Director, Assessment Design

CFA Institute•Charlottesville, VA

1d•$130,000 - $180,000

About The Position

CFA Institute is evolving its global credentialing and certificate programmes towards more applied, skills-based assessment. We are seeking a Director, Assessment Design to introduce and advance task-based, scenario-based and performance-oriented approaches within our high-stakes assessments. This is a newly created, strategic individual contributor role with broad cross-functional influence. You will work in close partnership with Exam Development, Psychometrics, Product and Learning Content teams to design defensible, scalable assessment models that measure real-world professional competence across CFA Institute programmes.

Requirements

Significant experience leading assessment design within high-stakes credentialing, licensure or large-scale testing environments, ideally within professional associations or applied assessment-focused organisations
Demonstrated expertise in Evidence-Centered Design, including defining claims, evidence and task models prior to item development
Proven experience designing task-based or performance-oriented assessments beyond traditional multiple-choice formats
Strong understanding of assessment validity, reliability, fairness and defensibility in high-stakes contexts
Experience developing assessment frameworks, tools or exemplars that build organisational capability
Experience influencing and collaborating across matrixed, cross-functional environments without direct authority

Nice To Haves

Experience designing or implementing technology-enabled or simulation-based assessment tasks preferred
Experience developing scoring rubrics, including AI-assisted scoring approaches, preferred
Advanced degree preferred but not essential

Responsibilities

Design and develop task-based, scenario-based and performance-oriented assessment components that complement traditional exam items
Apply Evidence-Centered Design principles to define claims, evidence and task models before item development begins
Translate real-world professional tasks into assessable activities that measure applied competence
Partner with subject matter experts to create diverse assessment formats including constructed-response, case-based and performance tasks
Develop scoring approaches, including human scoring rubrics and AI-assisted models with human oversight
Contribute to technology-enabled assessments such as spreadsheet, workflow or coding-based tasks
Collaborate with psychometric and product colleagues to ensure validity, reliability, fairness and defensibility
Introduce applied assessment approaches into established workflows without disrupting operational integrity
Pilot and scale new assessment models within high-stakes, globally delivered professional qualifications