Chief Learning Officer at Valenture Institute

Description

Valenture Institute partners with the world’s leading education institutions to transform physical limitations into digital opportunities. We create new opportunities for students to choose an aspirational online learning experience by offering fully-supported online high school programmes.

As a social enterprise, Valenture Institute is also committed to levelling the playing field and increasing access for all students through free curriculum offerings, extensive scholarship programs and blended learning micro schools in underprivileged communities.

Valenture Institute’s Chief Learning Officer is the strategic leader behind Valenture Institute’s academic products. Their primary focus is to facilitate the development of products that deliver value to customers (guardians and learners) as well as the business. The Chief Learning Officer’s portfolio includes academic product strategy and vision, product management, learning design and development, learning technology, user research, and product analytics and metrics.

This role reports directly into the COO and is a member of Valenture Institute’s executive committee.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Leadership and Management:

• Set strategic priorities for the Product Management, Learning Design and Learning Technology functions, and manage the output of these teams against key KPIs.

• Recruit, retain and develop exceptional leaders within the Product Division.

• Manage and grow the Product Division in line with business requirements.

• Work closely with the Chief Technology Officer on the product roadmaps.

• Work closely with the Chief Marketing Officer on product marketing.

• Work closely with the Chief Student Experience Officer on academic product delivery.

Learning Design:

• Strategically lead on Valenture Institute’s pedagogical approach or learning model, and ensure that the strategies employed are evidence-based and sustainable from an opex perspective.

• Drive creativity and innovation within the Learning Design function, fostering a deep appreciation for design thinking principles, UX and online learning best practices.

• Oversee the management of the full production schedule, including scope, cost and quality, for Valenture Institute’s curriculum offerings.

• Work with the Operations function to plan new curriculum offerings and associated resourcing requirements.

• Oversee the evaluation of curriculums and ensure that course iteration processes can scale.

• Ensure that effective quality assurance procedures are in place for all courses in production.

• Ensure compliance with curriculum standards and specifications (CAPS, Pearson Edexcel, Cambridge, Oxford AQA, American Diploma, and so on)

• Ensure that market research, user insights, testing and data are informing the direction of the academic products; identify and fill product gaps and generate new ideas that grow market share, and improve customer experience.

Learning Technology:

• Ensure that the Learning Technology function is effectively leveraging the native features of the technologies that are managed by this function (Canvas, Moodle, Zoom, Google for Education, Invigilator App, etc).

• Oversee the build and configuration of modules and courses on their respective Learning Management Systems according to production timelines.

• Ensure the optimisation of the user experience of the learning platform/s.

• Ensure that the Learning Technology function is consistently investigating the application of technology to solve pedagogical challenges.

• Ensure tight alignment between the Learning Design and Learning Technology functions in the production of courses.

• Ensure that best practices relating to accessibility as well as data protection and privacy are enforced.

Product Management:

• Form part of the Product Steering Team and collaborate closely with the Chief Technology Officer on vision setting, product roadmaps and backlog prioritisation.

• Oversee the Product Management function, ensuring effective representation for different business units and the adoption of consistent product management methodology for scoping, requirements gathering, backlog prioritisation, release planning, UAT, and handover of solutions to business stakeholders.

Budget Management:

• Plan the Product Division annual budget with sign off from the COO, and manage according to budget.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of experience in an executive or senior Product-focussed role, ideally within an edtech context, with at least three levels reporting up (Directors or Heads, Managers, Individual Contributors) and having managed multiple functional areas.

• Relevant Business-focussed Honours or Masters level qualification with an Education slant, or vice versa.

• Familiarity with different curriculums and the secondary education environment would be beneficial.

• Demonstrated experience leading in complex organisations and effecting change.

• Demonstrated experience working in a rapidly scaling environment, i.e. where the workforce has doubled year on year.

• Demonstrated experience working with tech teams.

• Core attributes: visionary with a bias for activation, a hunger to effect change, creative and methodical in approaching problem solving.

• Valenture Institute operates as a remote first company, so you should feel comfortable driving culture, change and communication through a lens that focuses on remote team collaboration.

Benefits

Remote work

Voluntary savings Programme

Valenture Institute is an equal opportunity employer. Appointments will be in accordance to our Employment Equity Plan.