Assistant Director - Learning Design Enablement

NU USA Northeastern University; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 88,000 - 124,000; Full time

Job summary

Northeastern University is seeking an experienced Assistant Director, Learning Design Enablement to lead the Learning Design Enablement team in Boston. This role reports to the Sr.

Director and directly manages LDE Leads and Senior Designers, ensuring program fidelity and high-quality online learning across EDGE’s portfolio. The leader partners closely with faculty, deans, program directors, and chairs, overseeing QA, release criteria, and portfolio analytics while advancing scalable, accessible

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Instructional Design, Educational Psychology, Learning Experience Design, or related field with equivalent work experience.
• At least 6 years of leadership in the design and development of high-quality online learning experiences.
• Owning a quality review process end-to-end, including setting standards and release criteria.
• Developing or maintaining QA standards, style guides, or QA frameworks for online learning.
• Using learning analytics data to inform design and revision decisions.
• Managing a portfolio or program set at scale.
• Leading instructional design leads and/or managers of instructional designers.
• Shaping how a design team adopts and governs AI tools in learning design.

Responsibilities

• Directly manages LDE Lead roles and oversees Learning Experience Designers.
• Leads quality control across the development lifecycle and handoff to Learning Solutions.
• Maintains cross-functional relationships with faculty, academic leadership, and partners.
• Tracks KPIs and informs leadership on QA findings and timelines.
• Governs AI tools adoption and ensures responsible, scalable use.

Skills

People management

Quality assurance

Learning analytics

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

AI tools in learning design

LMS knowledge

Change management

Education

Master's degree in Instructional Design or related field

Tools

LMS architecture

AI tooling for design

Job description

About the Opportunity

Job Summary: Northeastern's Experiential Digital Global Education (EDGE) team seeks an experienced, student-centered instructional design leader to serve as Assistant Director, Learning Design Enablement. This position supports the Learning Design Enablement (LDE) team's pursuit of operational excellence and the advancement of high-quality, accessible, and inclusive online learning across EDGE's Learning Design portfolio, helping carry forward Northeastern's priorities for teaching and learning at scale. Reporting to the Sr. Director of Learning Design Enablement, this role directly manages the Learning Design Manager(s) and Senior Learning Experience Designers and oversees the Learning Experience Designers who report to them. This position requires management excellence: developing managers and senior designers as leaders, holding them accountable for program outcomes, and building consistent practices across their teams. It works in close partnership with faculty, deans, program directors, and department chairs, as well as peer leads across EDGE's Strategy, Delivery, Media, and Data & Tech functions. This role owns the quality control process for Learning Design Enablement. It sets the standards the team designs against and confirms products meet that standard before handoff to Learning Solutions. It analyzes learner data through course retrospectives to inform design decisions and continuously improve the portfolio. In partnership with the Sr. Director, it leads process improvements that keep the team efficient, productive, and creative.

