Associate Director, Seminars Programs — Hybrid

Aspen Institute; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 113,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Retirement benefits

Paid leave

Job summary

The Aspen Institute is seeking an Associate Director, Seminars Programs to advance the seminar experience across the Leadership Seminars portfolio. You will steward curriculum design, support moderators, and develop new offerings in collaboration with curriculum designers and partners.

Reporting to the Executive Director, this role balances programmatic leadership with intellectual exploration, requiring travel to engage with moderators and observe seminars.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in curriculum or program design, experiential learning, humanities-based programming, leadership development, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience in curriculum or program design, with the ability to translate complex ideas and objectives into compelling learning experiences.
• Experience leading cross-functional work involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• Deep intellectual curiosity and engagement with ideas, across classical and contemporary texts, disciplines, and perspectives.
• Experience developing others through coaching, feedback, facilitation, mentorship, or related work.
• Demonstrated success building in ambiguity, creating new programs, curricula, or approaches where the path was not already defined.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly to observe seminars, engage with moderators, and support program delivery.
• Preferred: Terminal degree in the humanities or humanities-adjacent field.
• Experience designing dialogue-based, reflective, or experiential learning for adults and leaders.
• Experience developing facilitators, faculty, moderators, or other learning practitioners.
• Experience stewarding and evolving curriculum libraries, intellectual resources, or bodies of educational content.
• Familiarity with the leadership-development field; direct corporate leadership-development experience is welcome but not required.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the seminar experience and curriculum design of assigned Aspen Leadership Seminars engagements, translating established program and partner objectives into clear curriculum, moderator assignments, and learning experience requirements.
• Coordinate programmatic and operational workstreams with the Design & Delivery team to ensure seminar readiness.
• Guide curriculum designers, moderators, and consultants through the seminar design and delivery process, providing substantive input and ensuring alignment with the intended seminar experience.
• Support moderator preparation and seminar delivery, providing curriculum guidance, resources, and on-the-ground support as needed.
• Identify opportunities to expand and diversify Seminars' offerings, assessing portfolio gaps and opportunities to reach new audiences.
• Partner with Marketing and Business Development on program planning, audience demand, market opportunities, and cadence.
• Lead the programmatic development of new and returning offerings, developing curricula and preparing programs for launch.
• Maintain a programmatic view across all seminars, tracking curriculum needs and readiness.
• Assess health of Seminars' programmatic work and surface portfolio insights to inform planning and resource decisions.
• Serve as a dedicated expert in Aspen's seminar methodology across audiences and engagements.

Skills

Curriculum design

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Coaching/mentorship

Leadership

Education

Terminal degree in humanities or humanities-adjacent field

Job description

The Aspen Institute is seeking an Associate Director, Seminars Programs to advance the seminar experience across the Leadership Seminars portfolio. You will steward curriculum design, support moderators, and develop new offerings in collaboration with curriculum designers and partners.

Reporting to the Executive Director, this role balances programmatic leadership with intellectual exploration, requiring travel to engage with moderators and observe seminars.