"Lead Instructional Design Specialist"

Duties and Responsibilities

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The Lead Instructional Design Specialist provides leadership and coordination in instructional design practices and the management of resources to support all aspects of online education at Laredo College.

Characteristic Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead instructional design initiatives to improve the effectiveness, scalability, and quality of online and hybrid learning while ensuring alignment with institutional goals, accreditation standards, and evidence-based best practices.
• Act as a liaison between the eLearning department, faculty, and academic support teams to support course delivery and optimize the use of the Learning Management System (LMS).
• Design, implement, track, and assess faculty professional development programs on instructional design, course delivery, and effective technology integration.
• Create and manage digital faculty resources, such as toolkits, self-paced training modules, and best-practice guides.
• Deliver targeted workshops, webinars, and individualized coaching to strengthen faculty expertise in course design and support them in developing high-quality online and hybrid courses.
• Lead, track, and assess the Quality Matters (QM) review process and coordinate instructional design reviews to ensure courses meet quality and certification standards.
• Conduct structured audits of online and hybrid courses, providing faculty with recommendations to improve course design and align materials and assessments with instructional best practices.
• Identify faculty professional development needs by leveraging LMS data, including course analytics, engagement metrics, and participation trends.
• Analyze student success rates in online and hybrid courses to identify instructional gaps and areas for faculty professional development and support strategies.
• Analyze LMS data—including student engagement trends, course interaction patterns, and assessment outcomes—to generate actionable insights for improving instruction and course design.
• Assess the impact and drive continuous improvement of faculty development programs and instructional design strategies by evaluating faculty and student feedback surveys and course analytics.
• Serve as a mentor to faculty and academic units on instructional design strategies.
• Participate in committees, working groups, and institutional initiatives to advance instructional design and digital learning efforts.
• Stay current with emerging trends and research in instructional design, online education, and AI-driven technologies to improve ongoing faculty support and course development.
• Support faculty with Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives by ensuring alignment between course objectives, assessments, and OER materials, while collaborating on the management and organization of the OER repository.
• Represent the institution by attending and presenting at national in-person and virtual conferences.
• Identify and assist in pursuing grant opportunities to support online learning initiatives and faculty professional development.
• Serve on College committees as assigned.
• Perform other duties assigned by the Director eLearning and Instructional Innovation Center to fulfill departmental goals.

Qualifications/Certifications/Licenses/Skills

NOTICE: Required Documents

To be considered for this position, you are required to upload your resume and unofficial transcript(s). If recommended for this position an official transcript(s) will be required. In addition, if a license or certificate is required for this position, upload proof of your current license/certificate.

Required:

• Masters degree in education, curriculum development, instructional technology, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university.
• Minimum of three years of relevant work experience in higher education and two years of Instructional training experience.
• Must be bilingual in English and Spanish.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Must demonstrate proficiency in personal computer usage, computer software, effective teaching strategies, delivery of professional development workshops, and implementation of best practices for online course design.
• Must be proficient in the use of the internet, LMS applications, and other emerging technologies on course design.
• Must be customer service-oriented and capable of integrating technology into the existing curriculum.
• Must possess strong analytical and critical thinking skills, as well as excellent oral, written, organizational, and interpersonal skills.
• Must be able to initiate, manage, and complete tasks within established deadlines.

Additional Information

Supervision Exercised

N/A

Supervision Received

The Lead Instructional Design Specialist reports directly to the Director of eLearning and Instructional Innovation Center.

Physical Requirements

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, or crouch. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move items weighing up to 50 pounds. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work Environment

Work is performed in a standard office environment. Work-inside a well-lighted and air-conditioned area most of the time. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate.

Safety

Required to work safely and follow safety rules. Report unsafe working conditions and behavior. Take reasonable and prudent actions to prevent others from engaging in unsafe practices.

Special Conditions

Immediate supervisor may assign other duties. May be required to work outside regular working hours, as needed. May be required to work at a different college work site or campus as needed.