Senior Director, Learning Experience Design (LXD)

DEPARTMENT: Curriculum Solutions

POSITION TITLE: Senior Director, Learning Experience Design (LXD)

REPORTS TO: VP, Product Development & Operations

MODALITY: Remote (must be in compliance with Per Scholas office policy)

EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Full-Time

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Per Scholas is seeking a strategic and collaborative Senior Director, Learning Experience Design (LXD) to establish and lead our learning design strategy. This pivotal role will ensure Per Scholas’ curriculum products are pedagogically rigorous, learner-centered, accessible, and scalable.

This position sits within the Product Development & Operations team and provides strategic leadership that connects three key functions:

• Product Design: Partners with Product Owners to ensure course outlines are instructionally sound and development-ready.
• Instructional Design & Development: Provides standards, templates, and quality governance to the teams building our curriculum products.
• Product Delivery: Collaborates with the delivery team to ensure a high-quality, consistent learner experience within our Learning Management System (LMS).

The Senior Director, Learning Experience Design will directly manage a team of professionals responsible for product quality, EdTech enablement, and accessibility. This role is ideal for an experienced learning leader who excels at building systems, influencing across teams, and championing a vision for instructional excellence.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Learning Design Strategy & Governance
  • Define and evolve the learning design strategy for Per Scholas’ curriculum portfolio, ensuring alignment with learner outcomes and workforce readiness.
  • Establish and maintain a robust quality system, including learning design standards, templates, rubrics, and formal design review processes for all curriculum products.
  • Champion a competency-based, skills-forward learning philosophy that emphasizes practice, performance, and job readiness.
• Cross-Functional Partnership & Quality Assurance:
  • Partner with the Product Design team through a structured design review process to ensure course syllabi are instructionally coherent, development-ready, and aligned to learner profiles.
  • Collaborate with the Instructional Design & Development team to ensure consistent application of design standards and best practices.
  • Work with the Product Delivery team to define and verify in-platform quality standards, ensuring a seamless and accessible learner experience upon launch.
• People Leadership & Functional Management:
  • Lead, coach, and develop a team of direct reports in product quality, EdTech, and accessibility, setting clear goals and performance expectations.
  • Establish an effective operating rhythm for your team to manage priorities, resources, and risks effectively.
  • Strengthen cross-functional execution by clarifying roles, handoffs, and decision-making norms between teams
• Innovation & Continuous Improvement
  • Stay current on instructional design trends, learning technologies, and workforce development best practices
  • Experiment with emerging modalities (AI-enabled learning, adaptive technologies, microlearning) and evaluate efficacy
  • Advocate for learner needs and bring the 'learner voice' into product development decisions
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation:
  • Establish feedback loops using learner and instructor input, implementation data, and learner outcomes to drive iterative improvements to the curriculum.
  • Stay current on instructional design trends, learning technologies, and workforce development best practices to inform our strategy.
  • Advocate for the learner’s voice in all product development decisions.

Decision Rights & Governance

The Senior Director, Learning Experience Design (LXD) is accountable for learning design quality, development readiness, and enabling standards across the curriculum product lifecycle. This role sets the enterprise learning experience bar through documented criteria, governance routines, and cross-functional decision pathways; partnering closely with Product Design, Instructional Design & Development, and Product Delivery to ensure products launch with intended outcomes, usability, and accessibility. This role sets standards and acceptance criteria; tactical execution remains with Product Design, ID&D, and Delivery teams.

