Instructional Designer

Avalara, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid parental leave

Bonus program

Employee Resource Groups

Job summary

Avalara, Inc. is seeking a Product Instructional Designer to craft outcome-based training for complex products, focusing on end goals and measurable outcomes.

You will design eLearning, workshops, and simulations, partnering with SMEs and product teams to ensure training aligns with product capabilities and real-world use cases. Reports to the Manager, Learning Strategy & Design.

Qualifications

• 5+ years designing and developing learning solutions.
• Experience applying backwards design, outcome-based development, or similar instructional frameworks.
• Proficiency with eLearning authoring tools, multimedia design, and learning management platforms, including AI functionality within those tools.
• Ability to develop clear, measurable learning goals aligned to product workflows and business needs.
• Experience partnering with SMEs and cross-functional stakeholders to gather requirements and validate technical training content.
• Bachelor's degree in Instructional Design, Education, Learning & Development, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop technical product training materials — including eLearning courses, workshops, and simulations — using backwards design and outcome-based development principles.
• Partner with SMEs, product managers, and stakeholders to identify performance gaps and translate complex product functionality into structured, learner-friendly content.
• Measure learning effectiveness using formative and summative assessments, applying frameworks such as Kirkpatrick's Levels of Evaluation to continuously iterate on and improve training materials.
• Manage multiple instructional design projects simultaneously, maintaining version control and updating training content according to product release timelines.

Skills

Instructional design

Backwards design

eLearning tools

Learning Management Systems

AI in training

Performance measurement

SME collaboration

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Instructional Design, Education, Learning & Development, or related field

Tools

Articulate 360

Captivate

LMS platforms

AI-enabled authoring tools

Job description

What You'll Do

The Instructional Designer creates impactful learning experiences by applying outcome-based development principles and the backwards design framework. You will emphasize starting with the end in mind by defining learning goals and aligning content, assessments, and activities to measurable outcomes.

You will focus specifically on building technical product training that enables learners to successfully use, configure, and troubleshoot complex products. The designer collaborates with team members to ensure training programs align with product capabilities, support real-world use cases, and address learner needs.

The Product Instructional Designer meaningfully contributes in ensuring successful implementations and reducing support dependency by providing learners with the knowledge and skills needed to use the product.

You will report to the Manager, Learning Strategy & Design.

What Your Responsibilities Will Be

• Design and develop technical product training materials — including eLearning courses, workshops, and simulations — using backwards design and outcome-based development principles.
• Partner with SMEs, product managers, and stakeholders to identify performance gaps and translate complex product functionality into structured, learner-friendly content.
• Measure learning effectiveness using formative and summative assessments, applying frameworks such as Kirkpatrick's Levels of Evaluation to continuously iterate on and improve training materials.
• Manage multiple instructional design projects simultaneously, maintaining version control and updating training content according to product release timelines.

What You’ll Need To Be Successful

• 5+ years of experience designing and developing learning solutions in corporate, academic, or nonprofit settings
• Demonstrated experience applying backwards design, outcome-based development, or similar instructional frameworks
• Proficiency with eLearning authoring tools, multimedia design, and learning management platforms, including use of AI functionality within those tools
• Ability to develop clear, measurable learning goals aligned to product workflows and business needs
• Experience partnering with SMEs and cross-functional stakeholders to gather requirements and validate technical training content
• Bachelor's degree in Instructional Design, Education, Learning & Development, or a related field

Avalara is an AI-first Company

AI is embedded in our workflows, decision-making, and products. Success here requires embracing AI as an essential capability.

• You’ll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive here.
• You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges - improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers.
• You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too.

How We’ll Take Care Of You

Total Rewards

In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses.

Health & Wellness

Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.

Inclusive culture and diversity

Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.

What You Need To Know About Avalara

We’re defining the relationship between tax and tech.

We’ve already built an industry-leading cloud compliance platform, processing over 54 billion customer API calls and over 6.6 million tax returns a year. Our growth is real - we're a billion dollar business - and we’re not slowing down until we’ve achieved our mission - to be part of every transaction in the world.

We’re bright, innovative, and disruptive, like the orange we love to wear. It captures our quirky spirit and optimistic mindset. It shows off the culture we’ve designed, that empowers our people to win. We’ve been different from day one. Join us, and your career will be too.

We’re An Equal Opportunity Employer

Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we don’t want people to fit into our culture, but to enrich it. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, national orientation, disability, sexual orientation, US Veteran status, or any other factor protected by law. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.