Principal Learning Experience Designer

HMH is a learning technology company committed to delivering connected solutions that engage learners, empower educators and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of K–12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention solutions, and professional learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock students’ potential and extend teachers’ capabilities.

HMH serves more than 50 million students and 4 million educators in 150 countries. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com

Job Title:  Principal Learning Experience Designer, Adolescent Literacy Intervention

Location: Remote (US)

What you'll do:

The Principal Learning Experience Designer, Adolescent Literacy Intervention will play a critical role in shaping the instructional vision and evolution of Read 180, a leading intervention solution for students in grades 3–12. This individual will bring deep expertise in adolescent literacy, reading intervention, and learning experience design to develop cohesive teacher-led and student-facing experiences across print and digital environments.

As a senior instructional leader, this individual will apply current research in the science of reading and adolescent literacy to develop evidence-based instruction that accelerates literacy growth for students who are reading below grade level. The role will focus on developing comprehension, vocabulary, knowledge building, fluency, and other instructional approaches that help intervention students engage successfully with increasingly complex texts.

The Principal Learning Experience Designer will partner with cross-functional teams to drive the design and continuous improvement of Read 180 learning experiences, while providing guidance, feedback, and mentorship to Learning Experience Designers, and contributing to instructional quality, coherence, and innovation across the program

The Principal Learning Experience Designer will be responsible for the following primary duties:

Adolescent Literacy and Instructional Design

• Partner with Content and Product leadership to conceptualize and develop evidence-based adolescent literacy instruction for Read 180.
• Apply current research in the science of reading, reading comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, knowledge building, motivation, and intervention to drive instructional design decisions and product direction.
• Design cohesive teacher-led and adaptive student learning experiences that provide explicit instruction, meaningful practice, differentiation, and responsive support for diverse student needs.
• Ensure instructional approaches are appropriate for the cognitive, academic, and social-emotional needs of all adolescent intervention students, including multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and students with varied reading profiles.
• Contribute to the development of instructional models, lesson architecture, component specifications, and design standards for Read 180.

Content Development and Editorial Quality

• Write, edit, and revise lessons, instructional routines, student activities, teacher supports, and digital learning experiences for instructional effectiveness and clarity.
• Lead the selection, development, and refinement of student-facing content, including texts and multimedia resources to support knowledge building, reading engagement, and instructional coherence. 
• Evaluate the relationship among texts, instruction, practice, assessment, and adaptive pathways to ensure a coherent learning experience.
• Review content developed by internal team members, contractors, and vendors, providing clear and actionable feedback.
• Maintain high standards for accuracy, consistency, accessibility, inclusivity, and instructional quality across components.
• Leverage student and teacher feedback, product data, and efficacy findings to identify opportunities to improve instruction.
• Support the development of content models, metadata, authoring requirements, and reusable instructional structures for digital delivery.

Instructional Leadership and Collaboration

• Serve as a senior instructional leader and subject-matter expert for adolescent literacy and reading intervention.
• Partner closely with senior Learning Experience, Product Management, Research, Design, Assessment, and Engineering leaders to establish and execute the instructional vision for Read 180.
• Guide and mentor Learning Experience Designers, helping them apply literacy research and instructional design principles consistently.
• Lead instructional reviews, facilitate decision-making, and help the team resolve complex content and learning experience design challenges.
• Establish models, exemplars, guidelines, and quality criteria that can be applied across the program.
• Communicate instructional decisions and their research basis clearly to cross-functional partners and senior stakeholders.
• Work effectively within product development timelines, technical constraints, budgets, and dependencies while protecting the integrity of the instructional experience.
• Collaborate with researchers, educators, and customers to understand student and teacher needs and validate proposed solutions.

Key Stakeholders/Collaborators

• Learning Experience and Content Development
• Product Management and Strategy
• Literacy Research and Learning Sciences
• Assessment and Data Analytics
• Product Design and User Experience
• Engineering and Technical Product Owners
• Accessibility and Editorial Teams
• Professional Services and Customer-Facing Teams
• External authors, consultants, researchers, and development partners

What you'll need:

• At least 7 years of experience developing adolescent literacy curriculum, reading intervention solutions, or related instructional products within a publishing, edtech, or curriculum development organization.
• Demonstrated experience designing cohesive teacher-led and student-facing learning experiences across print, and digital environments across print and digital modalities  for students in grades 3–12.
• Deep knowledge of adolescent literacy development and the needs of students reading below grade level.
• Strong understanding of current science-of-reading research and its application to older readers, including comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, word recognition, morphology, knowledge building, and motivation.
• Significant experience designing explicit, scaffolded instruction and intervention for diverse learners.
• Exceptional instructional writing and editing skills, with the ability to improve content for clarity, engagement, coherence, and effectiveness.
• Experience leading complex instructional projects and guiding or mentoring other curriculum developers or Learning Experience Designers.
• Ability to evaluate the quality and alignment of instruction across teacher materials, student materials, assessment, and digital experiences.
• Experience collaborating with product managers, designers, researchers, engineers, editors, and other cross-functional partners.
• Ability to use research, customer insights, student performance data, and product usage data to inform instructional decisions.
• Familiarity with digital authoring tools, content-management systems, and iterative product-development processes.
• Strong communication, facilitation, decision-making, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Bachelor's degree in literacy, reading education, curriculum and instruction, instructional design, English language arts, special education, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or advanced certification in reading, literacy, curriculum and instruction, special education, or a related field.
• Classroom or intervention experience working directly with adolescent readers.
• Reading specialist certification or comparable literacy credentials.
• Experience developing intensive or Tier 2 and Tier 3 reading intervention.
• Experience with adaptive learning systems, educational technology, accessibility requirements, and digital content development.
• Familiarity with Read 180 or other established adolescent literacy intervention programs.
• Experience supporting efficacy studies, curriculum evaluations, or state and district instructional reviews.

Benefits and Salary Range: 

Salary Range - $90,000 to $100,000.  Our salary ranges are based on national averages.  We have wide ranges so we can be flexible and determine compensation based on a number of factors including the candidate’s skills, experience, education, and location. 

Our Culture and Benefits - https://careers.hmhco.com/culture_benefits 

Application Deadline:

September 19, 2026. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. The posting may be available past this date but is not guaranteed.

HMH is fully committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and to attracting, retaining, developing and promoting the most qualified employees without regard to race, gender, color, religion, sexual orientation, family status, marital status, pregnancy, gender identity, ethnic/national origin, ancestry, age, disability, military status, genetic predisposition, citizenship status, status as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, Armed Forces service medal veteran, other covered veteran, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. We are dedicated to providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment, and where employees are treated with respect and dignity. We actively participate in E-Verify.