Design Systems Lead

Discovery Education Talent Team

1d•$157,450 - $174,900•Remote

About The Position

The Design Systems Lead oversees the ongoing development of Discovery Education’s design systems and streamlines the process from design to development. Working at the intersection of design and engineering, the role will unify the existing Atlas and Nebula systems into a scalable architecture while modernizing how teams design, prototype, and deliver product experiences. The position aligns designers and engineers around shared infrastructure to improve collaboration, reduce duplication, and support faster, more consistent product development across the company’s ecosystem. The role leads design system architecture and governance, including evaluating existing systems, defining standards and contribution workflows, and maintaining a unified design system direction and roadmap. It serves as the primary liaison between design and engineering, establishing workflows and practices that enable efficient implementation of components in production code. The Design Systems Lead researches tools and emerging technologies, including AI-assisted design and development tools, to improve collaboration and efficiency. The role works with Product Design, Product Management, Curriculum, and Engineering teams to assess initiatives for scalability and platform consistency, determine which patterns belong in the shared system, and enable adoption through guidance, office hours, and training. It also tracks system adoption and impact, reports on outcomes, and uses metrics and feedback to continuously improve governance and workflows. This role is designed to be remote. The hiring range is $157,450–$174,900 annually, with the actual base pay potentially varying based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location. The position is also eligible for an annual bonus.

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience in design systems, front-end or design technology, or design-to-engineering workflows, with demonstrated impact on shipped products.
Proven ability to lead the strategy, architecture, and governance of a multi-product design system, including standards, component lifecycle, documentation, contribution model, and adoption.
Strong cross-functional influence and ability to align designers, engineers, and product partners around shared standards, tradeoffs, and roadmap priorities.
Deep knowledge of design system foundations, including design tokens, accessibility standards, responsive patterns, and modern design tools such as Figma libraries and prototyping.
Familiarity with front-end frameworks and version control workflows.
Experience defining success metrics such as adoption, reuse, quality, and delivery efficiency, and using data and feedback to iterate on system direction and team workflows.
Ability to mentor and enable designers and engineers through documentation, office hours, playbooks, and training.
Comfort operating autonomously in ambiguous problem spaces, breaking down complex work, communicating recommendations, and driving decisions with senior stakeholders.
Legal right to work in the United States.

Responsibilities

Audit and evaluate the Atlas and Nebula design systems to identify overlaps, gaps, and opportunities for consolidation.
Lead the evolution toward a unified, scalable design system architecture that supports multiple products and platforms.
Define standards for component governance, lifecycle management, and system documentation.
Implement a governance model covering standards, contribution workflows, component lifecycle, documentation expectations, and ownership.
Establish flexible system structures that allow components to adapt across products and experiences.
Own and maintain the unified design system direction, roadmap, and decision-making, consolidating or rationalizing Atlas and Nebula over time.
Serve as the primary liaison between design and engineering teams for design system development.
Partner with engineers to ensure components translate efficiently from design into production code.
Align design and development workflows to reduce duplication and improve implementation quality.
Establish and maintain design-to-engineering workflows using libraries, tokens, specifications, and collaboration practices.
Research and implement tools that improve design system development and front-end collaboration.
Explore emerging technologies, including AI-assisted design and development tools, to improve efficiency and scalability.
Introduce processes that enable faster prototyping and reduce friction between design and engineering teams.
Participate in product kickoff discussions with Product Design, Product Management, Curriculum, and Engineering.
Evaluate new initiatives for design system scalability and platform consistency.
Determine which patterns and components should be part of the shared system and which should remain product-specific.
Create adoption mechanisms such as guidance, office hours, and training, and build strong working rhythms with product teams.
Track design system adoption and metrics across teams and products.
Measure system impact using metrics such as development efficiency, component reuse, design consistency, and team satisfaction.
Refine system governance and workflows based on product and organizational needs.
Report regularly on adoption, reuse, consistency, and delivery efficiency, and drive continuous improvement using feedback and data.