Executive Director, Learning Design

About ETS:

For more than 75 years, we have amplified products and services based rigorous research and our belief in the power of learning. Driven by our mission to advance quality and equity in education, ETS provides learning solutions, pioneering research and trusted assessments that help guide learners around the world on their path to new possibilities.

Our portfolio of trusted measures include TOEFL®, TOEIC®, GRE® and Praxis® . Along with research, development and innovation that explores new frontiers in learning and measurement our educational measurement solutions and research contribute to the development of new methods and tools, inform important dialogue with education policymakers, and shed light on critical issues and potential solutions - all with the aim of creating a world where all learners can improve their lives through education.

With new senior leadership at the helm, ETS aims to continue changing the lives of all learners as we expand our organization's global footprint. Our goal is to remain at the forefront of assessment and measurement efficacy within the education and ed tech space as it continues to grow and evolve.

The Executive Director of Learning Design will lead the strategy for how ETS develops learning and assessment solutions in the K16 Business Unit. The Executive Director will lead a team of learning scientists, instructional designers, user experience research and design professionals working across cross-functional K16 teams to design evidence-based, impactful learning experiences that are efficient, effective, equitable, and tailored to target user needs.

Successful candidates will have demonstrated experience in (a) developing and executing strategy and leading individual contributors in cross-functional teams for educational technology learning solution development (b) engaging in user-centered design (c) synthesizing and applying relevant learning and measurement science foundational research (theoretical and empirical) in design of learning experiences (d) conceptualizing and creating innovative and evidence-based AI capabilities and (e) collaborating with both internal and external stakeholders and consultants to ensure on-time completion of project goals.

• Drive product development learning science and design strategy and ways of working and provide mentorship and guidance to learning scientist/s, instructional designer/s, and user experience and design individual contributors.

• Develop and execute the strategy for articulating the intended learning and/or developmental outcomes and establishing relevant research foundations and design principles of solutions.

• Develop and execute the strategy for executing processes for engaging with users of target market and user segments to conduct visioning activities, needs assessments, validation of problem statements, and ongoing testing throughout the product development lifecycle.

• Collaborate with team and relevant stakeholders to articulate product requirements and drive on-time delivery of product offerings against tight deadlines.

• Collaborate with team to ensure foundational documentation and its implementation supports and drives solution content strategy, design, and implementation, and supports all cross-functional roles in solution design iterations.

• Collaborate with AI engineers to conceptualize and realize insights yielded from and triangulated across affective, behavioral, and cognitive data throughout the learning experience.

• Drive learning science perspective and expertise informing capabilities teammate research agenda, implementation, and iteration.

• Drive learning science perspective and expertise to the development of defensible claims that ETS can make externally about assessment and learning solutions and supports work with business units, marketing, and sales to implement those claims into go-to-market strategies and to support user adoption and implementation decisions.

• Stay up to date with emerging research methods, trends, best practices, and evolving technologies in learning science and design.

• Adhere to ethical standards and comply with the laws and regulations applicable to the job function.

• Experience engaging with diverse target market and user segments to understand their needs and creating content for engaging evidence-based learning experiences to meet those needs.

• A robust learning design portfolio demonstrating independent contributions to innovative and creative learning experience design in the K16 context.

• Ability to work collaboratively and effectively in Agile teams and with cross-divisional stakeholder groups.

• Strong oral and written communication skills.

• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

• Well-developed organizational skills, program management experience, and ability to create and adhere to strategic product roadmaps.

• Strong technical skills and a willingness/adeptness to learn new technology.

• Being able to adapt to changes to policies and processes and apply new learnings in an expected or reasonable time frame is desirable.

• A doctoral degree in learning or cognitive science, assessment and measurement, instructional or curriculum design, education, educational psychology or related area.

• At least 5 years professional experience in leadership.

• 10+ years in applied learning science and design within educational technology product development, and/or programs.

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ETS believes in a Total Rewards philosophy for our employees, and they include:

• Health, Vision, Dental insurance plans to choose from

• Generous continuous learning support, from individual learning grants to up to 6 classes a year for tuition reimbursement as well as on-line learning access

• Generous PTO and vacation time to balance your work and life

• Additional 8 hours of PTO for volunteer work

• Retirement plan (401(a)) and traditional Roth (403b) with company contribution

• Commuter Benefits, Pet Insurance, 1 year subscription to Calm App

ETS is mission driven and action oriented

• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is at the forefront of the ETS employee's daily work. To further foster an inclusive environment ETS is home to a wide variety of Affinity groups that celebrate the diversity of our talented employees.

• How about cultivating growth, innovation, and continuous transformation for the next generation of rising professionals as leaders? ETS offers multiple Business Resource Groups (BRG) for you

• Are you passionate about volunteering and being active in your career and community? ETS offers our Center for Advocacy & Philanthropy (CAAP) where we encourage ETS employees to become active volunteers in their communities and schools through the ETS Cares Giving Campaign. Our employees can support any 501c3 or eligible charity of their choice.

ETS is an Equal Opportunity Employer comprised of people with different experiences, strengths, and backgrounds who share a passion for advancing quality and equity in education. We are dedicated to building teams that reflect the various backgrounds, experiences, and identities of those we serve. The Talent Acquisition team strives to ensure candidates enjoy a fair and equitable hiring process. We believe our differences empower us to be a better team, making better decisions and delivering better results.