Director, Curriculum Design

EL Education

1d•Remote

About The Position

EL Education is a national nonprofit that partners with educators to transform K-12 schools and districts into hubs of equitable opportunity. Guided by a multi-dimensional vision of student achievement, we support all students to cultivate their unique genius and contribute to a better world. EL Education offers research-proven resources and practices, including the acclaimed EL Education K-8 Language Arts curriculum, Core Practices, and aligned professional learning. EL Education was founded in 1991 and currently serves 450,000 students in diverse communities across the country. Learn more at ELEducation.org. Reporting to the Managing Director, Products, the Director of Curriculum Design supports the strategy to maximize impact of all aspects of EL Education’s curricular offerings. This includes: leading new curriculum design projects as they emerge in EL Education’s product pipeline, maintaining and improving current products based on feedback from the field, responding to feedback and questions from the field about curriculum and related products, and collaborating with partner-facing and design teams to ensure instructional best practices are communicated clearly to build internal capacity and support customer needs. This role will also facilitate professional learning (in person or through video-based coaching) for high-priority partnerships and engage in sales calls where needed. This role will be integral in collaboration with product marketing, sales, and our professional learning products team.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience in curriculum design.
Deep understanding of K-8 ELA pedagogy, with a preference for demonstrated teaching experience in K-8 literacy.
Deep understanding of various assessment methods and their role in curriculum evaluation
Deep understanding of literacy practices and curriculum design, spanning multiple grade bands for K-8 products.
Classroom and curriculum design experience in developing ELD content for multilingual learners is preferred.
Experience with state and federal educational standards and regulations; understanding of regional and national trends related to developing high-quality content for multilingual learners is a plus.
Ability to manage multiple large-scale projects, with complex timelines and multiple deliverables.
Proficiency in using educational technology and software for curriculum design and delivery, as well as Google Suite, MS Suite, and project management tools.
Demonstrated experience facilitating adult learning.

Nice To Haves

Masters degree in curriculum/instructional design and/or ELD/TESOL is preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead curriculum design projects end-to-end (40%)
Plan and manage project timelines.
In collaboration with Product Management and the Managing Director, Products, plan and manage the budget for curriculum design projects.
In collaboration with Product Management, determine pedagogy and research base for new products and work closely with existing school and district partners to determine needs, pilot new products, and incorporate partner feedback into curriculum iterations, and support the development of ancillary products for new curricula by reviewing and providing feedback to include professional learning products and publications.
Assist Communications and Product Management teams with user-testing through an iterative design process to develop project prototypes.
In collaboration with Content Services and Production, lead template development and maintenance in collaboration with external production partners.
Design, lead training, and provide ongoing professional learning for Product team staff, partner-facing teams, and distribution partners to ensure high-quality design and implementation, serving as a bridge across departmernts.
Meet with and enable regular, two-way feedback with key internal stakeholders, including Product and customer-facing teams.
Maintain and improve current products based on feedback from the field (15%)
In collaboration with the product management team, serve as the curriculum design lead for instructional questions from internal teams, partners, and internal teams; provide grounded guidance, clarify intended pedagogy, and help codify repeat answers into reusable tools.
identify revision cycle priorities, as they align with trends and feedback from the field and market research, ensuring high-quality development of content.
Responsibility for documenting key instructional decisions, product assumptions, and design rationale to strengthen continuity and reduce dependence on individual institutional memory.
Support the design and review of programmatic resources to build the capacity of curriculum coaches, the sales team, and distribution partners across the organization (35%)
Participate in continuous improvement structures such as classroom walkthroughs, teacher and student interviews, and feedback cycles with partner-facing teams to learn about and support quality implementation
Provide guidance to the professional learning products team on key features of new/revised products to highlight in professional learning.
Identify potential challenges with new/revised products to focus on in professional learning.
Review professional learning resources.
Facilitate professional learning for high-priority curriculum partnerships and engage in calls with the sales team as required
Participate in training of our distribution partners to build product knowledge and expertise
Be Crew (10%)
Contribute to a culture of collaboration, innovation, feedback, and continuous improvement across the organization.
Actively participate in cross-functional initiatives and share insights to support organizational learning.