Job Description
Title: Director of Learning Design
Location: United States
Edmentum is the leading provider of K-12 digital curriculum, assessments, and services to 43,000 schools in all 50 states and over 100 countries worldwide. We partner with educators to create instructional technology that is proven, easy-to-use, individualized, and aligned to state standards. Built on a 60-year history of innovation and impact, we believe that when educators succeed, students thrive, everywhere learning occurs.
The Director of Learning Design serves as an integral thought leader in the company, helping to research and develop Edmentum’s pedagogical strategy across products, grade levels, and subjects. The Director of Learning Design works with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that Edmentum is offering high quality, innovative, pedagogically sound products, with a particular focus on the development of research-based instruction that empowers educators to help students achieve their academic goals.
The Director of Learning Design leads a talented team of Learning Designers and Learning Design Managers with diverse teaching, product development, research, and learning science backgrounds. The Director of Learning Design mentors the team to apply features of effective change management and adaptability in their work throughout the company.
Successful candidates will balance a high level of subject matter expertise and significant experience in the EdTech industry with pedagogical understanding, market knowledge, educator empathy, student engagement across grade bands, servant leadership, and communication skills that lead to successful collaboration and partnerships.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBLITIES:
- Help drive the company’s efforts to provide evidence-based digital curriculum that empowers educators and helps students succeed through thought leadership, research, and learning design strategy.
- Provide company-wide and outward facing thought leadership on learning design and best practices for standards-driven pedagogical design that represent the needs of students and teachers.
- Track and analyze shifts in education policy and pedagogy to ensure our designs are aligned with leading research literature and best practices.
- Evaluate product improvement ideas against academic research, market research, and an in-depth knowledge of current educational practice and the workflow of a teacher’s day.
- Evaluate potential partners or products for pedagogical excellence and collaborate with the Product and Executive leadership teams on pursuing advantageous partnerships and acquisitions.
- Build a team of learning science experts to drive forward Edmentum’s pedagogical vision.
- Facilitate their team’s ability to maximize their potential through servant leadership.
- Collaborate across content development, research, product management, and platform teams to ensure Edmentum products align with Edmentum’s mission, vision, and values.
- Collaborate with the research department to evaluate Edmentum’s instructional models, understanding how both scientifically based research and best practices authorship impact market direction and student outcomes.
- Collaborate with the strategy department on big ideas in education and how they tie into the company’s strategic plan and vision/mission/values.
- Collaborate with customer success teams to better position services around effective implementation and gain a better understanding of customer usage and need.
- Collaborate with advocacy team to better position sales for forward thinking leadership in the field and deeper knowledge of product value as well as customer connection and pulse.
- Represent Edmentum at tradeshows, events, and with customers.
- Attend to professional development through self-guided professional reading and training opportunities.
- Additional duties as assigned.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
- Master’s degree or equivalent experience in learning design, learning science, EdTech, or other education-related field; master’s degree or higher preferred
- At least 10 years of experience in education, education technology, and/or curriculum development required; cross- disciplinary and multi-grade experience strongly preferred
- Proven experience as a leader in the EdTech or education industries.
- Strong team leadership, team-building, and mentoring skills required, with at least 5 years of people management experience preferred
- Demonstrated ability to function in a leadership role with internal and external clients and liaise with other education experts.
- Hands-on experience with core educational programs and an in-depth knowledge of the competitive field in both core programs and ed tech.
- Demonstrated track record in productizing educational research in thoughtful and innovative ways.
- Experience in a variety of innovative instructional modalities and design approaches including game-based learning, close reading, project-based learning, and others.
- Understanding of the pedagogical and engagement differences, as well as varied teacher needs across grade bands
- Demonstrated experience developing learning design tools or documentation (i.e. prototypes, design briefs, writing guidelines, scope & sequences).
- Proven ability to achieve results through influence across an organization and collaboration with other departments
- Keen interest in excellent pedagogy and how it makes educators and learners more successful
- Experience working on cross-functional and virtual teams
- Proven track record of successful collaboration with others to meet goals
- Excellent communication skills
- Growth mindset
Edmentum is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy work environment for our employees, vendors, and guests. Our organization will comply with all COVID-19 vaccination requirements at a site or facility that requires all employees and contractors who will be performing services. The CDC defines fully vaccinated as being two weeks after the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 Vaccine or two weeks after the single dose of a one-dose vaccine.
Edmentum is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)
Edmentum’s notice regarding the collection of personal information from interested candidates is available here
