[Hiring] Head of Design @Blackboard

Role Description

As Head of Design, you will lead Blackboard’s global User Experience and Design (UXD) organization and own the vision and strategy for how people experience our products, from Blackboard LMS and Blackboard Illuminate to Ally and our institutional effectiveness solutions. Your multidisciplinary team spans design, research, documentation, and accessibility, and works across web and mobile platforms in multiple countries and time zones.

This is a strategic leadership role. You will refine and evolve Blackboard’s design strategy, so it anticipates how teaching and learning are changing and drives measurable outcomes for our customers and our business. As a peer to leaders in Product Management and Product Development, you will make sure design shapes decisions from early discovery through delivery, and you will champion the value of design with executives, customers, and the wider design community.

You will also lead how design works in an AI-first era. We build the industry’s most AI-advanced LMS, and we expect our Head of Design to work hands-on with generative AI every day. That means using tools such as Figma Make, Claude Design, and other large language model (LLM)-based technologies to explore ideas, prototype, and test faster, and guiding the team to adopt them thoughtfully and responsibly.

Our design team is spread across multiple geographies including the UK, US, Colombia and Europe. You will lead it with flexibility and inclusion, building connection across locations and adjusting your own working hours when the business or the team needs you, so every colleague, in every time zone, has the access and support they need.

What does success look like? Products that solve complex problems with simplicity and elegance, a design culture of rapid iteration and continuous learning, and a team that is proud of both the work and the way it gets done.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
• At least 15 years of experience in user experience, product design, or a related field
• Proven experience building and scaling design organizations of 10+ professionals
• Proven experience leading diverse, geographically distributed teams
• A track record of defining and refining design strategy at an executive level
• Hands-on, everyday fluency with generative AI design technologies
• Deep expertise in modern design tools, including Figma, prototyping, and design systems
• Strong expertise in engaging customers and users through design research
• A record of delivering simple, elegant solutions to complex problems
• Strong leadership skills and the ability to create a collaborative team culture
• Flexibility to work outside standard hours when needed
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills
• Experience with accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
• Fluency in written and spoken English

Requirements

• Manage budget, resourcing, and priorities
• Travel up to 20% to support teams, customers, and company events

Company Description

Blackboard is a leading EdTech company and SaaS provider that delivers the digital environment for transformational teaching and learning. We serve thousands of institutions with the industry's most AI-advanced LMS, Blackboard Ally for accessibility, and institutional effectiveness solutions that put educators and learners at the center. We're an education company that builds technology. Learn more at blackboard.com.