and the upper end of experience for the role. Transcend confirms the specific range based on the candidate's verified location during the initial interview. This structure aims for competitive compensation across different US regions.

Benefits:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance coverage options.

• Org-wide Holidays.

• Paid Time Off (PTO).

• Paid Parental Leave.

• Professional Development Opportunities.

• Fully Remote Work Environment. Working Hours:

• Standard full-time hours are expected, likely around 40 hours per week.

• As a fully remote role, there may be flexibility in daily scheduling, but responsiveness and collaboration with team members across different time zones will be critical. Some periods may require increased hours due to project deadlines or travel.

📝 Enhancement Note: The benefits package is comprehensive for a remote role, with a strong emphasis on professional development, signaling an investment in employee growth. The fully remote nature is a key benefit for work-life balance, though the mention of travel indicates a need for flexibility.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Education Non-profit / EdTech

Company Size: Transcend is a national nonprofit that has partnered with nearly 500 schools and 200 districts serving over 225,000 students. While the exact employee count isn't provided, this scale indicates a significant organization with established operations, likely ranging from 50-200 employees. This size offers a balance between organizational structure and the agility needed for innovation.

Founded: Over a decade ago, with a mission to help communities reimagine and redesign schools for the future.

Team Structure:

• Program Team: This role sits within the Program Team, which stewards the approaches, tools, and resources that power Transcend's partnerships. This team focuses on the "content" and "process" of innovative school design, including technology-enabled and AI-experimenting tools.

• Reporting: The Partner, Product and UX Lead will report to the Chief Program Officer and work closely with the Tech & Information Lead.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: The role necessitates close collaboration with engineering contractors, senior consultants, and other cross-functional partners to ensure product development aligns with partnership needs and organizational strategy.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven School Redesign: Transcend partners with school and system leaders using proven methods to drive lasting change in educational models.

• User-Centered Product Development: The Program Team is increasingly focused on developing technology-enabled and AI-enabled tools that amplify impact by increasing access and empowering partners.

• Iterative Innovation: Emphasis on experimenting with AI and other emerging tools to enhance effectiveness and user experience, suggesting a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.

Company Website: https://www.transcendeducation.org/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is mission-driven, focused on transforming education through innovation and community leadership. The growing emphasis on technology and AI within their program offerings suggests a forward-thinking approach and an environment conducive to exploring new tools and methodologies. The "nonprofit" status may influence compensation structures but often comes with a strong sense of purpose and impact.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Mid-Senior Level individual contributor, with the potential to grow into a leadership role. It's the "inaugural full-time experience design & product lead," implying significant ownership and the opportunity to shape the function.

Reporting Structure: You will report to the Chief Program Officer and collaborate closely with the Tech & Information Lead. This structure places you at a strategic level within the Program Team, with direct access to senior leadership.

Operations Impact: The Product and UX Lead will have a direct and significant impact on Transcend's ability to scale its mission. By developing and refining technology-enabled tools, this role will enhance the accessibility, effectiveness, and reach of Transcend's school design support, ultimately influencing educational outcomes for a large number of students. The integration of AI and innovative digital experiences will be key to achieving this amplified impact.

Growth Opportunities:

• Foundational Role: As the first dedicated Product/UX Lead, you have a unique opportunity to build and define the experience design and product management practice at Transcend, setting standards and processes for future growth.

• Team Leadership: The role explicitly mentions the potential to lead a multidisciplinary team in the future, offering a clear career path towards management and leadership within the organization.

• Skill Development: Exposure to cutting-edge AI tools, innovative educational design challenges, and a mission-driven environment provides ample opportunities for professional growth and skill expansion.

• Strategic Influence: Direct engagement with senior leadership (Chief Program Officer) and involvement in product strategy formulation allows for significant strategic influence and visibility.

• Industry Impact: Contributing to the transformation of K-12 education through innovative tools offers a deeply rewarding career path with tangible societal impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a rare opportunity to establish and lead a critical function within a mission-driven organization. The growth potential is significant, moving from being the sole product/UX lead to potentially building and managing a team, all while driving impactful change in education.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully remote/virtual team. Transcend operates without a physical office for this role, allowing for flexibility and access to talent across the Continental United States.

Office Location(s): Flexible within the Continental United States. This allows candidates to work from their preferred location, provided they are within the US.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Virtual Environment: Expect a highly collaborative virtual setting, leveraging digital tools for communication, ideation, and project management.

• Operations Tools and Technology: Access to modern design and collaboration tools (Figma, Miro, prototyping software) is standard. The role will involve working with existing and developing technology-enabled tools used by school leaders and design teams.

• Team Interaction: While remote, emphasis will be placed on structured team interactions, including regular Zoom meetings, debriefs, and interviews, to foster connection and shared understanding.

Work Schedule:

• Full-time, approximately 40 hours per week.

• While remote, the role requires active participation and collaboration, necessitating availability during core working hours for team meetings and cross-functional engagement.

