"Instructional Designer - Office of Academic Innovation - Penn Engineering"

Job Description Summary

The Instructional Designer is a key member of the Learning Design and Technology team. This role partners with Penn Engineering faculty to design and deliver rigorous, scalable online learning experiences that reflect current learning science, strong pedagogy, and the Penn Engineering brand. The designer leads the course design process, guides faculty through critical decisions about translating their teaching for an online audience, and collaborates on the development of high-quality learning assets. This position also manages course builds in Canvas, oversees QA for each course launch, and supports iterative improvements after the course goes live.

Job Description

Course Design and Faculty Partnership

• Collaborate with faculty to design engaging online courses that meet Penn Engineering standards
• Manage 3-4 course projects at a time, often at different phases of development
• Lead faculty through core decisions on objectives, assessments, learning pathways, and instructional strategies
• Offer clear guidance to help faculty adapt in person teaching approaches for online learners
• Maintain timelines, milestones, and documentation to keep projects on track

Content Development

• Create design deliverables such as learning objectives, assessment plans, content outlines, and interaction frameworks
• Work with faculty and teaching assistants to shape and produce rigorous instructional materials
• Document and manage asset inventories to support production and long term maintenance

Course Build and QA

• Build and configure courses in Canvas
• Author supporting materials including pages, assignments, and media assets
• Conduct comprehensive QA for function, consistency, accessibility, and overall learner experience
• Coordinate corrections and improvements after launch and plan for future revisions

Accessibility and Standards

• Design with accessibility from the start and audit existing materials for compliance
• Write alt text, remediate PDFs, and ensure all assets meet accessibility requirements
• Apply learning science principles and online teaching best practices consistently across courses

Other Duties

• Contribute to process improvements within the Learning Design and Technology team
• Support special projects as assigned

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree with 1 to 2 years of experience designing complete online courses, or equivalent experience
• Strong collaboration and communication skills, including the ability to guide faculty toward effective design choices
• Ability to work independently, juggle multiple deadlines, and keep projects moving in a fast paced environment
• Familiarity with Canvas, Panopto, and related learning technologies
• Basic understanding of UX principles and front end concepts such as HTML
• Working knowledge of learning science, online pedagogy, and current best practices in digital learning
• Experience in higher education preferred

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Pay Range

$61,000.00 - $75,000.00 Annual Rate

To apply, visit https://wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiting/upenn/careers-at-penn/job/3600-Market-Street/Instructional-Designer---Office-of-Academic-Innovation---Penn-Engineering_JR00115747