Instructional Designer

Circuit Stream; Calgary; Hybrid; CAD 48,000 - 62,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Calgary office Beltline

Job summary

Circuit Stream seeks a part-time Instructional Designer in Calgary to build engaging, project-based courses for learners aged 13–18.

You will translate SME knowledge into outcomes, objectives, and instructor guides for in-person, live online, and blended formats with a strong emphasis on hands-on learning.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of instructional design or curriculum development experience.
• Experience developing courses for youth or teen learners.
• Ability to write measurable learning objectives and assessments.
• Portfolio of courses, learning experiences, or youth programs preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own the instructional design and development of Pre-University courses for ages 13–18.
• Translate subject-matter expertise into learning objectives, lessons, activities, and assessments.
• Design hands-on, interactive experiences and measurable outcomes.
• Collaborate with SMEs and instructors to create accessible content for teens.
• Develop materials for in-person, live online, and blended delivery.
• Manage multiple course-development workstreams against timelines.

Skills

Instructional design

Curriculum development

Learning theory

Project management

LMS experience

Education

Education/Instructional Design degree

Tools

D2L Brightspace

Canvas

Moodle

Blackboard

Job description

Meet Circuit Stream

Where education meets innovation. At Circuit Stream, we offer skill-based online programs for adults ready to upskill or reskill, along with innovative pre-university programs for youth in fields such as technology, design, business, healthcare, and emerging academic disciplines.

We partner with leading universities across North America to deliver hands-on, applied learning that helps students build practical skills, explore future pathways, and gain confidence in what comes next.

We’re looking for a part-time Instructional Designer based in Calgary who can work closely with our Education team and subject matter experts to build engaging, project-based courses for learners ages 13–18.

Why You’ll Love This Role

As a part-time Instructional Designer, you’ll have the opportunity to take courses from idea to classroom.

The programs you create will become part of Circuit Stream’s 2027 Pre-University catalogue, delivered to students across Canada and the U.S. both in person and online.

This isn’t a role where you’ll spend months producing theoretical curriculum documents that never leave a shared drive. You’ll translate subject-matter expertise into practical learning experiences that instructors can teach and teenagers actually want to participate in.

You’ll have meaningful ownership over the development of approximately 4-5 new courses, while seeing your work tested, taught, improved, and ultimately experienced by real students.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Own the instructional design and development of new Pre-University courses for learners ages 13–18.
• Translate course concepts and subject-matter expertise into clear learning objectives, lesson plans, activities, assessments, projects, and instructor guides.
• Design hands-on, highly interactive learning experiences rather than lecture-heavy curriculum.
• Build courses around measurable learning outcomes and ensure activities and assessments clearly support those outcomes.
• Work closely with internal and external subject matter experts to turn specialist knowledge into content that is accessible and engaging for teenagers.
• Scope course content appropriately so it is ambitious enough to be meaningful but realistic for the learner age, course length, and delivery format.
• Develop and improve curriculum for in-person, live online, and blended delivery.
• Build meaningful projects and capstone experiences that allow students to apply what they have learned.
• Create clear instructor-facing materials that make the curriculum easy to understand, prepare, and teach consistently.
• Support instructor onboarding and training, including curriculum walkthroughs, teaching expectations, instructor guides, and learning-management-system tools.
• Conduct classroom audits and quality-assurance reviews to evaluate how effectively curriculum is being delivered.
• Gather feedback from instructors, students, and the Education team and use it to continuously improve course content.
• Maintain curriculum materials in our learning systems and ensure content is accurate, organized, current, and ready for delivery.
• Manage multiple course-development projects simultaneously and keep work moving against clear timelines and launch dates.

What We’re Looking For

• 3+ years of professional experience in instructional design, curriculum development, learning experience design, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated experience developing courses or structured learning programs for youth or teen learners.
• Strong understanding of learning theory, instructional design, pedagogy, assessment, and age-appropriate learning principles.
• Experience translating subject-matter expertise into structured, learner-friendly curriculum.
• Strong ability to write measurable learning objectives and design activities and assessments that align with them.
• Experience designing project-based, experiential, or hands-on learning.
• Strong written communication and the ability to create clear lesson plans, instructor guides, student materials, and assessment tools.
• Experience working collaboratively with subject matter experts who may not have a background in teaching or instructional design.
• Comfort working in learning-management systems such as D2L Brightspace, Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, or similar platforms.
• Strong project-management and organizational skills, including the ability to manage several course-development workstreams at once.
• High attention to detail and a willingness to test, review, revise, and improve curriculum based on classroom feedback.
• A degree or formal training in Education, Instructional Design, Curriculum Development, Learning Sciences, or a related discipline is preferred.
• A portfolio containing examples of courses, learning experiences, curriculum materials, or youth programs you have developed is strongly preferred.

Who This Is For

• An instructional designer who gets excited about building real courses that students will actually take, not just creating learning documentation.
• Someone who understands that teaching teenagers requires participation, variety, practical application, and a strong reason to care about the material.
• A strong curriculum architect who can look at a broad topic and determine what students realistically need to learn, in what order, and through what activities.
• Someone who can take an SME’s deep expertise and turn it into something a 15-year-old can understand without watering down the substance.
• A practical builder who is comfortable creating lesson plans, projects, assessments, instructor guides, rubrics, and LMS content—not simply recommending what someone else should create.
• Someone who believes a strong course should culminate in students doing or creating something, not simply remembering information.
• A collaborative partner who can ask good questions, challenge assumptions respectfully, and help SMEs focus on what learners actually need.
• Someone who welcomes classroom feedback and sees curriculum as something to test, learn from, and improve.
• A highly organized person who can manage several courses at different stages of development without losing track of details or deadlines.
• Someone who takes ownership of the final learner experience and asks, "Will this actually work in the classroom?"

Who This Is Not For

• If most of your instructional-design experience is focused on corporate compliance training, passive e-learning modules, or information-heavy courses with limited learner interaction.
• If you prefer designing curriculum in isolation rather than collaborating closely with subject matter experts and instructors.
• If you tend to take everything an SME gives you and simply turn it into slides instead of challenging what students actually need to learn.
• If your default approach to course design is lecture first, activity second.
• If you have little interest in how teenagers learn, what keeps them engaged, or how their needs differ from adult corporate learners.
• If you are uncomfortable making decisions about scope and need the SME to tell you exactly what should go into every lesson.
• If you prefer perfecting curriculum indefinitely rather than getting a strong version into the classroom, gathering feedback, and improving it.
• If managing several courses, stakeholders, deadlines, and revisions at once feels overwhelming.

What’s In It For You

• Hourly rate of $35-$45 depending on experience and alignment to the role.
• Part-time contract for up to 100 hours spread over 3 months (ending December 18th).
• Opportunity to renew in 2027 for an additional 3-4 months to work on additional projects.
• The opportunity to have a direct impact on Circuit Stream's educational goals and products.
• Ownership over development of 4-5 new Pre-University courses that will launch in summer 2027.
• A collaborative, driven team environment focused on strong execution and measurable results.
• Hybrid working model with 1 day per week (for 4-6 hours) at our Calgary office in Beltline, with the remainder of the work completed remotely.

We’re committed to creating an inclusive and respectful workplace where diverse backgrounds and perspectives are valued.

What makes us different makes us stronger.