Overview

The Senior Instructional Designer is a highly advanced professional-class writer who works under very limited supervision to develop, update, and deliver exceptional course materials for PowerSchool customers. The Senior Instructional Designer is responsible for creating the source content for all training materials, including agendas, handouts, presentations, eLearning storyboards, and other supplemental resources. In addition to working closely with Editors, eLearning Developers, Multi-Media Designers, Graphic Designers, this position sometimes works with colleagues in the Sales, Product Development, and Marketing organizations at PowerSchool. It also works with subject matter experts to understand education concepts, learner needs, client requirements, and product functionality.

Responsibilities

Essential duties and responsibilities include the following. Reasonable accommodations may enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Produce new interactive eLearning and instructor-led training materials
• Write new and update existing instructional content that is clear, easy-to-understand, engaging, informative, and grammatically correct
• Develop training materials that are relevant, practical, and based upon adult learning principles
• Incorporate instructional design models appropriate for adult learners, use team-proven development processes, and adhere to the in-house style guide
• Collaborate with subject matter experts to ensure accuracy of content and relevance to targeted audience
• Participate in peer reviews of materials and courses
• Adhere to writing standards and project timelines
• Incorporate customer and trainer feedback to ensure compliance with best practice processes
• Work with event coordinators, training managers, and product managers to develop new offerings as assigned
• Provide status updates as required
• Attend team and product-related meetings, as needed
• Gain familiarity with the features, processes, functions, and uses of PowerSchool's K-12 Technology products
• Identify and share ways to improve workflow designs based on end user successes and failures
• Provide constructive feedback to peers seeking review of material
• Mentor other instructional designers
• Identify and share best practices
• Create course and content templates
• Help write and maintain how-to guides and process documents
• Lead some peer professional development trainings for other team members
• Participate in cross-functional team processes or projects
• Create project proposals and manage to strict timelines, update key business partners appropriately
• All other responsibilities assigned by management

Qualifications

To be considered for and to perform this job successfully, an individual must perform each essential duty and responsibility satisfactorily. The requirements listed below represent the knowledge, skill, and ability required.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Instructional Design, Education Design, or in a related field, such as English, Communication, or Education preferred (or equivalent experience)
• Master’s degree in a related field is a plus
• Minimum of five years of experience as a writer for adult audiences required
• Experience in K-12 education preferred
• Teaching, training, or web/graphic design experience preferred
• Knowledge of PowerSchool products a plus
• Expertise in Articulate 360 (including Rise and Storyline, or similar content authoring tool) and learning management systems
• Expertise in Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint, Jira, and other technical collaborative environments
• Special consideration for applicants who have experience in writing for complex technical topics, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, and J-query
• Must be willing to complete a writing assessment as part of the application process
• Must have expertise in:
  • Adult learning theories
  • Instructional development and design methods (using highly visual and web-based media)
  • Writing instructional content for complex software systems
  • Editorial review process
  • Current education trends

Skills and Abilities

• Have strong knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar
• Write clearly, concisely, and accurately with focus on adult learner audience
• Employ an exceptional attention to details while maintaining the appropriate flow and objectives of the overall course
• Demonstrate an ability to teach or train, creativity, and an enthusiasm for learning
• Assimilate technical and academic information quickly
• Use work-based scenarios, examples, and explanations to help customers learn
• Create clear conceptual, procedural, and instructional material under aggressive project schedules
• Think flexibly and employ innovative solutions
• Participate in and respond appropriately with feedback throughout a rigorous review process
• Give and receive constructive feedback graciously
• Follow best practices, yet take initiative
• Work on a variety of tasks, shift easily from one task to another, and complete in a timely manner
• Organize and prioritize work
• Demonstrate exceptional collaboration and communication skills in a geographically distributed team
• Demonstrate exceptional knowledge of and the ability to keep current with media and instructional technology literature and other areas of expertise
• Willingness to travel to PowerSchool events upon request

EEO Commitment

PowerSchool is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. PowerSchool is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. Our inclusive culture empowers PowerSchoolers to deliver the best results for our customers. We not only celebrate the diversity of our workforce, we celebrate the diverse ways we work. If you have a disability and need an accommodation regarding our recruiting process, please let us know by emailing accommodations@powerschool.com.