• Flexibility is implied, but responsiveness is key. Travel is required approximately once a month for 2-3 days, indicating a need for adaptability in schedule during those periods.

📝 Enhancement Note: The fully remote nature is a significant aspect of the work environment, emphasizing asynchronous communication and strong digital collaboration skills. Travel requirements, though not extensive, necessitate flexibility and planning for in-person engagements.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

1. Initial Zoom Interview: Assess interest and experience, and confirm location for salary banding.

2. Try-On Activity: An exercise designed to simulate role-specific tasks and evaluate your approach to problem-solving and design. This is a key opportunity to showcase your practical skills.

3. Hiring Manager & Team Interview: Debrief the try-on task, discuss scenarios relevant to the role, and engage with team members.

4. Team Interview: Meet with potential collaborators to assess cultural fit and teamwork dynamics.

5. Final Interview: Meet with the Chief Program Officer for a final assessment.

6. Reference Checks: Verification of your professional background and working style.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase End-to-End Ownership: Prioritize case studies that demonstrate your ability to take a project from initial concept through to a launched product. Highlight your role and contributions clearly.

• Focus on Problem/Solution: Clearly articulate the problem you were solving, the user needs you addressed, and the rationale behind your design decisions. Use visuals (wireframes, mockups, user flows) to support your narrative.

• Quantify Impact: Where possible, include metrics, user feedback, or specific outcomes that demonstrate the success and impact of your work. For a role focused on scaling, showing measurable results is crucial.

• Demonstrate Collaboration: If possible, include examples of how you collaborated with engineers, product managers, or stakeholders, and how that collaboration influenced the final product.

• Highlight AI/Innovation: If you have projects where AI or other emerging technologies were integrated into your design process or product, make this a prominent feature. This aligns with Transcend's forward-looking approach.

• Tailor to Transcend's Mission: Frame your experience and case studies within the context of education and social impact. Show enthusiasm for Transcend's mission of transforming schools.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the "Try-On" Context: Expect a realistic challenge that mirrors the core responsibilities of translating educational concepts into digital experiences. This might involve analyzing a brief, sketching out user flows, or proposing design solutions for a specific educational problem.

• Think Strategically & Tactically: Be prepared to discuss both high-level strategy (how your solution aligns with Transcend's mission) and detailed execution (interaction design, UI considerations).

• Articulate Your Process: Be ready to walk through your thought process and design decisions clearly and concisely. Practice explaining your methodology, especially your user research and iterative design approaches.

• Prepare Questions: Have thoughtful questions ready for each interviewer, demonstrating your engagement and interest in the role, team, and company mission.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Try-On Activity" is a significant part of the process and likely a practical design exercise. Candidates should prepare a portfolio that directly addresses the required skills and responsibilities, with a strong emphasis on demonstrating end-to-end product ownership and the ability to translate complex needs into actionable digital solutions. Highlighting AI integration will be a strong differentiator.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma, Miro, and other prototyping software (e.g., InVision, Adobe XD). These are essential for collaborative design, wireframing, UI design, and creating interactive prototypes.

• Product Management & Collaboration: Tools for project management (e.g., Asana, Jira, Trello), documentation (e.g., Confluence, Notion), and communication (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams).

• User Research Platforms: Tools for conducting user interviews, surveys, and usability testing (e.g., UserTesting.com, SurveyMonkey, Google Forms).

Analytics & Reporting:

• Data Visualization Tools: Familiarity with tools like Tableau or Power BI could be beneficial for understanding and designing interfaces that display school performance or design insights.

• Web Analytics: General understanding of web analytics principles to inform product design and track user engagement.

CRM & Automation:

• While not explicitly mentioned, experience with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) or marketing automation platforms might be relevant if Transcend uses them for partner engagement or internal operations, though this is less central to the core product/UX role.

• Integration Tools: Understanding how different software systems connect and exchange data could be advantageous for designing integrated solutions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The core technology focus is on design and collaboration tools, with a specific mention of Figma and Miro. The role requires proficiency in these tools for day-to-day work and for demonstrating design concepts. Familiarity with data visualization tools like Tableau is a plus, given the example of school performance insights.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Mission-Driven Commitment: A deep dedication to transforming education and ensuring all students thrive, forming the core of daily work and decision-making.

• User-Centricity: A strong service-oriented mindset, designing with communities and holding user voices at the center of all product development.

• Curiosity & Proactivity: An eagerness to explore, learn, and take initiative to figure things out, navigate ambiguity, and move ideas into action.

• Persistence & Solution-Oriented: A relentless pursuit of solutions, not giving up easily and working diligently to address needs effectively.

• Iteration & Learning: Valuing iteration over perfection, embracing testing, learning, and refinement to achieve clarity and impact.

• Systems Thinking & Detail Focus: The ability to zoom between big-picture strategy and detailed execution, understanding when to apply each.

• Collaboration & Shared Success: Energized by working across disciplines and with diverse partners to build collective success.