Key Accountabilities & Responsibilities

• Quality Management and Improvement
  • Leads the quality control process for Learning Design Enablement, across the development lifecycle through handoff to Learning Solutions.
  • Sets the standards the team designs against, analyzes learner and portfolio data to inform design decisions, and drives continuous improvement across the portfolio.
  • Leads the LDE QA framework and keeps it current as tools, feedback, and institutional priorities evolve, in partnership with the Sr. Director and cross-functional leads.
  • Sets release criteria and confirms products meet the standard before handoff to Learning Solutions.
  • Distributes QA checks across LDE Leads, their teams, and AI-assisted monitoring, and evaluates AI-assisted QA so it stays responsible and scalable.
  • Partners with the Lead Multimedia Specialist on media-specific standards and QA checkpoints.
  • Analyzes learning analytics, course retrospectives, QA findings, and learner, faculty, and partner feedback to identify improvement priorities.
  • Tracks the enablement team's KPIs and reports QA findings and trends to the Sr. Director and cross-functional leads.
  • Develops processes, and resources that help designers, faculty, and content experts maintain program fidelity and effective pedagogy.
  • Partners with other EDGE teams to keep LDE policy, process, and tools consistent and to resolve internal process pain points promptly.
• Project and Relationship Management
  • Manages multiple, concurrent projects and workflows across the LDE portfolio, keeping delivery on schedule.
  • Maintains the stakeholder relationships that make that possible, with clear communication across internal teams and partners.
  • Oversees scoping, design, and development of learning design projects within the enablement portfolio.
  • Keeps the Sr. Director informed of project status, team capacity, and emerging risks across LDE to inform schedule and roadmap decisions.
  • Ensures LDE Leads and their teams know current timelines and schedule changes, connecting LDE work to Media and other teams’ dependencies.
  • Identifies risks to production timelines early, resolves them within the team, and escalates to the Sr. Director when they affect scope, resourcing, or other teams.
  • Manages dependencies and handoffs with Media, Learning Solutions, and Program Management so work moves between teams without delay.
  • Builds relationships with faculty, Academic Directors, academic leadership, and external partners, setting expectations and surfacing tradeoffs before they affect timelines or other teams.
• Team Management
  • Directly manages LDE Lead roles (Learning Design Manager and Sr LxDs) and oversees the Learning Experience Designers who report to them.
  • Develops these leaders to make sound decisions and manage their own teams effectively.
  • Sets goals, conducts performance reviews, and holds direct reports accountable for program outcomes and quality standards.
  • Leads and mentors design leaders, building judgment in strategy and program-level decisions to support growth.
  • Delegates program-level decisions to LDE Leads within clear guardrails, bringing cross-pillar and resourcing issues to the Sr. Director.
  • Holds regular portfolio reviews with LDE Leads to turn successful design ideas and new methods into standard practice.
  • Coaches managers on leading their own teams, including feedback, workload, and designer development.
  • Gathers feedback from team members and partners to improve team processes and build a positive, collaborative culture.

Minimum Qualifications

Knowledge and skills required are typically acquired through a master's degree in Instructional Design, Educational Psychology, Learning Experience Design, or a related field, and/or demonstrated equivalent work experience, plus at least 6 years of experience as a leader in the design and development of high-quality online learning experiences.

• Owning a quality review process end to end, including setting standards and release criteria.
• Developing or maintaining quality assurance standards, style guides, or QA frameworks for online learning.
• Using learning analytics data to inform design and revision decisions.
• Managing a portfolio or program set at scale.
• Managing instructional design leads and/or managers of instructional designers.
• Leading multiple complex, cross-functional projects with competing priorities while balancing quality with on-time delivery.
• Building relationships with faculty, academic leadership, and cross-functional teams in a matrixed organization.
• Shaping how a design team adopts and governs AI tools in learning design, with fluency in current and emerging applications.
• Working alongside media and technical teams, with working knowledge of LMS architecture sufficient to diagnose issues and guide design quality.
• Working in innovative online learning environments, preferably in higher education or enterprise online learning.

Skills and abilities

Ability to set long-range goals while managing execution and detail across multiple projects.

• Ability to manage change and deliver results with minimal direction in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
• Ability to work strategically with many constituencies, including faculty, college partners, peers, campus administrators, and leadership.
• Innovative, intrapreneurial problem-solver and collaborator with strong interpersonal and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated record of creative, accomplished leadership and a strong commitment to advancing the University's priorities.

Position Type

Academic Administration

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer. Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Compensation Grade/Pay Type: 111S Expected Hiring Range: $87,785.00 - $123,998.75 With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend on several factors, which may include your education, experience, location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change.

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experiential lifelong learning. Our approach of integrating real-world experience with education, research, and innovation empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create worldwide impact.

Our global university system provides our community and academic, government, and industry partners with unique opportunities to think locally and act globally. The system - which includes 14 campuses across the U.S., U.K., and Canada, 300,000-plus alumni, and 3,000 partners worldwide - serves as a platform for scaling ideas, talent, and solutions.

The university’s residential campuses for undergraduate and graduate degrees are located in Boston, London, and Oakland, California. Our research and graduate campuses are in the Massachusetts communities of Burlington and Nahant; Arlington, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Miami; Portland, Maine; Seattle; Silicon Valley, California; Toronto; and Vancouver.

Northeastern’s personalized, experiential undergraduate and graduate programs lead to degrees through the doctorate in 10 colleges and schools across our campuses.

Learning emphasizes the intersection of data, technology, and human literacies, uniquely preparing graduates for careers of the future and lives of fulfillment and accomplishment.

Our research enterprise, with an R1 Carnegie classification, is solutions oriented and spans the world. Our faculty scholars and students work in teams that cross not just disciplines, but also sectors aligned around solving today’s highly interconnected global challenges and focused on transformative impact for humankind.