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.

Working closely with a learning experience designer, multimedia developer, content design writer, and partners across Academy, the associate instructional technologist supports the development of non-degree, skills-based, online WGU Certificates. The associate instructional technologist uses Design Documents created by the Learning Experience Designer to create or modify courses and modules on WGU Academy’s instance of the Open EdX platform. This role focuses on building skills in troubleshooting, solving technical problems related to delivery of learning and assessment materials, and creating a consistent high-quality experience for our Rising Talent customers and employer clients. The associate instructional technologist also ensures that all aspects of the course function properly and collaborates with other developers to ensure accessibility, asset management, content delivery, user experience, and universal design practice standards are met. The person in this role is responsible for supporting the success of simultaneous projects, including assessing risk, reporting progress, and communicating effectively with stakeholders to promote collaboration and accountability. 

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Coordinate the build and/or tailoring process for new non-degree offerings from WGU Academy.
• Ensure the quality of the functional design of courses and assessments
• Collaborate with development team members to build superior online courses that are supported by research-based best practices in online learning.
• Work with program owners to explore technologies which address the needs of the offering (e.g., simulations, virtual reality)
• Serve as consultant, partnering with others on the WGU Academy Product Design and Development team to innovatively apply WGU instructional and assessment tools.
• Maintain a complete understanding of all WGU learning and assessment tools and resources.
• Work closely with the accessibility team to ensure that instructional and  assessment tools and services  are fully accessible to students.
• Work with project managers and other team members to ensure all deadline dates for assigned projects are met throughout the design and development process
• Implement required revisions based on stakeholder reviews and feedback.
• Assist with identifying and resolving challenges related to technology, to online delivery of content and assessments, and to the student experience
• Appraise capabilities, strengths and weaknesses of existing, new, and emerging and innovative e-learning technologies and tools that support WGU Academy’s Key Performance Indicators.
• With learning operations coordinators, stay informed about updates, changes, retiring assets, innovations, and opportunities related to WGU’s selected platforms and delivery tools and processes
• Be trained and mentored by experienced team members on assigned technologies, t processes, and best practices.
• Receive objectives, deadlines and specific instructions from supervisor and others regularly.  Work is reviewed and employee receives instructions throughout all processes.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities:

• Current, solid knowledge of instructional design, learning experience design, and learning theory
• Current, solid knowledge of instructional technologies or learning platforms
• A drive to build market-leading online products according to project requirements and style guide
• Strong interpersonal skills and history of positive results achieved collaboratively
• Experience with UDL, ADA,  and copyright compliance
• Experience with existing quality standards for online program design (ie. Quality Matters)
• Commitment to adding value to the team through efficiency and lean, iterative development
• Ability to manage multiple projects at different stages while meeting deadlines and quality standards
• Ability to work quickly and independently under supervision
• Planning, organizing, and self-management skills

Competencies:

Organizational or Student Impact:

• Accountable for decisions that impact students.
• Creates or facilitates learning experiences that support students ‘attainment of knowledge and skills.
• With specific guidance from team members, acts independently in executing tasks.

Problem Solving & Decision Making:

• Works on a limited array of matters and complexity.
• Able to effectively utilize resources to address student concerns and inquiries.
• Individual follows university and department established policies and best practices.

Leadership:

• Considered a contributing and collegial team member.
• Individual adheres to learning and operational quality guidance and instructions.
• Supports initiatives within the area of specialty.

Job Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in a related field of study or equivalent work experience with online university course design, curriculum development, online learning technologies and pedagogies

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong experience with distance education and workplace training and development is preferred. 
• HTML coding skills with additional skills in CSS, JavaScript, AWS Cloud, and Azure
• Background in learning experience design
• Familiarity with competency-based learning and skills-based programming.
• Knowledge of available open educational resources (OERs)
• Quality assurance training and certification (CBEN, OSCQR, QM, other)
• Experience with online assessment and survey tools
• Knowledge of LMS systems and assessment delivery systems such as Open edX, Blackboard, Canvas, Smart Author, Brightspace, Moodle, etc.
• Competency with educational technology and assessment/testing tools

Physical Requirements:

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

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is

Pay Range: $56,600.00 – $84,900.00

WGU will accept applications for this position until 12:00 AM ET, 08/14/2024

How to apply: apply online

Full-time Regular Positions (FT classification, standard working hours = 40)

This is a full-time, regular position that is 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; and 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, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

The University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.