Instructional Designer and Developer

The Instructional Designer & Developer will support the Education Team in designing high-quality, effective, professional-level, and visually-engaging educational assets. The successful applicant will work with the Education Team, internal Axle collaborators, and external subject matter experts to develop and implement curricula that align with the latest technology and best practices for delivery of courseware. This role offers a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on the education and training of professionals in the biomedical community while contributing to our mission of advancing health and health care for each, and for all, individuals and families.

The position will be based at Axle in Bethesda, Maryland, but functionally remote from US locations, with occasional travel. Working hours are Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM Eastern Time, with occasional evening or weekend activities.

Responsibilities

• Create instructional materials, including e-learning modules, instructor-led training materials, multimedia content, and assessments that support learning objectives and program needs.

• Create engaging media, technology and graphical designs to enhance the learning experience, including interactive pre-assessments, videos, infographics, and typography.

• Work with the Director and the Training Solutions Architect to create comprehensive curricula, ensuring a logical and progressive flow of content, “big picture” planning, and evidence-based, modern pedagogical methods and technologies. 

• Collaborate and communicate with project managers to define project timelines, milestones, and deliverables.

• Maintain high standards of professionalism, communication, collaboration, and responsiveness in a remote/hybrid work environment. 

• Collaborate and communicate with a variety of subject matter experts, including instructional designers, training program leads, programmers, clinicians, data scientists, and pharmacoepidemiologists to create and test engaging and effective learning experiences.

• Develop and maintain visual and instructional design standards for learning solutions integrated throughout the learning management systems (LMS) and content management systems (CMS).

• Write effective and engaging copy, including instructional text, audio scripts, video scripts, and social media communications.

• Develop assessment strategies and evaluation methods to measure the effectiveness of learning programs. Engage with various stakeholders to gather input and feedback to enhance the quality and relevance of learning programs. Use data and feedback to make continuous improvements and re-imagine integrative solutions.

• Provide guidance and mentorship to trainers, instructors, new team members, and internal and external stakeholders, helping them develop their skills in content development, learning development, and multimedia education. 

• Stay up-to-date on emerging technologies and best practices in instructional design and adult learning theory, applying them to improve the effectiveness of learning solutions.

• Create detailed technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, design specifications, FAQs, guides, and deployment procedures to facilitate effective communication and knowledge transfer.

• Support multiple high-priority learning initiatives based on changing needs, remaining flexible and self-managing time and tasks.

Skills and Qualifications

     Required 

• Expertise and experience in instructional design and development, including designing inclusive, accessible, and equitable learning materials and programs.

• Experience designing and developing e-learning and in-person materials and programs.

• Strong professional skills, including active listening, teamwork, creativity, problem solving, flexibility, proactivity, emotional intelligence, attention to detail, and customer service. 

• Strong collaboration, presentation, and communication skills for working effectively with multidisciplinary, diverse, interprofessional, and cross-functional teams, including the ability to convey learning and instructional design terminology and concepts to non-experts.

• Ability to write effective and engaging copy, instructional text, audio scripts, video scripts, guides, technical documentation, and social media communications.

• Proficient using multimedia production tools, including creating and editing videos, infographics, images, and typography.

• Proficient using common instructional design, graphic design, and learning management software (e.g., Articulate 360, Canvas, Adobe – Creative Suite & Dreamweaver, Camtasia), as well as standard office and remote work software (e.g., Google Workspace, Microsoft Office/365, Adobe Suite, Zoom, Slack, LinkedIn).

• Proficient in curriculum development processes and best practices.

• Ability to independently and effectively manage project tasks and milestones, as well as remote work and communication.

• Commitment to building and maintaining diverse and service-oriented teams, processes, and communication.

• Bachelor’s degree in Instructional Design/Development, Graphic Design, Education, Health Communication or a related field with >1 year experience

Preferred 

• Graduate/advanced degree in Instructional Design/Development, Graphic Design, Education, Health Communication, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

• Training and experience in graphic design and videography

• Experience designing and developing introductory, intermediate, and advanced training materials for diverse, interprofessional, early-, mid-, and late-career audiences.

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills. 

• Exceptional interprofessional team collaboration, and commitment to supporting an inclusive, equitable, positive work culture.

• Exceptional program, project, task, and time planning, management, and delivery.

• Advanced experience with the Articulate 360 platform, and with professional learning management systems such as Docebo, Canvas, etc.

• Knowledge of, or experience designing trainings focusing on: 

  • Translational science, real-world data/evidence, artificial intelligence, or machine/deep learning;

  • Data science or data management;

  • Pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics, or programming;

  • Translational, observational, or health research; 

  • Health care, terminology, and communication;

  • Health and data science ethics and equity, including diversity and inclusion; or

  • Interprofessional teams and professional skills.

• Experience working with the:

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) or National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS); 

  • National COVID/Clinical Cohort Collaboration (N3C) Data Enclave; or 

  • AIM-AHEAD program or AIM-AHEAD Connect platform.