• Owns (acceptance criteria)
  • Learning design quality system: standards, templates, rubrics, and quality gates for end-user curriculum products across development and LMS delivery.
  • Build-ready criteria for Product Design outputs: definition of “development-ready” (required inputs, scope clarity, feasibility constraints, and acceptance criteria before entering build).
  • Accessibility & compliance readiness (functional ownership): sets accessibility/compliance standards, embeds requirements into design and build gates, and ensures audit-ready evidence and documentation through direct management of the Compliance/Accessibility function.
  • EdTech enablement standards (functional ownership): defines development enablement requirements (tools, workflows, templates, automation/AI enablement) needed to produce high-quality, platform-ready assets at scale through direct management of EdTech.
  • Learner experience acceptance criteria: defines the experience-level requirements that must be met for launch readiness (e.g., usability, navigation logic, assessment integrity, accessibility conformance, consistency).
• Co-owns (shared decision authority)
  • Product Design → Product Development handoff governance: documentation requirements, change-control practices, and review cadences that reduce downstream rework.
  • Portfolio quality metrics and continuous improvement priorities: prioritization of quality investments and defect prevention initiatives (with Product Quality & Experience, Product Design, Instructional Design & Development, and Product Delivery).
  • Release readiness review outcomes: participates in formal go/no-go reviews to confirm learner experience acceptance criteria are met, while Delivery retains operational ownership of release execution.
• Influences (advisory authority)
  • Product outline decisions through structured design reviews, mentorship, and constructive challenge; especially where decisions affect outcomes, feasibility, accessibility, or implementation constraints.
  • Instructional Design & Development practices through calibration routines, coaching, examples, and rubric alignment; without direct people management of those teams.
  • Platform and workflow decisions where they affect learner experience standards and production efficiency (in partnership with Delivery and ID&D).
• Escalates when needed
  • Escalates unresolved conflicts or risks that materially impact learner outcomes, accessibility/compliance conformance, feasibility, readiness, timeline, or cost, using defined governance forums and executive decision pathways.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING TO US

• 12+ years of professional experience in instructional design, learning experience design, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in a leadership role, including people management and/or leading cross-functional project teams
• Master's degree in Instructional Design, Learning Sciences, Educational Technology, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• Deep expertise in instructional design models (ADDIE, SAM, Backward Design, etc.) and adult learning theory
• Proven track record designing curriculum that achieves measurable learner outcomes (competency attainment, completion, learner satisfaction, employer validation)
• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop other senior design and development professionals
• Experience with competency-based education, project-based learning, and authentic assessment design
• Familiarity with modern authoring tools and the ability to set standards for their use at scale
• Strong understanding of accessibility standards (WCAG, Section 508) and inclusive design practices
• Excellent strategic thinking and project management skills with ability to manage multiple design initiatives simultaneously

Preferred Skill Sets

• Experience in workforce development, adult education, or community college settings
• Background designing technical training (IT, Cybersecurity, Cloud, Data, AI/ML)
• Familiarity with Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard) and SCORM standards
• Proficiency with e-learning authoring tools (Articulate Rise/Storyline, Adobe Captivate, or similar)
• Experience designing curriculum for underserved or underrepresented populations
• Knowledge of labor market analytics and employer-validated skill frameworks
• Certification in instructional design (ATD, eLearning Guild, or academic credentials)
• Experience with AI-enabled learning tools and adaptive learning technologies
• Experience leading a Learning Design Center of Excellence (COE) or similar governance function.

Personal Characteristics

• Learner-Centered Mindset: You design for the learner, not the content. You ask 'What does the learner need to DO?' not just 'What do they need to KNOW?'
• Strategic Leader: You can zoom out to see the big picture while maintaining attention to instructional design details
• People Developer: You invest in growing other designers and take pride in their success
• Design Thinking: You approach problems creatively, iterate based on feedback, and balance innovation with practicality
• Collaborative Spirit: You work effectively with SMEs, developers, and stakeholders who may not have design expertise
• Quality Advocate: You have high standards for instructional quality and can articulate why design decisions matter
• Mission-Driven: You are passionate about economic mobility and believe education can transform lives
• Data-Informed: You use learner data and outcomes research to validate design decisions
• Continuous Learner: You stay curious about new instructional approaches and are willing to experiment

Compensation

For this role specifically, we are targeting a salary range of $100,000 - $105,000, where the difference in salary is typically determined by several factors, including the geography in which the selected candidate resides, and alignment with qualifications and experience.