Product Designer

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.

Since 2000, more than 5 million people and partners have contributed $1 billion to support 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. Projects range from art supplies to build the set for a school musical, to books and puzzles that affirm students’ identities, to bird seed for an at-home science project. We proudly serve all US public schools, public charter schools, and Head Start centers, and we combat systemic inequity by driving a majority of donations to schools that have been historically underfunded due to economic and racial inequity.

DonorsChoose has been recognized as a best place to work by GOOD Magazine and the Nonprofit Times, while Fast Company named DonorsChoose one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World—the first time a charity has made this list. Our dedicated team works from across the United States to bring classroom dreams to life.

About the Role

Imagine playing a key role in transforming public education by designing user experiences that empower teachers and donors. At DonorsChoose, we’re seeking a highly motivated Product Designer who is a creative problem-solver and will own design challenges from end to end, driving solutions from initial concept to implementation. If you love applying deep UX thinking, visual design skills, and coding abilities to make a meaningful impact, and the desire to use data to measure impact and iterate for continuous improvement, we’d love to hear from you.

Things you'll do:

• Collaborate with user researchers, product managers, and engineers to identify and solve key user problems.
• Design accessible, inclusive, and engaging experiences using user-centered design principles.
• Create high-fidelity prototypes in Figma and work with our research team to test and validate ideas.
• Communicate your design decisions effectively—gather feedback, build consensus, and get others excited about your ideas.
• Contribute to the development process by writing clean, efficient front-end code (HTML, CSS, JS).
• Use data and analytics to understand opportunities, measure success, refine designs, and drive continuous improvement.

You should have:

• 4-5+ years of experience designing and shipping web products (both mobile and desktop).
• A sharp product sense—you stay up to date with the latest in design, technology, and development, and you think critically about what makes digital experiences great.
• Fluency in Figma, both in creating new designs and operating within a larger design system. 
• Strong front-end development skills (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and a willingness to dive into the codebase.
• A knack for simplifying complex problems and crafting elegant, effective solutions.
• Experience with A/B testing and data-driven optimization methods.
• Strong communication skills—able to clearly present designs, articulate reasoning, and bring people along.
• A passion for education, equity, and social impact.

About the Product, Engineering & Data Team

At DonorsChoose, our Product, Engineering & Data team operates like a fast-moving startup within a mission-driven nonprofit. We ship weekly, iterate quickly, and focus on impact. As a Product Designer, you'll work closely with product managers, UX researchers, and engineers to improve the experience for our donors and public school teachers—directly influencing educational outcomes for students across the U.S.

👉 Read more about How We Do Product and our Product Principles on our team’s blog.

Compensation & Benefits

Our compensation philosophy ensures that we are both externally competitive with tech-forward nonprofits of a similar size and internally fair in our pay practices. The following ranges represent the target offer range given the scope and experience expectations for this role.

• The hiring salary range for this role is $91,000 - $110,000
• We have a hiring salary range of $103,000 - $122,500 for specific higher cost of labor locations, which include New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

Once employees are hired, everyone at DonorsChoose is eligible to receive annual performance-based raises as they grow in their role. We are open to a variety of experiences, and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced or more senior than this job description as posted. If you don’t check every box listed here, or you know you’d bring additional experience to the table, we hope you’ll submit your application. 

In addition, we offer full-time staff 25 paid vacation days per year and 11 paid holidays, a rich employer-paid individual and family health plan, a matching 401(k) plan (up to 5% of base salary), annual professional development stipend, and casual and flexible work environment. To learn more about what it is like to work for DonorsChoose, visit our careers page.

Hybrid Workplace and Other Details

In this role, you’ll have the option to work a flexible hybrid schedule in our NYC office, or to work fully remotely from CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, ME, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, WI.

Candidates who are not in the NYC area should expect to travel to our NYC office on an as-needed basis, about 4-6 times per year. All work-related travel expenses will be covered by the organization.

DonorsChoose participates in E-Verify. We will provide the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. 

DonorsChoose Core Values

EQUITY
Combating systemic inequity is crucial to a brighter future for all. This reality fuels our ambitions and drives us to persevere.

INGENUITY
Complex problems require innovative solutions. We dream big, get creative, roll up our sleeves, and take action. We believe the best products can change the world.

HUMANITY 
People are the heart of our team and the communities we serve. Our compassion informs our goals and how we work together to achieve them. 

INTEGRITY
We strive to do right. We’re up-front about the facts. We boldly learn and grow from mistakes.

LEARNING
Education is the beating heart of our organization, inside and out. We’re curious. We listen. We know we don’t know everything. 

GRATITUDE
We begin and end with thanks. We take joy in our mission, our communities, and each other.

To Apply

Please submit your resume and answer the application questions online. Since we’re trying to get to know you through our hiring process, we ask that you please refrain from using AI writing tools to craft your response to our application questions. A cover letter is optional and may be addressed to Dan Betz, Vice President, Product & Design.

A Final Note

The DonorsChoose team works toward a nation where students in every community have the resources needed for an excellent education. To do this we hire and support a diverse team of the best and the brightest talent available.

We are an organization increasingly representative of the varied races and ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, religious and political beliefs, and abilities that comprise our nation. DonorsChoose focuses on attracting, retaining, and advancing diverse talent because it makes us more effective, high-performing, creative, and resilient.  

If you are passionate about our mission, highly skilled in your field, and looking for a place where you can bring all of yourself to work, we want you.