Western Governors University · 5 hours ago
Senior Educational Program Designer
SLC Metro Area
Full-time
Hybrid
Mid, Senior Level
$78K/yr - $118K/yr
3+ years expWestern Governors University is committed to expanding access to higher education through innovative online programs. The Senior Educational Program Designer will lead the design of competency-based educational programs, ensuring they meet the needs of students, employers, and policymakers while promoting equity and sustainability.
Higher Education
Hiring Manager
Tyson Green
Responsibilities
Break down complex problems and explore ways to delight users with tools that solve their problems efficiently and effectively
Collaborate and partner with cross-functional teams of program development, academic, operations, and other stakeholders
Design programs that deliver on the promise of competency-based education to provide efficiency, flexibility, personalization, achievement of goals, and fit with industry expectations
Design programs that promote social mobility and equity
Ensure that program designs maximize broad access, including for underserved students, industry relevance, learning, and financial sustainability
Apply best practices in backwards program design to the context of CBE (Competency-based Education) programs
Quickly discover and prototype potential options, then weigh trade-offs between choices
Anticipate, advise upon, and document the cost, scope, and implementation effort of competing program design options
Apply a systems-thinking approach to help collaborators consider all elements of program design, such as enrollment, learner engagement, curriculum, instruction, evaluation, assessment, etc
Collaborate on the identification of student personas and ensure that pathways efficiently meet their needs
Conduct industry and outside standards research and align program designs to industry and outside standard needs
Select outcomes and design programs in meaningful ways
Assess the sustainability of a program design at scale over its lifecycle
Recommend tools and technologies that achieve scale while maintaining quality programming
Set success metrics
Thoroughly and beautifully document the resulting program design to guide development decisions that uphold the integrity of the design as well as provide a historical record for decisions that were made
Establish a model for training/education for faculty, mentors, enrollment counselors, and all other stakeholders; work directly with students during the deployment of programs and courses
Ensure the overall quality and effectiveness of training/education for faculty, mentors, and enrollment counselors
Communicate solutions to stakeholders in a manner that simplifies complexity and generates excitement
Facilitate meetings and brainstorming sessions that are organized and productive
Advocate for high standards of excellence in providing delightful and rewarding user experiences, and proactively support the team in achieving them
Provide thought leadership for new and emerging techniques for competency-based education
Performs other related duties as assigned
Qualification
Required
Three or more years' experience within the fields of product, interaction, and visual design/development
Bachelor's degree
Background in online learning and/or development of educational products
Background in metrics-driven, evidence-based decision making
Portfolio or work samples showcasing product design prowess, creativity, and depth of thought, coupled with fluency in best practices for interaction design, visual design, and prototyping
Experience working effectively on cross-organizational teams
Preferred
Master's degree or Ph.D. in a relevant field
Experience creating cross-contextual learning experiences that are born mobile, social-by-design, gamified, or non-linear with student-driven pathways
Proven record of developing and producing quality assessment and learning experiences using established development and production processes and methodologies
Demonstrated understanding of the higher education environment
Demonstrated success with change management, particularly stabilizing and structuring diffuse and ambiguous situations
Benefits
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
Other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave
Company
Western Governors University
Western Governors University focuses on improving lives by creating pathways to opportunity for its students.
5001-10000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Western Governors University has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (6)
2024 (4)
2023 (12)
2022 (30)
2021 (17)
2020 (37)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
unknownKey Investors
Kauffman Foundation
2025-05-08Grant
Leadership Team
Stephen Herzig
Vice President of Enterprise Solutions
Kacey Thorne
Senior Director, Academic Strategic Initiatives
Recent News
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