Education Specialist (Learning & Competency)

Ascendco Health; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Ascendco is seeking an Education Specialist to define training standards and deliver training on new functionality for our platform, supporting client sterile processing teams and Ascenders across Success, Support, Platform Enablement, and Services.

The role blends content creation and training delivery (roughly 70% creation, 30% delivery), delivering new modules, leading internal education, and setting consistent standards as we grow.

Qualifications

• 2-5 years of relevant experience in sterile processing, perioperative services, clinical education, department education, or a related environment.
• Hands-on understanding of sterile processing or perioperative workflow.
• Demonstrated experience building competencies, checklists, onboarding programs, assessments, or training materials that others used.
• Experience delivering training to groups in person and virtually, with the ability to adapt to the room.
• Strong technical aptitude - able to learn new software functionality quickly, navigate complex systems, and independently explore tools.
• Ability to translate complex workflows into clear learning objectives and measurable expectations.
• Ability to work from SME input while maintaining ownership of the learning structure and competency standard.
• Empathy for learners at different experience levels and the ability to create materials that work for people with different backgrounds.
• Adaptability - able to learn an existing process, work within it, incorporate feedback, and improve it thoughtfully over time.
• Strong ownership and follow-through without constant direction.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Learning & Competency Design: Own and maintain the competency standard for Ascendco education.
• Build competency maps by role, module, and workflow that translate that standard into clear expectations.
• Write learning objectives that connect product functionality to how work actually happens in sterile processing.
• Develop assessments and knowledge checks that measure demonstrated understanding and ability, not simply exposure to content.
• Create onboarding learning paths for client users and new Ascenders, scoped to their roles and responsibilities.
• Maintain the Mastery Matrix as our products, workflows, and learning library evolve.

Skills

Content design

Training delivery

SME collaboration

Assessment development

Learning objective writing

Onboarding programs

Project management

Job description

Careers

Education Specialist (Learning & Competency)

* The recruiting process for every candidate and position includes at least one video zoom or in person meeting with an Ascender. We do not use Signal Messenger.

At Ascendco, we build technology that empowers surgical teams to work more effectively and ultimately deliver better patient care. Great software is only part of that. People also need clear, practical ways to learn how to use it in the context of their real work. We’re looking for a Education Specialist (Learning & Competency) to define what it means to be trained and competent on Ascendco platform, and to deliver training on new functionality as it rolls out. You’ll turn product knowledge, sterile processing workflow, and subject matter expert input into structured learning that helps people understand not just what our software does, but how to use it effectively in their role. Your work will support client sterile processing staff, technicians, leads, managers, and directors, along with internal Ascenders across Client Success, Support, Platform Enablement, and Services.

This role blends content creation and training delivery, roughly 70% creation and 30% delivery. You’ll deliver training for new modules and functionality, lead internal Ascender education, and set the standards that keep training consistent as we grow. Platform Enablement owns routine client training on established functionality, using the reusable learning and competency standards built by Education. Learning & Competency helps introduce new learning and may provide occasional delivery support, but ongoing field delivery remains with Platform Enablement. This is a strong fit for someone who understands sterile processing or perioperative work firsthand, has built competencies or department education that other people relied on, and is comfortable in front of a room.

Responsibilities

Learning & Competency Design

• • Own and maintain the competency standard for Ascendco education, defining what people should know and be able to do before they are considered trained.
  • Build competency maps by role, module, and workflow that translate that standard into clear expectations.
  • Write learning objectives that connect product functionality to how work actually happens in sterile processing.
  • Develop assessments and knowledge checks that measure demonstrated understanding and ability, not simply exposure to content.
  • Create onboarding learning paths for client users and new Ascenders, scoped to their roles and responsibilities.
  • Maintain the Mastery Matrix as our products, workflows, and learning library evolve.

Content Development & SME Collaboration

• • Partner with Platform Specialists, Support, Development, and other SMEs to validate technical and workflow accuracy.
  • Turn SME knowledge into reusable learning without requiring SMEs to design the learning experience themselves.
  • Learn enough from SMEs to represent the workflow accurately while maintaining ownership of the learning structure
  • Incorporate field feedback from Platform Enablement and Client Success to continuously improve materials.
  • Partner with the Content Systems Education Specialist so learning content and reference documentation reinforce one another.
  • Write video scripts and structured learning content that explain our software in the context of real SPD workflows. The Content Systems Education Specialist owns production and publishing from those scripts and learning objectives.

Internal Learning & AscendX

• • Support onboarding for new Ascenders, helping internal teams build practical competency with our products and the workflows they support.
  • Facilitate internal Knowledge Sessions when live discussion or practice adds value.
  • Help lead education programming for AscendX, our annual client conference, in partnership with Marketing and the executive team, including developing content, organizing and sequencing sessions, preparing speakers, leading selected sessions, and supporting continuing education requirements.

Requirements

Must Haves

• • 2-5 years of relevant experience in sterile processing, perioperative services, clinical education, department education, or a related environment.
  • Hands-on understanding of sterile processing or perioperative workflow and the realities of how people perform the work.
  • Demonstrated experience building competencies, checklists, onboarding programs, assessments, or training materials that other people then used.
  • Experience delivering training to groups in person and virtually, with the ability to adapt to the room.
  • Strong technical aptitude - able to learn new software functionality quickly, navigate complex systems, and independently explore tools with minimal direction.
  • Ability to translate complex workflows into clear learning objectives and measurable expectations.
  • Ability to work from SME input while maintaining ownership of the learning structure and competency standard.
  • Empathy for learners at different experience levels and the ability to create materials that work for people with different backgrounds.
  • Adaptability - able to learn an existing process, work within it, incorporate feedback, and improve it thoughtfully over time.
  • Strong ownership and follow-through without constant direction.
  • Clear written and verbal communication skills.

Nice-to-Haves

• • CRCST, CIS, CER, or another relevant sterile processing certification.
  • Experience as an SPD lead, educator, preceptor, or department training owner.
  • Experience introducing new technology or workflows to a clinical or operational team.

Work Environment

Ascendco operates in a collaborative hybrid environment where people take ownership, ask for help when they need it, and continuously improve how we work. You’ll work most closely with Platform Specialists, Support, and Development for subject matter expertise, Client Success and Platform Enablement for insight from the field, and Marketing on AscendX. Expect less than 20% travel, primarily for AscendX, new-functionality rollouts, and occasional client-site visits to stay grounded in real workflows. You’ll have meaningful ownership over how Ascendco defines competency and reusable learning. We expect you to drive that work forward while collaborating closely with the people who build, support, deliver, and use our products. Your work will help make our software easier to learn, easier to apply, and more valuable to the surgical teams relying on it every day.