Career Center

Who we are
The Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning (VPAL) creates deeply engaging and scalable learning experiences for students at Harvard and beyond. VPAL's instructional development team is looking for a creative and energetic Instructional Design Lead to develop educational media and curricular materials for online courses created collaboratively with Harvard faculty.

How you'll contribute
The Instructional Design Lead guides the conception, design, and development of high-quality, high-impact online learning experiences, typically overseeing 2-3 course development projects at a time. Each project is different, but all involve working with faculty and assembling and leading teams that can include graduate students and other subject-matter experts as well as writers, illustrators, and animators. The Instructional Design Lead also collaborates closely with VPAL's media production and technology teams to create each course.

Please note that VPAL is hiring for (2) Instructional Design Leads at this time.

At VPAL, your role will be to:
Work independently and collaboratively to lead the development of high-quality courses or other learning experiences

• Collaborate with faculty and course team members to identify and articulate learning outcomes for courses in development.
• Work with course team members to develop engaging lesson plans that take advantage of multimedia and instructional technology tools.
• Collaborate with colleagues from VPAL's media and technology teams to develop innovative, impactful educational activities.

Lead course development and production from start to finish

• Communicate regularly and effectively with assigned project faculty, team members, and other stakeholders.
• Work productively and flexibly with faculty throughout the course development process.
• Lead the assigned project team, including VPAL staff as well as school, department, and other contract personnel.
• Work with VPAL's project manager to develop and implement project plans, negotiating an appropriate balance among established practices, available resources, and opportunities for innovation.

Contribute to broader activities of the Office of the VPAL

• Participate in and contribute to internal team meetings and activities focused on reflective practice, integration of research, and pedagogical innovation.
• Other duties as assigned.

As part of the interview process for this role, finalists may be required to complete a brief assignment.

IMPORTANT NOTE: A cover letter is requested for this role. Your cover letter and resume should be submitted as a combined SINGLE DOCUMENT under the resume tab.

Individual flexible and remote work options for this role will be discussed during the interview process. All work must be performed in a state where Harvard is registered to do business (CA, CT, MA, MD, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT) VPAL is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this position.

PLEASE NOTE: The University requires all Harvard community members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and remain up to date with COVID-19 vaccine boosters, as detailed in Harvard's Vaccine & Booster Requirements. Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons. More information regarding the University's COVID vaccination requirement, exemptions, and verification of vaccination status may be found on the University's

Candidates MUST meet the following basic qualifications in order to be considered for this role:

• Bachelor's degree
• Minimum of 5 years of work experience that includes the development of course or curricular materials (advanced degree may count towards years of related work experience)

Additional Qualifications and Skills

• Strong understanding of effective approaches to online teaching and learning
• Excellent interpersonal and verbal/written communication skills
• Aptitude for learning and applying new technologies quickly and effectively
• Proven successful work experience in curriculum design, educational media, educational publishing, academic technology, and/or teaching and learning support
• Demonstrated ability to work with and manage temporary project staff and students from a variety of backgrounds, disciplines, and levels of expertise
• Experience using learning technology tools and project management applications
• Ability to work consistently and constructively in a fast-paced, highly matrixed environment
• Experience working with copyright and intellectual property issues
• Advanced degree preferred
• Background in a STEM field preferred
• Multimedia production experience and/or teaching experience is a plus

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER: We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.