About Primer

Primer is a growing network of K–8 schools restoring the timeless foundations of American education. Inspired by the original teaching primers that shaped a nation of readers, thinkers, and builders, our schools begin with what has always worked, and build for what lies ahead. Close-knit learning environments. Skilled educators. A culture that takes kids seriously as learners and leaders.

Primers shaped the first 200 years of American children. Primer will ready them for the next.

About the role

Primer is building a K–2 program that works: rigorous, developmentally grounded, and designed to function across a network of small campuses. This role exists to own that program: building on what's already in place, making ongoing curriculum decisions, staying current on best practices, and doing the day-to-day thinking that keeps K–2 learning strong as we scale.

You'll be the in-house expert on early childhood academics at Primer: the person who knows the field, has opinions about what works, and can translate both into practical guidance for Primer Leaders and clear input for the team building PrimerOS. This is a remote, collaborative role on a small curriculum team, with quarterly travel to campuses to see the program in action.

Responsibilities

Own the K–2 academic program

• Make and document curriculum decisions across K–2 math and literacy, with full ownership of program design in both subjects

• Design and support training for Primer Leaders on K–2 curriculum and instructional practices, so they have what they need to execute the program effectively

• Partner with the Pursuits Lead to support the design of K–2 Pursuits, and coach Primer Leaders on implementing them effectively

• Stay current on early childhood best practices, emerging curriculum, and learning tools so that program decisions are always well-informed

• Hold monthly check-ins with K–2 Primer Leaders to provide support, answer questions, and stay close to how the program is functioning day to day

• Think proactively about how to maintain program quality and consistency as Primer scales, including how to better monitor execution remotely

Collaborate across the curriculum team

• Work closely with other members of the Academic team to ensure coherence and continuity across the K–8 experience

• Partner with the Director of Campus Teams to understand what's happening on the ground and translate that into program adjustments

• Report to and operate in close partnership with the Director of Academics

Shape the K–2 experience in PrimerOS

• Serve as an active partner to the product team on K–2 features, contributing to design discussions, providing feedback on projects, and piloting new tools before broader rollout

• Flag issues and gaps in how PrimerOS supports the K–2 program and advocate for solutions

Stay connected to campuses

• Travel quarterly (at minimum) to observe K–2 classrooms and see the program in action

• Build relationships with Primer Leaders to understand how the program is landing and where support is needed

What we're looking for

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree

• At least 5 years of classroom teaching experience in K–2

• Experience designing or meaningfully shaping a curriculum program, not just delivering one

• Deep knowledge of K–2 literacy and math: how young children learn, what strong early instruction looks like, and how to design for it

• You've done meaningful program work beyond classroom delivery: improving or extending a scope and sequence, curriculum guide, or program framework. You're not looking for a blank slate, and you don't need one to do your best work.

• 2+ years of relevant experience in curriculum, instructional design, or a closely related role

• You work well across a small, distributed team and can manage your own time and priorities without heavy oversight

• You're comfortable giving and receiving direct feedback

• You do your best work independently and don't need daily in-person collaboration to stay effective

• You're genuinely interested in seeing your work in action and willing to travel quarterly to campuses to make that happen

Nice to Have

• Experience in a charter, microschool, or non-traditional school environment

• Familiarity with mastery-based or individualized instruction models

• Spanish/English bilingual

Why this role may not be a fit

• You're looking for an established program to maintain. The K–2 program is real and running, but it needs someone who wants to actively improve it — and who's comfortable making judgment calls without a perfect playbook.

• You need a lot of day-to-day structure or check-ins to stay on track. A remote role on a small, fast-moving team will feel like more freedom than support. We trust people to run their work; the accountability is real, but the scaffolding is light.

• The mission is background context rather than personal conviction. Candidates who thrive here tend to feel genuinely frustrated by what the current education system does to kids — and see Primer as a place to actually do something about it. That kind of drive isn't something the role creates; you bring it in.

• You prefer a large curriculum team with deep specialization. This is a small team where you'll own a wide surface area. There's no separate instructional design team to hand off to — you're writing the training, shaping the product, and staying close to campuses all at once.

• Quarterly travel feels like a burden. It's actually one of the best parts of this job — but it does require flexibility. Seeing your work land (or not) in a real classroom is how you stay sharp, and we need someone who sees that as essential, not optional.

Primer is a mission-first company. We believe our mission is the highest-leverage way we can create positive change. In service of that, we keep work centered on mission execution and avoid social or political activism at work that’s unrelated to the mission. If that energizes you, we’d love to see you apply.