Assistant Director - Learning Design Enablement

Northeastern University; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Northeastern University’s Experiential Digital Global Education (EDGE) seeks an experienced instructional design leader to serve as Assistant Director, Learning Design Enablement. The role focuses on operating excellence, accessibility, and inclusive online learning across EDGE's portfolio, partnering with faculty and departments to scale teaching and learning.

Reporting to the Sr. Director, this position oversees LDE Leads and Designer teams, driving consistent practices, program outcomes, and

Responsibilities

• Leads the quality control process for Learning Design Enablement across the development lifecycle.
• Sets release criteria and confirms products meet the standard before handoff to Learning Solutions.
• Analyses learner analytics, course retrospectives, QA findings, and stakeholder feedback for improvements.
• Manages multiple, concurrent projects and maintains stakeholder relationships with clear communication.
• Oversees scoping, design, and development of learning design projects within the enablement portfolio.
• Builds relationships with faculty and academic leadership to surface tradeoffs before timelines are affected.

Job description

About the Opportunity

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 fr