Job Description
Online Learning Experience Designer (HR Title: Instructional Designer II) – (INF00000187)
Description
Salary Range:
Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications
About SMU
SMU’s more than 12,000 diverse, high-achieving students come from all 50 states and over 80 countries to take advantage of the University’s small classes, meaningful research opportunities, leadership development, community service, international study and innovative programs.
SMU serves approximately 7,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students through eight degree-granting schools: Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Cox School of Business, Lyle School of Engineering, Meadows School of the Arts, Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Dedman School of Law, Perkins School of Theology and Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies.
SMU is data driven, and its powerful supercomputing ecosystem – paired with entrepreneurial drive – creates an unrivaled environment for the University to deliver research excellence.
Now in its second century of achievement, SMU is recognized for the ways it supports students, faculty and alumni as they become ethical, enterprising leaders in their professions and communities. SMU’s relationship with Dallas – the dynamic center of one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions – offers unique learning, research, social and career opportunities that provide a launch pad for global impact.
SMU is nonsectarian in its teaching and committed to academic freedom and open inquiry.
About the Department:
Since 2019, SMU’s Online Production Services (OPS) team has partnered with faculty and course developers to design engaging, innovative, and high-quality online courses impacting over 10,000 SMU students. SMU’s Online Production Services assists with end-to-end online course design, technology integration, and research-based pedagogy for both experienced instructors and those new to developing and teaching online. As part of SMU OIT’s Academic Technology team, OPS also collaborates with stakeholders across SMU to advance online teaching quality and other digital learning initiatives.
About the Position:
This role is an on-campus, in-person position.
The Online Learning Experience Designer will work with faculty to design, develop and teach media-rich, highly-interactive fully online and hybrid courses that provide a student-centered and authentic online learning experience in Canvas for students at Southern Methodist University. The Designer works collaboratively with faculty, course production project managers, and Media Developers to produce instructional and supplementary materials for online programs and will help train and support faculty in the technical and pedagogical skills necessary to deliver quality online learning content and courses in accordance to Quality Matters and other standards. This is a 12-month position requiring full time in-office hours. Additionally, this individual serves to coordinate Quality Matters training and certifications as well as Quality Matters course reviews.
Essential Functions:
- Work with academic leadership and faculty to design and implement innovative and effective online courses and online teaching techniques.
- Work with faculty to create new fully online courses and revise existing courses for online delivery.Creates instructional material: courses, curriculum, student guides or training manuals.
- Coordinate efforts with and report progress regularly to online production team manager(s) and other SMU leadership. Manage projects and create documents to enable accountability and tracking progress.
- Advise, train and support faculty on the appropriate technology tools, media and instructional strategies to achieve optimal course learning objectives as defined by course production team manager and faculty.
- Assist faculty with developing appropriate online course assessment tools, discussions, and activities to align with course learning objectives as defined by course production team manager and faculty.
- Submit and coordinate media/video/audio/graphic requests with the course production team manager and the online course production team’s media developers. Ensure all content of the course is accessible and adheres to QM standards
- Coordinate activities alongside online faculty developers throughout each course’s development life-cycle to the course production team manager to ensure that deadlines are realized and/or delays are mitigated.
- Perform technology-based coordinative bridge duties such as assisting faculty build “sandbox/development” online courses and assisting with the copying of new course content into new LMS course shells and/or into new terms. Expected to develop professional proficiency and to leverage SMU’s common instructional technologies as defined by course production needs.
- Perform regular course content quality and accessibility checks according to institutional quality/compliance/accreditation requirements and requests.
- Serves as primary Quality Matters “QM” service owners and SMU’s QM Campus Coordinator. This entails coordinating QM training/certification for faculty and also QM reviews of SMU’s online courses prior to launches according to the QM rubric.
Qualifications
Education and Experience:
Bachelor’s degree is required. Candidate with degree in instructional design, educational technology, instructional technology, online education is preferred.
A minimum of three (3) years of demonstrated experience in an academic or training environment in the development of course content for online delivery, including designing and producing digital course modules/web pages, web graphics, web resources, and other digital course materials.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Candidate must demonstrate familiarity with instructional design, including adult learning theories, learning styles, and learning outcome assessment techniques. Must also possess working knowledge of learning management systems (e.g., Canvas) for instruction. Candidate must have experience in project management.
Familiarity with learning management systems (eg Canvas) and other common instructional technologies is required. Candidate must demonstrate ability to skillfully use various audio and video technologies (video cameras, webcams, wireless mics, etc.) Basic knowledge of streaming audio, video, video-conferencing is required. Familiarity with modern quality rubrics (eg.Quality Matters) is required.
Candidate must demonstrate strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate broadly across the University and develop and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of constituencies. Must also demonstrate strong written communication skills. Candidate must possess strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify and analyze problems, as well as devise solutions. Must also have strong organizational, planning and time management skills.
Certification in either QM or OLC online quality rubrics is preferred.
Required software skills: Canvas, Zoom, Adobe Captivate, Camtasia, SnagIt, non-linear video editing software, audio editing software.
Physical and Environmental Demands:
- Sit for long periods of time
Deadline to Apply:
Priority consideration may be given to those submissions received by August 1, 2025.
Posted until filled.
EEO Statement
SMU is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression.
Benefits:
SMU offers staff a broad, competitive array of health and related benefits. In addition to traditional benefits such as health, dental, and vision plans, SMU offers a wide range of wellness programs to help attract, support, and retain our employees whose work continues to make SMU an outstanding education and research institution.
SMU is committed to providing an array of retirement programs that benefit and protect you and your family throughout your working years at SMU and, if you meet SMU’s retirement eligibility criteria, during your retirement years after you leave SMU.
The value of learning at SMU isn’t just about preparing our students for the future. Employees have access to a wide variety of professional and personal development opportunities, including tuition benefits.
Primary Location: USA-TX-Dallas
Job: Information Technology
Organization: Information Technology Services
Schedule: Regular
Shift: Staff
Employee Status: Individual Contributor
Job Type: Full-time
Job Level: Day Job
Travel: No
Job Posting: Jul 10, 2025, 10:17:45 PM
