Instructional Technologist

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career. Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

About the role

The Instructional Technologist develops and ensures that online learning products support the vision and design of WGU courses and learning experiences. This role focuses on troubleshooting, solving technical problems related to the delivery of learning and assessment materials, and is responsible for creating a consistent learning experience in the selected platform. The Instructional Technologist also ensures that all aspects of the course work properly (e.g., hyperlinks, videos, sandboxes, third-party integrations) and collaborates with the accessibility team to ensure universal design best practices are met. This role manages simultaneous projects, assesses risks, reports progress, and communicates effectively with stakeholders.

Location: Salt Lake City, UT office.

Responsibilities

• Manage the build process for new courses and learning experiences, and attend to continuous improvement and technology innovations of assigned projects.
• Ensure that quality standards are reflected in all aspects of the student experience.
• Collaborate with development team members to build superior online courses that are supported by research-based best practices in online learning.
• Work with the development team to ensure alignment of learning outcomes, content, and assessment during the build of courses in the selected platform.
• Work with project managers and other team members to ensure all deadline dates are met throughout the design and development process.
• Conduct quality assurance reviews on courses and implement revisions.
• Assist with identifying and resolving challenges related to technology, online delivery of content and assessments, and the student experience.
• Stay informed about updates, changes, retiring assets, innovations, and opportunities related to WGU’s selected platforms, delivery tools, and processes.
• Train and mentor team members on assigned WGU technologies.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field of study or equivalent work experience.
• Three (3) years of experience working with online university course design, curriculum development, online learning technologies and pedagogies, learner experience design, LMS systems, and assessment delivery systems such as Blackboard, Canvas, Smart Author, Brightspace, Moodle, etc.
• Ensuring quality standards for course design are met.

Skills

• Thorough knowledge of instructional design and learning theory.
• Ability to develop online courses according to project requirements and style guide.
• Effective interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate to achieve positive results on projects.
• Experience with Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and copyright compliance regulations and requirements.
• Demonstrated knowledge of agile development or rapid prototyping.
• Demonstrated ability to learn new technologies, solve emergent technical problems, and share learnings and suggestions with a team to come to a quick, value-driven solution.
• Demonstrated success with creating beautiful, friction-free learning experiences for students in competency-based programs.
• Ability to manage multiple projects at different stages while meeting deadlines and quality standards.
• Ability to work independently, under minimal supervision.
• Strong knowledge of available open educational resources (OERs).
• Demonstrated proficiency with educational technology and assessment/testing tools.
• Advanced skills in planning, organizing, and managing priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

• HTML coding skills with additional skills in CSS, AWS Cloud, Google Cloud, and Azure.
• Competency-based learning experience.
• Quality assurance training and certification (e.g., CBEN, OSCQR).
• Teaching experience.
• Experience utilizing AI tools.

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times.

Pay

The salary range for this position takes into account a wide range of factors including skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. A reasonable estimate of the current range is $66,800.00 - $100,100.00.

Benefits

• Full-time regular position (40 standard weekly hours) eligible for bonuses.
• Medical, dental, vision, telehealth, and mental healthcare.
• Health savings account and flexible spending account.
• Basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage.
• Accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages.
• Legal and identity theft coverage.
• Retirement savings plan.
• Wellbeing program.
• Discounted WGU tuition.
• Flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual.
• Flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual.
• 11 paid holidays.
• Up to 12 weeks of parental leave.