Technical Instructional Design Manager

Cushman & Wakefield; Ohio; On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Cushman & Wakefield is seeking a Technical Instructional Design Manager to lead the creation, coordination, and iteration of training for Reliability & Maintenance Engineering technicians across in-person, virtual, and online formats. The role blends adult learning theory, instructional design best practices, and technical industry experience to drive content that meets strategic business needs.

The role requires collaboration with SMEs and leaders, development of AI-assisted curriculum, and

Qualifications

• Experience applying adult learning principles to technical training.
• Design and develop reliable maintenance engineering content.
• Ability to design assessments with AI-assisted rubrics.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with SMEs to scope and design technical training aligned to skill gaps.
• Develop and iterate content for in-person, virtual, and online delivery.
• Leverage AI tools to accelerate curriculum development while maintaining rigor.
• Coordinate with field leaders to ensure effective trainer delivery.
• Evaluate training effectiveness and adapt content based on feedback.

Skills

Adult learning theory

Instructional design

AI-assisted design

Train-the-trainer

Learning Management Systems

WorkDay

Articulate

MS Office

Communication

Problem solving

Organizational skills

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Instructional Design

Tools

WorkDay

Articulate

Job description

We’re looking for a Technical Instructional Design Manager to join our growing organizational Learning & Development (L&D) team. This role’s primary responsibility is to create, coordinate, iterate, and drive instructional design of current and future Reliability & Maintenance Engineering (RME) technicians’ skill development – in-person, virtual, and online. This includes on-job-training components as well as train-the-trainer content and delivery. Success in role is someone who blends adult learning theory, instructional design best practices, and experience working in technical industry to drive and oversee content creation and delivery methods that address strategic business needs. This role may also help support coordination of broader L&D efforts.

Key Responsibilities:

• Collaborates with internal technical and operational subject matter experts (SMEs) and project lead to scope, outline, and design technical learning and training experiences that align with skill performance gaps and client needs; utilizes adult learning theory to design solutions that work for learners and trainers in field
• Continuously develops strong adult learning skills to drive effectiveness in creating, coordinating, and iterating technical content and delivery that learners can follow and trainers can execute
• Leverages generative AI (Copilot, etc.) to accelerate curriculum development — drafting deliverables and reducing build time while maintaining instructional rigor and brand voice; critically evaluate, edit, and refine outputs against learning objectives, audience level, and SME input
• Builds relationships with leaders in the field and in support roles to collaborate effectively;
• Evaluates effectiveness of training components, experiences, and modalities via participant, SME, and stakeholder feedback as well as post-training technician proficiencies on equipment
• Designs and grades technical skills assessments using AI-assisted rubrics — scoring open-response items, written reflections, etc. against defined competency criteria for consistency and scale; partners with SMEs to validate AI-generated scoring
• Balances demands of multiple technical instructional design projects and/or requests against timelines that may shift – ability to communicate roadblocks, help needed, and needed changes to meet completion
• Observes train the trainer sessions or on-site training components as needed to see what current and created trainings look like in field; to help inform iterative design
• Collaborates with L&D team on future needs and direction and supports where needed for successful outcomes
• Uses adult learning theory and best practices to design in-person train-the-trainer courses and in-person and virtual trainer-led courses, including trainer and participant material
• Communicates instructional design progress to direct leader, project leaders
• Prioritizes and tracks multiple content builds against key objectives, progress, milestones while proactively communicating and managing roadblocks to leader
• Ensures learning objectives and deadlines for content are met, within scope
• Makes informed decisions in a timely manner by consulting project lead and right SMEs to keep content build to deadline and/or in regard to content delivery methods

Preferred Skills & Qualifications:

• Background or experience with Reliability and Maintenance Engineering training/ L&D highly preferred
• Ability to connect well with people in different roles, including in maintenance, operations, engineering, and corporate support roles
• Ability to work with a small team, SMEs, and oversee direct report(s) to achieve successful technical learning and development outcomes
• Experience with Learning Management Systems and design software, especially WorkDay, Articulate; ability to learn and assimilate to new ones as needed
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• 3-5 years of broad L&D experience
• 2-3 years of experience in designing and creating technical learning and development offerings that aligns to simple, effective training that can be executed in the field across many sites with various technical equipment
• Excellent problem solving and organizational skills
• Strong Microsoft Office skills – PowerPoint, Outlook, Word especially, and Excel
• Bachelor’s Degree in Instructional Design or similar preferred