[Hiring] Product Research Lead @LitLab

Role Description

You'll report directly to our Head of Product and manage LitLab's research program end to end:

• Recruiting pilot districts
• Conducting co-design and usability studies that shape our product
• Supporting the evidence generation that builds toward a successful RCT four years from now

Like everyone here, you'll wear a lot of hats:

• Onboarding pilot districts
• Turning teacher feedback into a working prototype
• Navigating IRB and data-sharing approvals to get a study off the ground

You don't need to come in with deep expertise in every part of the role, but you do need:

• Real intellectual honesty
• A fidelity to the scientific process, whatever your level of experience

What you'll do:

• Run quick research and design loops:
• Talk to teachers to understand their pain points
• Utilize AI tools to turn what you learn into a well-designed prototype
• Hand off your designs to our engineering team, all within days
• Own co-design and usability research:
• Schedule, run, and analyze co-design sessions and usability/feasibility studies with classroom teachers yourself, end to end
• Turn findings into clear, actionable recommendations
• Find and manage pilot sites:
• Identify and recruit candidate districts
• Coordinate participation and data-sharing agreements through to signature
• Own the day-to-day relationship once onboarded
• Lead quasi-experimental and RCT work:
• Own our quasi-experimental study
• Act as a self-directed counterpart to independent evaluators for an RCT
• Run research operations:
• Coordinate collection of external benchmark data (DIBELS, etc.)
• Help ensure the quality of a data ingestion pipeline as it comes online
• Create structured teacher surveys across the school year
• Represent the work externally:
• Coordinate data and benchmarking submissions to our grantor
• Create easy-to-digest materials for grant reporting and our Research Hub
• Liaise with external partners

Qualifications

• Strong candidates may come from UX research, product design, education research, or program evaluation
• User research experience
• Strong organizational and administrative skills
• Comfort sourcing and closing partnerships
• Familiarity with quasi-experimental or RCT methodology is a strong plus
• Comfort with both quantitative and qualitative methods
• Intellectual honesty and rigor
• Early literacy experience is a strong plus, though not required

Requirements

• Self-directed and comfortable owning a research process end to end, with limited daily oversight
• Resourceful and adaptable, thriving when there isn’t a predefined playbook
• Exceptional communication skills, verbally and in writing
• Organizational skills to manage multiple tasks effectively
• Eager to grow as the role expands, including into more technical study design over time
• Care deeply about improving early literacy and the educational experience for teachers and students

Compensation

• Salary range: $100,000–$125,000, commensurate with experience
• Equity: meaningful ownership in a fast-growing company (roughly ~2x what comparable hires receive at this stage)
• Benefits: medical, dental, vision, and 401k

How to apply

Learning to read is far and away the most life-changing thing that can happen for a child. If you want to help far more students become fluent readers, this is the job for you.

Ready to apply? Fill out the short form, and we’ll follow up in a timely manner.

Even if you don't match every requirement but feel a strong pull toward this role, please tell us why it resonates and why you'd excel.