• Calmness Amidst Uncertainty: Maintaining a grounded and focused approach, even when the path forward is unclear.

• Embracing AI & Innovation: Curiosity and openness to experimenting with new tools and techniques, especially in the evolving AI landscape.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Expect a highly collaborative environment where design, product, and engineering (contractors) work closely together.

• Process Review & Feedback: A culture that likely values open feedback loops and iterative refinement of processes and designs.

• Knowledge Sharing: As a remote team, effective knowledge sharing practices will be essential for alignment and collective growth.

📝 Enhancement Note: Transcend's values are deeply embedded in its mission and approach to work. The emphasis on user-centricity, iteration, and embracing new technologies (like AI) creates an environment ripe for innovation and impact. The ideal candidate will embody these values, particularly in their approach to problem-solving and collaboration.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Establishing a New Practice: As the inaugural Product & UX Lead, you will be responsible for defining and building the UX/product design practice at Transcend, which involves setting standards, processes, and potentially building a team from the ground up.

• Navigating Ambiguity: The role requires comfort with loosely defined problems and early-stage concepts. Translating complex educational needs into digital solutions within an evolving nonprofit landscape can be challenging.

• Balancing User Needs with Technical/Business Constraints: Effectively balancing user-centric design with the realities of technical implementation, resource availability, and organizational goals.

• Integrating AI Effectively: Exploring and integrating AI into workflows and products in a way that genuinely enhances user experience and organizational impact, rather than as a superficial addition.

• Remote Collaboration Dynamics: Maintaining strong team cohesion, clear communication, and efficient workflow in a fully remote, cross-functional environment.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Product & UX Practice Leadership: Opportunity to build and define a critical function, shaping its methodologies, tools, and team structure.

• AI & Emerging Technologies: Direct engagement with and experimentation of AI-enabled tools, positioning you at the forefront of technological integration in education.

• Educational Innovation: Deep immersion in the challenges and opportunities of transforming K-12 education, contributing to meaningful societal impact.

• Strategic Influence: Direct interaction with senior leadership and involvement in shaping product strategy provides significant growth in strategic thinking and decision-making.

• Mentorship & Team Building: Potential to mentor junior designers or engineers and to build and lead a future product and UX team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The primary challenge is also the greatest growth opportunity: building something new. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on creating structure, defining processes, and taking ownership in a dynamic, mission-driven environment.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you led the end-to-end design and product management of a digital product. What was the problem, your approach, the challenges, and the outcome?"

• "How would you go about establishing a UX practice within a mission-driven nonprofit with limited resources?"

• "Walk us through your process for translating a complex, real-world service or workflow into an intuitive digital experience."

• "How have you incorporated AI or other emerging technologies into your product design process or into a product itself? What was the impact?"

• "Discuss your approach to user research and how you ensure user needs are central to the product development lifecycle." Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you most about Transcend's mission to transform education?"

• "How do you approach collaboration with engineers, product managers, and other stakeholders, especially in a remote setting?"

• "Describe a situation where you had to navigate significant ambiguity or uncertainty in a project. How did you proceed?"

• "How do you stay updated on the latest trends in UX design, product management, and educational technology, including AI?"

• "What does 'user-centricity' mean to you in the context of designing tools for educators and school communities?" Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly outline the problem, your role, the process (research, ideation, design, testing), the solution, and the impact/results.

• Highlight Your Ownership: Emphasize your specific contributions and leadership in each project, especially where you drove strategy or execution.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals (wireframes, user flows, mockups, prototypes) to illustrate your design decisions and the user experience.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data or metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs and products.

• Connect to Transcend: Frame your experience and case studies in the context of education and how your skills can help Transcend achieve its mission. Be ready to discuss how your past work relates to the examples provided in the job description.

• Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Interviewers will likely ask detailed questions about your design choices, your reasoning, and how you handled specific challenges.

📝 Enhancement Note: Prepare to demonstrate not just design skills, but also strategic thinking, product ownership, and the ability to operate effectively in a mission-driven, innovative environment. The "Try-On Activity" will be a critical practical assessment, so practicing your problem-solving and design articulation is key.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Partner, Product and UX Lead position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on the Transcend website: https://transcendeducation.org/who-we-are/job-opportunities/?gh_jid=7639077

• Portfolio Customization: Curate your portfolio to prominently feature 2-3 end-to-end product case studies that showcase your experience in product strategy, UX/UI design, and product management, particularly in translating complex needs into digital solutions.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to highlight relevant experience in K-12 education, product design leadership, user research, AI integration, and proficiency with tools like Figma and Miro. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Thoroughly review the job description and Transcend's mission. Prepare to discuss your experience through the lens of their values and the specific responsibilities outlined for this role. Practice articulating your design process and rationale.

• Company Research: Deeply understand Transcend's work in transforming education, their approach to school redesign, and their growing focus on technology and AI. This will help you tailor your responses and ask insightful questions.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.