Education Manager, Academy of Rescue & Conservation

Location: Yarmouth Port

This is a Fixed Term Contract position through June 30, 2028

Staff work a hybrid schedule with 2 days/week in the office

The Academy of Rescue and Conservation (ARC) is IFAW's global learning platform, delivering accessible online, in-person, and hybrid training that reflects best practice in animal rescue and conservation. Operating as a cross-programmatic function, ARC builds professional capability across IFAW and among partner and field practitioners worldwide.

Reporting to the Director of the Academy of Rescue and Conservation, the Education Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for ARC's education and capacity-development portfolio. The Education Manager ensures that ARC's learning initiatives are aligned with organizational priorities, delivered at scale, and supported by effective systems, governance, and evaluation practices.

In this role, the Education Manager supervises ARC's Instructional Design and Training Function, guiding a multidisciplinary network of instructional designers, trainers, subject-matter experts, and external vendors. The Manager oversees ARC's learning portfolio, platforms, workflows, and standards, ensuring that high-quality learning is delivered consistently across ARC's five focus areas:
Disaster Response;
Marine Mammal Rescue;
Wildlife Crime Prevention and Response;
Wildlife Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Release; and the Care and Placement of Live Animals Seized in Trade. This includes, but is not limited to dynamic online learning modules, in-person workshops, developing training aides, and supporting the development of an online resource repositor in collaboration with ARC's Knowledge and Policy Manager.

The Education Manager will also oversee the administrative, systems, and day-to-day logistics of ARC, including student database management, digital learning and design platforms, external contracts and ensuring ARC's protocols, processes and procedures are met. The Educational Manager also works closely with ARC's Knowledge Manager to ensure training materials are properly organized, represented and accessible within ARC's resource repository.

Role and Responsibilities

Program & Portfolio Oversight

• Lead oversight of ARC's education and training portfolio across online, hybrid, and in-person delivery modes.
• Develop and maintain workplans, priorities, and timelines aligned with ARC strategy and resource capacity.
• Coordinate cross-functional planning to balance quality, scalability, innovation, and operational feasibility.
• Monitor program performance, risks, and dependencies; recommend adjustments based on data, evaluation findings, and stakeholder feedback.
• In partnership with the Knowledge Manager, ensure education materials are properly archived, adapted, and governed within ARC's resource repository.

Instructional Design & Delivery Oversight

• Supervise and support instructional designers, trainers, and subject matter experts to ensure learning materials meet ARC instructional design, facilitation and delivery principles.
• Establish and maintain instructional design standards, templates, quality benchmarks, and review processes grounded in adult learning theory and inclusive design.
• Review and approve curricula, assessments, and learning activities to ensure consistency, effectiveness, and alignment with organizational priorities.
• Facilitate collaboration among instructional designers, program teams, and subject matter experts.
• Ensure clear ownership boundaries: programs define technical content ("the what"); ARC governs learning design and delivery ("the how").

Learning Technology & Platform Management

• Oversee the selection, implementation, and management of ARC's learning technology ecosystem, including LMS, assessment tools, and content authoring platforms.
• Maintain ARC's acceptable-use protocols for AI-enabled tools across instructional design, content development, assessment, learner support, and program administration.
• Ensuring AI-enabled systems and workflows are transparent, appropriate for global and low-resource contexts, and do not compromise learning integrity, cultural relevance, or safeguarding standards.
• Applying approved AI tools to support…