Senior Teaching & Learning Design Specialist

University of North Texas System•Denton, TX

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Teaching and Learning Design Specialist serves as a lead expert partner and consultant to educators across the university — including graduate student instructors, adjunct faculty, staff educators, and experienced faculty at all career stages. In this role, faculty and instructors are the lead designers of their own teaching; the Senior Specialist brings deep and practiced expertise in instructional design, pedagogy, and learning science to walk alongside them and support their development as educators. The Senior Specialist’s advanced expertise will also allow them to take on more complex projects, serve as leaders of programmatic initiatives, mentor colleagues within the team, and contribute to the unit’s strategic direction. The Senior Specialist works as a member of an integrated team whose collective expertise spans the full spectrum from instructional design to educator identity and growth.

Requirements

Master’s degree in instructional design, education, curriculum and instruction, learning sciences, higher education, or a closely related field required; doctoral degree preferred.
A minimum of three (3) years of progressively responsible experience working directly with faculty or instructors in a higher education setting on course design, faculty development, or educator formation; or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
Advanced and practiced knowledge of instructional design frameworks (e.g., ADDIE, Backward Design, UDL) and the ability to apply them flexibly and with independent judgment across disciplines, modalities, and educator career stages.
Deep grounding in the scholarship of teaching and learning, adult learning theory, reflective practice, and educator identity development, with the ability to translate scholarly frameworks into practical guidance for faculty partners.
Demonstrated ability to work consultatively alongside educators as partners in complex and high-stakes contexts, adapting expertise to individual needs, disciplinary cultures, and institutional priorities.
Demonstrated ability to design, lead, and evaluate significant faculty development programming, including major workshop series, communities of practice, and individualized consultations.
Proficiency with learning management systems and instructional technology tools; familiarity with emerging educational technologies and capacity to advise on their pedagogical implications.
Knowledge of Fair Use, copyright, and accessibility standards as applied to instructional content across delivery modalities.
Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with educators at all stages of their careers and to represent the unit to external audiences.
Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple complex concurrent partnerships, projects, and initiatives with a high degree of independence.
Commitment to a collaborative, mission-driven culture dedicated to educator growth and student learning outcomes.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated experience leading programming, mentoring colleagues, or contributing to scholarly work in teaching and learning is strongly preferred.
Experience mentoring colleagues or junior staff, modeling consultative practice and contributing to a culture of professional growth within the team.
Capacity to contribute substantively to or lead scholarly work in teaching, learning, or educator development, including publication, conference presentations, or applied research.

Responsibilities

Provides individualized consultation to educators at all career stages on course design, pedagogical strategies, learning outcomes, assessment, and teaching identity and growth — with particular depth in complex, high-stakes, or multidisciplinary engagements requiring advanced expertise.
Leads the design and delivery of significant faculty and educator development programming — including major workshop series, speaker series, and structured learning experiences — with responsibility for conceptual framing, facilitation, and evaluation of outcomes.
Provides senior-level support and intellectual leadership to faculty-led Communities of Practice focused on meaningful course and pedagogical design challenges.
Takes the lead on complex or large-scale course design and curriculum mapping projects, guiding the development of instructional materials across disciplines, modalities, and program levels.
Mentors Teaching and Learning Design Specialists and graduate assistants, providing guidance on consultative practice, instructional design, and professional development.
Advises on appropriate instructional strategies, delivery technologies, and assessment approaches to meet course and program learning objectives, with capacity to address novel or particularly complex cases.
Maintains active engagement with and contributes substantively to current scholarship in teaching, learning, and educator development; leads related scholarly work and represents the unit at relevant professional conferences.
Contributes to unit strategic planning, assessment of programming effectiveness, and the development of new initiatives and services; participates in campus-wide teaching and learning initiatives and coordination with on- and off-campus partners.
Completes other duties as assigned.