Senior Manager, Learning Design Operations

Risepoint is an education technology company that provides world-class support and trusted expertise to more than 100 universities and colleges. We primarily work with regional universities, helping them develop and grow their high-ROI, workforce-focused online degree programs in critical areas such as nursing, teaching, business, and public service. Risepoint is dedicated to increasing access to affordable education so that more students, especially working adults, can improve their careers and meet employer and community needs.

The Impact You Will Make:

The Senior Manager, Learning Design Operations manages the day-to-day operations of the learning design team,  performance managing a team of learning designers, and providing leadership in the areas of talent development, resource recruitment and deployment, and process enhancement. Working with the Lead Learning Designers and other Academic Services leadership team members, and partner stakeholders, the Senior Manager ensures the strongest operational performance of the learning design team in delivering on our course development commitments to partners, developing effective and engaging learning experiences. The Senior Manager contributes to the culture of learning and innovation within the Academic Services team, in liaison with other Academic Services leadership team members. As a supervisory role, the position has responsibility for setting priorities, assigning work, and ensuring completion, consistent with departmental policies and procedures.

How You Will Bring Our Mission to Life:

What You Will Do

• Motivate and inspire the learning design team to create customer-centered, engaging and effective student learning experiences.
• Directly manage a team of 4 learning designers; set clear role expectations and performance standards, provide ongoing coaching and development, conduct quarterly performance check-ins and annual reviews, and address performance concerns proactively and constructively.
• Lead recruitment, onboarding, and development of learning design talent, building a high-performing and engaged team.
• Lead delivery across multiple concurrent course development initiatives, ensuring alignment to quality, schedule, and budget expectations, ensuring all development projects are properly resourced.
• Innovate in the use of data and technology to drive operational efficiency and excellence.
• Ensure delivery outcomes across multiple course development initiatives, proactively identifying risks and driving resolution to maintain timelines and quality.
• Innovate to drive continuous improvement in service quality for partners, actively seeking to understand evolving partner and student needs.
• Set standards for level of service provided by learning designers to faculty, coaching and performance managing as appropriate.
• Drive alignment across Academic Services leadership and partner stakeholders to ensure consistent execution and delivery outcomes across workstreams.
• Evaluate capacity across the Learning Design function and adjust resource allocation to balance changing business priorities and partner demand.
• Monitor the work of vendors to ensure quality and schedule requirements are met.
• Continually evaluate capacity across the Learning Design function and adjust resource allocation to balance changing business priorities and partner demand.

What Success Looks Like:

• A high-performing, engaged learning design team with strong retention, capability growth, and a culture of continuous improvement.
• All courses launch on time and to budget and quality standards.
• Evidence of innovation and quality improvements  in departmental processes resulting from the use of data and technology.
• Effective workforce planning that ensures the learning design function has the capacity and capability to meet current and future business needs.
• Able to scale development capability and capacity to meet the needs of the business.

How Impact Will be Measured:

• Net promoter scores from partner faculty – typically we look for an average 9/10 satisfaction score from faculty that we work with on new course developments.
• Student satisfaction scores and retention rates – typically we aim for an average 4/5 satisfaction score for the courses we design, and a 90% term-on-term retention rate.
• Meeting budgets and LD resourcing metrics – typically we’d aim for an average 90% LD utilization rate.
• Learning Design team engagement and retention – maintaining a high-performing, engaged team with strong retention and demonstrated professional growth.
• Operational excellence and continuous improvement – measurable improvements in delivery efficiency, quality, or capacity through process, technology, and AI adoption.

What You’ll Bring to the Team:

Experience That Matters Most:

• 3-5 years experience of leading a learning design team in a higher education context.
• 3+ years learning design experience.
• Experience of managing multiple course development projects concurrently.
• Innovation in process and technology to meet business needs.
• Undergraduate degree
• Ability to travel up to 10%.
• Must reside in the United Kingdom.

Experience That’s Great to Have

• Leading a learning design team in an OPM company.
• Using data to improve business processes.
• Using AI to expedite development processes and improve the student experience.
• Using authoring tools, such as Evolve or Articulate and learning management systems such as Canvas, Moodle or Blackboard.

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Risepoint is an equal opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce

This role is eligible for comprehensive benefits

Personal and Professional Development:

• Continuous Professional and Leadership Development Programs
• Tuition Reimbursement for employees and their dependents