Education Designer, Dual Enrollment + Early Pathways

Education Design Lab

4d•$89,000 - $96,000•Remote

About The Position

The Education Designer, Dual Enrollment & Early Pathways, advances the Lab’s Early Pathways strategy by helping institutions reimagine traditional dual enrollment as a launchpad toward equitable, stackable, career-connected pathways. Using the Lab’s nationally recognized human-centered design approach, this role works across K–12 districts, higher education, employers, and workforce partners to co-create solutions that expand opportunity and upward mobility for New Majority Learners. In this 2-year term role, the Education Designer serves as a strategic design partner to institutions participating in initiatives like the Career Ready by Design Challenge. They guide stakeholders through discovery, design, prototyping, and implementation phases that align early college experiences with labor-market needs. The Education Designer also plays an essential cross-functional role, facilitating collaboration across sectors, translating learnings into actionable insights, and contributing to the Lab’s thought leadership and impact agendas. Dual enrollment expertise is essential in this role, as the Education Designer will help colleges and districts transform traditional course-based models into scalable, career-connected pathways. We are looking for someone who has navigated the complexities of cross-sector partnerships, policy environments, and sustainable funding structures. This background ensures the Education Designer can anticipate barriers, identify leverage points, and support institutions in building early pathways that drive real economic mobility. This position combines facilitation, design, strategy, and implementation support, making it ideal for someone who thrives in complex ecosystems and is deeply committed to equitable learner pathways.

Requirements

Minimum 5+ years of experience designing, implementing, or managing dual enrollment or early college programs.
Deep knowledge of dual enrollment enabling conditions; demonstrated success transforming individual DE courses into stackable, credential- or degree-aligned pathways.
Experience coordinating complex collaboration among K-12 systems, higher education, employers, and workforce boards.
Familiarity with policy and funding structures that shape dual enrollment sustainability.
Understanding of how to maximize credit attainment and integrate industry-recognized credentials.
Experience with human-centered design, change management, or similar design/facilitation approaches.
Strong experience working in/with K-12 partners and/or community colleges (preferred).
Skillful stakeholder management across at least two sectors: higher education, workforce development, employer engagement, future of work, or public-private partnerships.
Ability to translate problem statements into discovery and design activities.
Exceptional communication skills in writing, synthesis, and facilitation.
Oral Communication: Ability to adjust communication for different audiences and facilitate complex cross-sector conversations with clarity and empathy.
Critical Thinking: Proficiency in gathering and evaluating information, identifying patterns, and making well-reasoned recommendations in ambiguous environments.
Initiative: Demonstrated self-direction with the ability to lead without formal authority, identify opportunities for innovation, and move work forward across multiple stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Lead project partners through the Lab’s human-centered design methodology (Understand → Ideate → Prototype → Launch & Iterate).
Design or enhance dual enrollment pathways that are clear, stackable, transferable, and aligned to thriving-wage jobs.
Integrate industry-recognized credentials, credit transfer structures, and labor market insights to ensure pathways lead to real economic mobility.
Embed equity considerations into every stage of pathway design, centering the needs of underserved learners.
Manage engagement across K–12 partners, colleges, employers, workforce agencies, learners, and families.
Facilitate ecosystems where all partners share ownership of early pathway models.
Structure employer engagement that results in meaningful work-based learning experiences and program relevance.
Maintain project momentum through clear communication, strategic decision-making, and structured collaboration.
Provide coaching and technical assistance as partners implement new pathway models—including advising on holistic student supports.
Support institutions in developing scalable and sustainable funding and staffing models.
Surface best practices and synthesize learnings to inform future design, Lab thought leadership, and field-facing publications.
Track progress against impact metrics and work with Lab teams to translate insights into actionable tools and resources.