Sr Dir, Education Technology Innovation

American Academy of Ped•Itasca, IL

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, Education Technology Innovation provides strategic leadership for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ education technology innovation, digital learning platforms, AI-enabled education strategy, learning product development, and course production operations. The role leads development of a modern, learner-centered digital education ecosystem that supports AAP’s mission, strengthens member and customer value, improves revenue performance, and positions AAP as a leader in pediatric education. The role guides education technology and AI strategies; shapes the future learning platform ecosystem; and leads digital product delivery and production operations. It connects learner, business, staff, and technical needs to product roadmaps, platform requirements, implementation priorities, and measurable outcomes. It also applies market and product strategy to AAP’s education offerings, using research, customer feedback, analytics, and revenue data to guide decisions and continuous improvement. The Senior Director supervises and develops assigned staff, manages budgets, and builds collaborative relationships with internal and external partners. As a senior member of the Education and Global Health Group leadership team, the role contributes to strategy, planning, operational decision-making, revenue growth, product innovation, and cross-functional alignment. The position works in a hybrid environment, with 40% of work time in the office per month; travel and some evening or weekend work are required, with flexibility to accommodate physicians’ availability and respond to urgent issues outside core business hours.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in adult education, instructional design, education technology, learning sciences, digital product management, computer science, information science, business, healthcare education, or a closely related field.
At least seven years of related experience leading the development, implementation, and evaluation of education technology programs, operations, and strategies.
Experience leading or influencing LMS, learning platform, digital education, or education technology strategy.
Experience managing instructional design, multimedia, course production, LMS build, or digital learning operations.
Experience developing or improving scalable course production workflows, quality assurance processes, accessibility standards, and launch-readiness models.
Experience evaluating and implementing technologies and tools such as AI, simulation, adaptive learning, mobile learning, microlearning, virtual reality, and augmented reality.
Experience leading cross-functional projects involving technology, education, business, content, data, user experience, and implementation stakeholders.
Experience translating learner needs, business goals, and technical constraints into product requirements, roadmaps, pilots, or vendor evaluation criteria.
Experience supervising staff, managing budgets, and working with vendors or external partners.
Excellent leadership, verbal and written communication, collaboration, diplomacy, change management, project management, budget management, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to think strategically; diagnose complex problems across systems, workflows, teams, and audiences; translate strategy into requirements and project plans; lead teams through change; and manage competing priorities.
Ability to communicate effectively with internal and external constituents, use data, research, and market evidence to guide decisions, and foster a positive, cooperative, respectful team environment.
Advanced technical and digital learning acumen, including familiarity with LMS platforms, learning technology standards, digital content workflows, analytics and reporting, accessibility, user experience, AI-enabled tools, and modern education product models.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office and collaboration platforms.
Travel and some evening/weekend work are required, with flexibility to arrange work around physicians’ availability and respond to urgent issues outside core business hours.
Ability to work in a hybrid environment.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a related field.
Experience in medical education, continuing education, healthcare education, association education, pediatric education, certification/MOC/CME environments, or professional learning.
Experience with AI-enabled education, simulation-based learning, digital product management, learner analytics, market segmentation, institutional sales models, publishing/content workflows, or large-scale platform replacement initiatives.
Familiarity with Microsoft Teams, WebEx, AI productivity tools, project management systems, LMS administration tools, and analytics platforms.

Responsibilities

Lead AAP’s education technology innovation strategy, including identifying, evaluating, testing, and planning implementation of emerging tools and approaches.
Develop and guide AAP’s education AI strategy, identify practical use cases, support safe and responsible adoption, develop repeatable workflows and guidance, and evaluate AI-enabled learning models.
Monitor trends in medical education, pediatrics, CME, healthcare technology, AI, simulation, digital learning, learner behavior, and education product innovation to inform the long-term technology roadmap.
Identify grant-funded and externally supported innovation opportunities, shape fundable concepts with internal stakeholders, connect ideas to potential funding sources, and align initiatives with scalable long-term strategy.
Provide strategic leadership for the learning platform ecosystem, including LMS, education platforms, publishing workflows, search and discoverability, identity and access, commerce, membership integration, learner data, reporting, and cross-platform user experience.
Lead education platform identification and management, ensuring requirements address learner needs, education strategy, instructional models, AI readiness, mobile access, accessibility, CME/MOC requirements, global delivery, analytics, integrations, operations, and scalability.
Contribute to publishing and digital content ecosystem strategy, especially at the intersection of education, publishing, authoring, review workflows, content reuse, metadata, search, licensing, and AI readiness.
Establish governance, requirements, evaluation criteria, decision gates, and pilot strategies for major education technology and platform initiatives.
Translate business, learner, staff, and technical needs into roadmaps, vendor requirements, implementation priorities, and success measures.
Lead digital product delivery and production operations for AAP education products, overseeing processes, teams, and partners from intake through design, development, quality assurance, accessibility review, launch, maintenance, and improvement.
Supervise, mentor, and develop assigned staff; foster inclusion and belonging, professional growth, clear objectives, performance evaluation, and skill development.
Improve the efficiency and scalability of course production by addressing bottlenecks, handoffs, documentation, templates, workflows, rework, quality assurance, and accessibility expectations.
Evaluate education offerings through a product lens, including learner need, audience fit, user experience, instructional value, business model, revenue opportunity, engagement, retention, accessibility, scalability, and market differentiation.
Define and apply market strategy and ideal customer profile principles, including target learners and buyers, audience segments, value propositions, pricing and packaging considerations, competitive positioning, and product-market fit.
Use learner and market research, customer feedback, competitive analysis, product analytics, and revenue data to guide product strategy, platform decisions, course redesign, portfolio prioritization, and commercialization opportunities.
Develop and implement measures of educational, operational, learner-experience, and business impact; use data for continuous improvement, product decisions, revenue strategy, and leadership reporting.
Ensure education technology solutions and learning products are accessible, inclusive, and aligned with AAP’s equity, diversity, and inclusion values, serving diverse domestic and global learners and learning needs.
Develop and oversee assigned budgets, evaluate and report variances, use resources responsibly, and support business planning for technology investments, platform initiatives, product development, and innovation pilots.
Contribute as a senior member of the Education and Global Health Group leadership team to strategy, planning, operational decisions, revenue growth, innovation, and cross-functional alignment.
Help the Education and Global Health Group catalyze AAP-wide adoption of innovative education tools, technologies, learner-centered practices, scalable production models, and sustainable business approaches.
Establish and maintain collaborative relationships with staff, physician leaders, subject matter experts, vendors, consultants, funders, technology partners, and peer organizations.
Perform other duties as assigned.