Director-Instructional Design & Development Operations

Excelsior; City of Albany (NY); On-site; USD 85,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Excelsior University is seeking a Director of Instructional Design and Development (IDD) Operations to provide comprehensive operational oversight for the IDD unit. You will partner with senior IDD directors to support resource planning, course design priorities, and strategic initiatives across Academic Affairs.

The role requires leadership in managing multiple concurrent projects, implementing workflow improvements, and coordinating cross-functional teams—locally and remotely.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in management, education, or a related field.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects concurrently.
• Experience leading operational work and cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience with technology-enabled projects or systems in higher education.

Responsibilities

• Lead planning, coordination, and execution of IDD’s operational components of special projects and university strategic initiatives.
• Serve as primary operations liaison between IDD and university partners for course development work.
• Manage intake and prioritization of IDD base-business work with IDD leadership and Academic Affairs partners.
• Oversee IDD’s operational systems, budgets, and documentation.
• Support IDD’s operational framework including workflows, products, and decision-making responsibilities.
• Develop and maintain project plans, milestones, and risk mitigation for complex initiatives.
• Monitor progress to align with scope, timelines, budgets, and institutional requirements.
• Lead communication across stakeholders to clearly define and document work.
• Build strong relationships with IDD, Academic Affairs operations, project managers, and vendors.
• Represent the IDD operations function with cross-university leaders.
• Identify operational challenges and drive continuous improvement across systems.

Skills

Project management

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication

Detail-oriented

Remote collaboration

Education

Master's degree in management/education/related field

Tools

Microsoft 365

PM tools and systems

Job description

The Director of Instructional Design and Development (IDD) Operations provides operational oversight for the IDD unit at Excelsior University. In addition, the Director will work closely with the Director of Creative Learning and Media Services, the Director of Academic Technology, the Senior Director of IDD, and the Executive Director of IDD, to support resource planning, program and course design priorities, and strategic initiatives. The Director of IDD Operations will work closely with the Colleges to plan for and execute Academic Affairs initiatives, course development priorities, special projects, and maintenance efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead planning, coordination, and execution of IDD’s operational components of special projects and university strategic initiatives.
• Serve as the primary operations liaison between IDD and university partners to identify, prioritize, and coordinate base-business course development work.
• Manage the intake, prioritization, and visibility of IDD base-business work in collaboration with IDD leadership, partners across Academic Affairs, and other university functions.
• Oversee IDD’s operational systems and business processes, including project management tools, contract workflows, budget tracking, and related documentation.
• Support IDD’s operational framework, including workflows, project types, products, role clarity, and decision-making responsibilities.
• Develop and maintain project plans, milestones, timelines, and risk mitigation strategies for complex and concurrent initiatives.
• Monitor project and initiative progress to support alignment with scope, timelines, budget expectations, and institutional requirements.
• Lead communication and coordination among stakeholders to ensure work is clearly defined, well documented, and understood across project teams and partners.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with IDD, stakeholders, Academic Affairs operations leaders, university project managers, vendors, and other cross-functional partners to advance work with diplomacy and influence.
• Represent the IDD operations function in collaboration with peer operations leaders in Academic Affairs and across the university.
• Identify operational challenges, recommend solutions, and drive continuous improvement across IDD systems, processes, and ways of working.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Master’s degree in management, education, or a related field, with at least 8 years of project management experience, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Demonstrated success managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Demonstrated leadership and project management skills that drive desired outcomes within an organization.
• Demonstrated ability to lead operational work and advance cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience managing multiple complex projects concurrently.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365.
• Extensive experience with project management tools and systems.
• Strong attention to detail and excellent organizational skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively and manage projects involving diverse stakeholders, both locally and remotely.
• Strong relationship-building, communication, and coordination skills.
• Ability to independently manage multiple complex projects with a high degree of accuracy and efficiency.
• Commitment to producing high-quality work.
• Strong critical thinking, innovation, and problem-solving skills.
• Familiarity with program and course development processes.
• Relevant professional experience in higher education.
• Experience managing technology-enabled projects or operational systems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PMP or similar training

The hiring salary range for this position is $85,000.00 - $95,000.00. The hiring salary range above represents the University's good faith estimate at the time of posting