Director, Learning Design

Job Overview

The Director, Learning Design will lead the Learning Design team which ideates instructional and learning solutions as part of the product development process and serves as the organization’s pedagogical voice to ensure instructional integrity across all Learning A-Z products.

Job Responsibilities

– Establishes the vision for excellence in learning design and pedagogy leads the team to apply classroom best practices and research to the ideation and design phases of product development. Ensures content design that implements a consistent instructional model based on learning science

– Works with Product Management, Marketing, and Sales to ensure products meet market and customer needs

– Collaborates across LAZ departments, including Marketing, Sales, Product Management, UX/UI, and Engineering to support and ensure a common understanding of the pedagogical purpose, design, and intent of LAZ products

– Leads a team responsible for the creation of instructional blueprints, prototypes, content models, and other artifacts during the planning stages of development

– Participates in the ideation of products, product components, and content revisions for print and digital K-6 products in collaboration with leaders across the organization

– Serves as contact point for external advisors who help to inform the pedagogy and research base of product development

– Ensures that feedback from customers, advisory boards, and user-testing evaluation are reflected in the development and enhancement of products – Supports the Learning Design team by providing expert level knowledge of K-6 literacy practices and research

– Supports the Learning Design team in understanding the competitive landscape as well as use cases and implementation models

– Makes recommendations for CMS and platform features and functionality to support product and component design and provide consistency across product sites

– Collaborates with Content Integration and Engineering to ensure pedagogical design follows established taxonomies and backend systems; makes recommendations related to informational architecture as needed

– Remains informed about industry innovations and the competitive landscape as well as advances in learning science and academic research

– Maintains and updates time and cost estimates and determines staffing assignments

– Coaches team members on interpersonal skills, career development, vendor and contractor management

– Serves on project steering committees

– Provide support for efficacy studies

– Represents LAZ Learning Design externally in customer meetings, trade shows, and district and state-level curriculum initiatives. Serves as an internal thought leader, supporting marketing efforts including blogs, white papers, and other communications.

– Leads change-management efforts and collaborates with the Vice President of Learning Design and Content Development to determine department initiatives and vision

Job Requirements
– Bachelor’s degree in elementary education, literacy, learning design, curriculum and instruction, educational technology, or similar
– 10+ years in commercial educational content design and/or product development; minimum of 6 in a managerial capacity
– 3+ years of K-6 classroom teaching experience
– Proven track record of productizing educational research.
– Knowledge of the K-6 competitive landscape
– Deep understanding of state and national education standards
– Experience in a variety of instructional modalities and design approaches including game-based learning, close reading, project-based learning, and others
– Experience designing student and teacher-facing content, including lesson plans, videos, interactivities, and assessment
– Expert level knowledge of K-6 literacy pedagogy, including foundational skills
– Deep understanding of state and national education standards
– Deep understanding of children’s cognitive, emotional, social, and physical developmental stages
– Experience developing product research bases, white papers, and implementation models
– Demonstrated leadership and managerial abilities, including change management and ability to lead through influcence across an organization.

Preferred:
– Graduate degree in education or similar
– Knowledge of assessment best practices in a digital environment
 

Why Work With Us?

When you work with Learning A-Z, you’ll be helping students across the globe develop the comprehension, curiosity, and continued joy of learning they need to succeed in today’s world.

We’ve been awarded numerous accolades from a wide variety of edtech organizations. Our flagship products Reading A-Z, Raz-Kids, and Raz-Plus are beloved by teachers and students alike, and are currently used by approximately 1/5 of public students in the United States.

To learn more about our organization and the exciting work we do, visit www.learninga-z.com.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

We are dedicated to fostering a culture that celebrates unique backgrounds, ideas, and experiences. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability.