Learning Design Lead

About Us Encord is the universal data layer for AI that helps 300+ AI teams train and run models on the right data. Our platform indexes, curates, annotates, and evaluates data across the full AI lifecycle, from development through production. Trusted by Woven by Toyota, AXA, UiPath, Zipline, and more. We're an ambitious team of 100+ working at the frontier of AI and have raised $60M in Series C funding from Wellington Management, CRV, Next47 and Y Combinator. The role As a Learning Design Lead, you will build the instructional backbone of our annotator hiring and onboarding pipeline. Today, annotator training and screening are handled ad hoc — no one on the team has a background in instructional design, and we're essentially winging it. This role exists to fix that: designing training modules robust enough that annotators can learn the task easily, and screening modules rigorous enough that we consistently pass the right people through to production work. This is a foundational hire for a broader goal of automating the end-to-end annotator hiring process. What You'll Do Design and build training modules that teach annotators a given task clearly and efficiently, so they can be onboarded with minimal hand-holdingDesign screening/assessment modules that are difficult enough to reliably separate annotators who will perform well in production from those who won'tDefine grading criteria and pass/fail thresholds for screening assessments, advising the team on how to score submissions, since this methodology doesn't currently exist at EncordUse production performance data to continuously validate and refine both training and screening contentPartner with the Data Strategy team to move toward a fully automated annotator hiring pipeline Who We're Looking For A rigorous instructional designer with a strong grounding in learning science and assessment design: rubric design, calibrating item/task difficulty, and validity of pass/fail cutoffsA track record of building training or certification content that measurably improves learner readinessExperience designing assessments or screening tools that predict on-the-job performance, ideally in an operational or workforce-training settingComfortable operating without an established playbook. You'll be building this methodology from scratchData-driven: you validate and iterate on content using real production performance signals, not just intuition Experience Requirements 5–6+ years of total professional experienceAt least 2+ years in instructional design, curriculum development, assessment/test design, or a related EdTech roleSolid grounding in learning science and assessment design (e.g., rubric design, calibrating item/task difficulty, validity of pass/fail cutoffs)Bonus: background at an EdTech company or in a corporate L&D functionBonus: familiarity with data annotation, labeling, or data operations workflowsBonus: experience designing or scaling a hiring/screening pipeline Why Encord Competitive salary, commission, and meaningful equity in a high-growth start-upClear, accelerated growth opportunities as the company scales rapidlyStrong in-person culture: 4 days/weekFlexible PTO to fully rechargeAnnual learning & development budgetComprehensive health, dental, and vision coverageFrequent travel opportunities across the U.S., London, and EuropeBi-annual company offsites, twice-weekly team lunches, and monthly socials