Senior Product Designer

About the role

D2l is seeking a Senior Product Designer for a 12-month contract to help evolve our cloud-based educational platforms. You will bridge the gap between technical constraints, business goals, and user research to create accessible and functional design solutions. In this role, you will own the end-to-end design of key product experiences, ensuring that every decision aligns with both user needs and business objectives. You will act as a critical thinking partner to product managers and engineers, translating ambiguous problems into clear design opportunities. Your work will directly influence how thousands of educators and learners interact with our digital learning environments on a daily basis. You will champion a user-first mindset while navigating complex organizational priorities and evolving product strategies. This position requires a proactive approach to identifying design improvements and taking ownership of the solutions you propose. You will be instrumental in shaping the future direction of our products through thoughtful, evidence-based design leadership.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Manage the full product design lifecycle from initial project planning through to final delivery, ensuring coherence and quality at every stage.
• Create consistent, usable, and functional workflows for our learning environments that reduce friction and support diverse user behaviors.
• Define the vision for design initiatives while influencing project scope and product roadmaps to align with strategic goals.
• Collaborate with UX researchers to identify needs, provide context, and analyze findings in order to inform robust design directions.
• Participate in design reviews by providing actionable feedback and framing work-in-progress to encourage constructive iteration.
• Advocate for inclusive design and accessibility standards across all project phases to ensure equitable user experiences for all learners.
• Mentor and support other designers on adjacent or broad-scope initiatives to elevate the overall design capability of the team.
• Translate complex educational requirements into intuitive interface patterns that support teaching, learning, and administrative workflows.
• Evaluate design decisions through the lens of usability testing and real-world usage data to drive continuous improvement.
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to explore new opportunities and validate design concepts before implementation.

Requirements

• Ability to synthesize complex business, technical, and research inputs into design explorations that address multifaceted challenges.
• Experience applying accessibility heuristics, design patterns, and best practices to create usable and compliant digital products.
• Strong communication skills to negotiate alignment and present complex information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Capacity for critical thinking and systematic analysis when balancing design rigor with project constraints such as timelines and resources.
• A growth mindset with the ability to adapt to changing project needs and team dynamics in a fast-paced, agile environment.
• Proficiency in conducting system and domain analysis to understand existing products and identify meaningful design opportunities.
• Demonstrated experience working within regulated or highly structured environments where compliance and standards are essential.
• Willingness to engage deeply with stakeholders across different departments to gather requirements and build consensus.

Skills & tools

• UX research and analysis to uncover user needs and validate design hypotheses through qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Inclusive design and accessibility standards to ensure that products are usable by people with a wide range of abilities.
• System and domain analysis to understand complex information architectures and interaction models within educational contexts.
• Design documentation and walkthroughs to communicate design decisions and ensure shared understanding among team members.
• Proficiency with industry-standard design tools to create prototypes, visual designs, and interactive mockups that accurately represent proposed solutions.
• Experience facilitating workshops and interviews to gather insights and align stakeholders around shared design goals.
• Strong visual design skills with an understanding of typography, color theory, and layout principles specific to educational interfaces.
• Ability to translate abstract concepts into concrete design systems that scale across multiple products and user groups.

Practical notes

Total compensation includes eligibility for a wellness subsidy, equity grants, and variable incentives. Benefits include flexible work arrangements, home internet reimbursement, and up to $4,000 CAD in tuition reimbursement through the SkillsWave program. D2l provides two paid days off for education-related activities and two paid volunteer days. Our offices in Kitchener, Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Melbourne are dog-friendly. Applications are reviewed by human recruiters, not automated systems. This is a 12-month contract position based in Kitchener, Ontario or remotely within Canada, with compensation aligned to the specified salary range. Candidates must be authorized to work in Canada without sponsorship requirements. The selection process will involve multiple interviews focused on design thinking, practical exercises, and cultural fit. Please ensure your application reflects your direct experience in relation to the outlined requirements and skills.