Head of Learning Design at Valenture Institute

Description

The Head of Learning Design will work collaboratively with the Head of Learning Technology to interpret the strategic objectives of the business and translate these into a product offering that meets the needs of Valenture Institute customers. The role is responsible for leading and managing the Learning Design and Proofing teams, and has oversight of all parts of the product development workflow, collaboratively with the Head of Learning Technology, that extends into other teams. Day-to-day responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Leadership and management:

• Lead and manage the Learning Design and Proofing teams, setting quarterly and annual priorities based on the one page strategic plan; and ensure alignment with Learning Technology.

• Recruit and retain talented team members to work in the area of learning design development.

• Manage and report on the KPIs for the functional area.

• Conduct bi-annual performance reviews with senior team members and ensure that regular cadences govern the day-to-day operations of the team.

• Together with the Student Experience leadership team, shape culture in such a way that places value on high performance and achievement of results, cross-team collaboration and agility.

Product design and development:

• Interpret the strategic direction set by Valenture Institute’s executive team in setting out the product roadmap and associated deliverables, collaboratively with the Head of Learning Technology.

• Drive Valenture Institute’s pedagogical approach or learning model, ensuring that the strategies employed are evidence-based while balancing the need for long-term scalability and sustainability from an opex and headcount perspective.

• Incorporate market research, user insights, testing and data into the development processes; identify and fill product gaps and generate new ideas that grow market share, and improve customer experience.

• Support the Head of Learning Technology, as required, with technology roadmap requirements as this relates to the product with a view to continually improving the user experience of students and customers.

• Drive the continual evolution of the product design to increase learner engagement, and the overall quality of the product and student experience.

• Collaborate with Faculty to garner insights from the classroom that will inform improved articulation of qualification objectives, requirements and assessment criteria.

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

• Stay up to date in the competitor landscape and ensure that Valenture Institute’s product remains future-proof and competitive.

• Work directly with the Marketing teams to ensure that the positioning of Valenture Institute’s product remains accurate and that key USPs are understood and well articulated by our Admissions and Marketing functions.

• Act as a product champion to build awareness and understanding of Valenture’s offering across teams.

Functional operations:

• Manage the development timelines, scope and quality of Valenture Institute’s product offering. Manage all production schedules to deadline, working in close collaboration with the Creative Studios, Project Management and Learning Technology teams to ensure key milestones are met.

• With the Head of Learning Technology, conduct quarterly, biannual, annual ad hoc planning for production of new offering types as well as maintenance and evaluation of existing products.

• Work with the Operations team to identify opportunities for process, system and team structure optimisation and automation.

• Determine Learning Design operational objectives with the support of Operations by monitoring key functional KPIs, studying business functions; understanding recurring pain points; evaluating output, requirements and formats.

• Design, create and maintain system protocols by writing and updating department, division and company-wide procedures relating to Valenture’s learning design/production processes.

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

• Ensure that ongoing training is conducted for the learning design team.

Budget setting and management:

• Set the annual budget for the Learning Design team, with input and sign off from the Chief Product Officer

• Manage to budget and be accountable for team expenditure.

• Report on monthly actuals in relation to budget.

• Work with the Head of Learning Technology, to reallocate budget where the need exists across the Programme Design and Impact Division.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in learning design and technology; and of leadership for an educational technology organisation preferred.

• Ability to blend strategic and tactical execution skills; drive high-level strategy as well as get hands-on when needed.

• Demonstrated experience of building, leading, and developing a high-performing team; and experience leading remote teams is a plus.

• Demonstrated experience scaling teams across multiple product offerings.

• Understanding of the product life cycle.

• Self-starter who takes ownership of products and projects.

• Problem-solver with great listening and probing skills.

• Operationally astute.

• Ability to work with data.

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

• Must be comfortable working remotely and independently.

Benefits

Family member discount for Valenture Institute

Remote work

Voluntary savings Programme

Please note that if you do not hear from us within 3 weeks, your application is considered unsuccessful at this time.