Instructional Designer

About VCU Continuing and Professional Education and LEDstudio–

VCU Continuing and Professional Education (VCU CPE) connects the expertise and resources of Virginia Commonwealth University with adult learners, employers, organizations, and communities through high-quality continuing education, professional development, and workforce-focused learning. In partnership with VCU’s colleges, schools, faculty, and other university units, VCU CPE develops and supports accessible, responsive learning opportunities that extend beyond traditional degree programs and help learners build knowledge, skills, and credentials throughout their lives.

VCU CPE’s portfolio includes open-enrollment courses and programs, customized training for employers and organizations, noncredit certificates and micro-credentials, and other short-form learning experiences designed to meet evolving learner and workforce needs. Through academic, industry, and community partnerships, CPE helps translate VCU’s expertise into relevant learning opportunities that advance individuals, organizations, and the communities VCU serves.

VCU LEDstudio is a leader in providing quality higher education and lifelong learning opportunities using a number of delivery methods, including fully online and hybrid. The unit broadly supports faculty, academic units, and community partners in their efforts to leverage technology to optimize student learning. Additionally, LEDstudio provides strategic leadership in developing, expanding, and enhancing VCU’s learning opportunities, programs, and supporting the assessment and continuous quality improvement of current and new technology-mediated courses, programs, and projects.

LEDstudio operates in a fast-paced environment requiring flexibility, innovation, and an openness to change. Instructional designers within LEDstudio must be comfortable navigating new directives, emerging technologies, and evolving institutional needs.

The position is an Instructional Designer for VCU Continuing and Professional Education (VCU CPE) and is a new role supporting the continued growth of VCU CPE’s noncredit portfolio, academic and external partnerships, and workforce-focused initiatives. VCU CPE is seeking an experienced instructional designer who will bring established expertise in instructional and learning experience design to help translate faculty expertise, academic content, and employer and workforce needs into high-quality, skills-based learning experiences for adult and professional learners.

As a new dedicated instructional design role within VCU CPE, this position offers the opportunity to help shape and advance CPE’s approach to instructional design while collaborating with faculty, subject matter experts, VCU CPE colleagues, and instructional design and learning professionals across the university.

The ideal candidate has experience designing learning for professional, business, industry, or adult audiences and understands how to translate complex academic or technical content into practical, skills-based learning experiences. This position will work closely with VCU staff, faculty, subject matter experts, program leaders, industry partners, and internal teams to design learning experiences that are engaging, accessible, outcomes-driven, and aligned with learner, employer, and workforce needs.

This role is especially suited for an experienced instructional designer or learning experience designer who can move fluidly between higher education and workforce learning environments, helping transform credit-bearing or academic content into shorter, modular, competency-based learning experiences for noncredit audiences. An instructional designer must be an agile problem-solver, capable of shifting between…