Role Summary

Owns the pedagogical architecture and learning system design of digital and blended Higher Education products.

This role defines how learning works at a system level – from skill progression and mastery definitions to misconception handling, adaptivity, feedback and mastery logic ;ensuring experiences are not just engaging, but instructionally effective, measurable and scalable .

The Senior Learning Design is embedded within product pods as the authority on learning science and learning system behaviour , partnering with Product, UX and Engineering to translate the product vision into learning systems that demonstrably improve outcomes .

What You’ll Do

• Own Pedagogical Architecture Design how learning works across the product – defining progression, mastery, practice and assessment flows in cohesive, evidence-based learning blueprints.
• Define Adaptive Logic Translate pedagogy into system behaviour by designing adaptive pathways, remediation and stretch logic, and specifying how the system responds to learner performance and why.
• Model Misconceptions & Diagnostics Make learning measurable by modelling misconceptions, defining diagnostic signals and designing targeted interventions to improve understanding.
• Design Learning Interactions (with UX) Ensure interactions drive understanding by defining learning patterns (e.g. retrieval, Socratic dialogue flows, etc.), feedback strategies and cognitively efficacious experiences in partnership with UX.
• Prototype & Validate Learning Efficacy Test what works by developing learning prototypes, defining hypotheses and running experiments to validate impact on accuracy, retention and transfer.
• Measure & Optimise Learning Impact Drive continuous improvement by defining success metrics (e.g., mastery, retention, etc.), specifying required instrumentation and using data to refine system performance.
• Build Scalable Learning Design Systems Enable quality at scale by creating feasible and reusable learning patterns, interaction blueprints and standards that ensure consistency and accelerate delivery.
• Operate as Core Pod Partner Embed learning design into product development by working with Product, UX and Engineering to translate strategy into buildable learning systems.

What Success Looks Like

Learning Outcomes

• Learners reach clearly defined mastery thresholds
• Misconceptions decrease measurably over time
• Retention improves beyond short-term correctness
• Learners successfully transfer knowledge to new contexts

System Efficacy

• Adaptive behaviour outperforms static pathways
• Learning interactions produce deep understanding, not just completion
• Learners progress efficiently (e.g., reduced time to mastery)

Product & Delivery Impact

• Learning specifications are clear, actionable and reduce build ambiguity
• Prototypes and early validation prevent late‑stage rework
• Reusable systems reduce E2E content and development cost

What You Bring

• Deep learning science expertise (e.g., cognitive load, retrieval, spacing, etc.)
• Strong background in assessment design, mastery modelling and diagnostics
• Proven experience designing learning systems, not just courses or content
• Ability to translate pedagogy into explicit, buildable system logic
• Experience using data to evaluate and improve learning effectiveness
• Strong cross‑functional collaboration skills, with a focus on outcomes and clarity

Compensation at Pearson is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific location. As required by the California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York State, New York City, Vermont, Washington State, and Washington DC laws, the pay range for this position is as follows:

The minimum full-time salary range is between $145,000 – $165,000.

This position is eligible to participate in an annual incentive program, and information on benefits offered is here. 

Applications will be accepted through June 5th. This window may be extended depending on business needs.

Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

If you are an individual with a disability and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career site as a result of your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by emailing TalentExperienceGlobalTeam@grp.pearson.com.

Job: Research, Efficacy, and Psychometrics

Job Family: Learning_&_content_development