A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our core and supplemental programs in ELA, math, and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively, and for themselves. Our formative assessment products help teachers identify the targeted instruction students need to build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs provide educators with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves more than 15 million students in all 50 states. For more information, visit amplify.com.

As the Senior Manager of PD Learning & Development, you will lead the strategy and design of year-round onboarding and professional development programming to support contract Professional Learning Specialists, Lead Professional Learning Specialists and select Regional team members.

This role is critical to achieving the DTD team's charge outlined above. It requires strong leadership, demonstrated knowledge and skill with instructional design, dynamic facilitation, and deep knowledge of Amplify products (STEM or Literacy). This role will utilize knowledge of transformational coaching strategies and adult learning best practices to ensure excellence in the design of ongoing development for Professional Learning Specialists and select Regional team members. This development will ultimately support our contractor team’s  growth, increase retention, and lead to world-class PD experiences for educators using our products.

Essential Responsibilities:

Learning & Development Design & Delivery 

• Set Standards: Establish and enforce best practices and standards for training development, including instructional design principles, multimedia production, and interactive content. Implement and maintain quality standards for all training materials and resources, ensuring they meet high standards of effectiveness, engagement, and accuracy.

• Design Engaging Content: Design and review training experiences that are engaging and effective, incorporating various formats such as instructor-led sessions, interactive eLearning modules, virtual workshops, and content built utilizing activity builder in the unified platform. 

• Integration of Resources & Feedback: Ensure that various training formats and resources are seamlessly integrated to provide a cohesive and comprehensive learning experience along an arch of learning that supports PLS development in key competencies for growth in their role. Collect and analyze feedback from participants and stakeholders to drive continuous improvement in training experiences and adapt content and formats as needed.

• Project Execution & Progress Monitoring: Lead multiple projects from inception to completion, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and successful execution. Track project progress closely, making necessary adjustments to ensure deadlines are met. Track project milestones and deliverables, ensuring timely completion and effective management.

• Deliverable Reporting: Report on project outcomes, maintain appropriate documentation, and share status, progress, and impact to team leadership, ensuring transparency and accountability.

• Issue Resolution: Proactively address and resolve any issues or obstacles that arise during project execution to keep projects on track.

• Data Gathering and Analysis: Regularly review and assess the effectiveness of training materials and experiences, providing constructive feedback and recommendations for improvements.  Collect and analyze data to support strategic decision-making and inform future initiatives.

• Drive Innovation: Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the team, encouraging new ideas and approaches

• Deliver Training Experiences: Model excellent facilitation by directly delivering trainings developed themselves or by other team members to Professional Learning Specialists, Lead Professional Learning Specialists or other Regional team members.

Leadership & Contractor Management

• Vision and Goal Setting: Establish and communicate clear vision and goals for contractor teams, ensuring alignment with the broader team and organizational objectives.

• Performance Monitoring: Track contractor performance, provide regular feedback, and implement strategies to drive continuous improvement and high performance.

• Management & Development: Manage contractors, providing guidance and support to foster their professional development and growth, meeting HR requirements and goals of the company more broadly. 

• Promote Collaboration: Foster a collaborative culture, encouraging open communication and teamwork.

• Leadership: Conduct regular meetings to ensure effective communication, alignment on goals, and progress tracking. Recognize and celebrate contractor achievements to boost morale and motivation. Promote an inclusive culture that values diverse perspectives and experiences.

• Motivate to Excellence: Support contractors to deliver content that meets high standards of quality and consistency, following established guidelines and best practices to maintain high standards of work.

Expertise & Ownership

• Product & Platform Expertise: Develop and maintain deep expertise in Amplify Literacy or STEM  product suite, including Amplify’s digital platform.

• Expertise in Adult Learning and Transformational Coaching: Apply advanced knowledge of adult learning theories and principles, as well as best practice in coaching, to design and deliver training experiences that cater to the diverse needs and preferences of adult learners and that support their growth in their roles.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with product leaders, design leaders and other stakeholders to ensure ongoing learning experiences are aligned with strategic company and department goals.

• Training and Support: Identify and address training needs of PLS related to a suite of products and delivery skill. 

• Performance Monitoring: Monitor and evaluate L&D performance, utilizing data and feedback to make informed decisions and drive improvements to ensure high standards of quality in deliverables and resolve any issues related to performance or user experience.

Cross-Team Collaboration

• Work across Teams: Partner with different teams to help develop and deliver ongoing learning and development training opportunities to Professional Learning Specialists. Collaborate closely to ensure that all aspects of training are effectively executed.

• Information Alignment: Share and receive key information to keep all teams aligned. This helps ensure that everyone is informed and working towards the same objectives.

• Incorporate Feedback: Gather input from various teams to refine and enhance training resources. Use this feedback to make necessary adjustments and improve overall effectiveness.

• Support Projects: Assist in managing collective projects by contributing expertise and solving problems. Collaborate to overcome challenges and achieve common goals.

• Ensure Clear Communication: Use collaboration tools to maintain clear and consistent communication across teams. Track progress and document updates to facilitate smooth project execution.

Flexible Engagement & Team Commitments

• Support Company and PD Team Responsibilities: Integrate and align your work with team and company priorities, actively contributing to the achievement of these goals.

• Engage in Team Commitments: Participate in and/or lead team commitments, including working groups, team meetings, projects, and other initiatives contributing to the overall success of the Design, Training & Development Team and PD team at large.

• Adapt to Company Needs: Flexibly support various initiatives as needed, adapting to the changing needs of the organization and contributing to emerging projects or priorities.

You are a good fit for this role if you:

• Radical Ownership: You take full responsibility for your projects, from concept through execution. You own the design process, challenges, and successes, and lead your team with accountability and dedication.

• Balance Big Picture with Details: You maintain a clear vision of the overall goals while paying attention to the critical details that impact the user experience. You guide your team to keep sight of both the macro and micro aspects of design. You are able to toggle up and toggle down and take both lenses into consideration when making decisions and investing others in priorities.

• Deliver Results: You are action-oriented, capable of assessing risks and opportunities to move projects forward. You prioritize completing tasks effectively while managing perfectionism and avoiding analysis paralysis. People that work with you say that you "get things done" while also ensuring a human-centered workplace.

• Seek the “Third Way”: You are skilled at finding creative solutions that go beyond binary thinking. You explore alternative approaches that benefit both the department and the broader organization.

• Strong Judgment: You consistently exercise good judgment by asking insightful questions, involving the right stakeholders, and making informed decisions. You are comfortable pausing to reflect and reassess when necessary. You can adequately assess when you need to bring others into a decision and when you should move forward on your own.

• Communicate Proactively and Clearly: You excel at communication, providing clear, compelling updates, anticipating the needs of your audience and with finesse. You ensure that information is effectively shared across all levels and departments.

• Scalable Excellence: You are dedicated to principles of simplicity, scalability, and standardization. You work towards creating solutions that are not only efficient but also maintain high standards of quality and responsiveness.

• Embrace Flexibility and Adaptability: You thrive in dynamic environments and are comfortable navigating changes. You balance flexibility with a commitment to standardized processes, ensuring that design solutions are both adaptable and consistently high-quality.

• Principle-First Decision Making: You approach projects and decisions with a principle-first mindset, prioritizing core principles that guide decision-making. This ensures that decisions align with our overarching goals, values, and strategy.

• User-Centered: You understand the importance of usability and impact on key stakeholders, primarily PLS and teachers. You design with the end-user in mind, ensuring that all materials and solutions are practical, user-friendly, and directly address their needs at scale.

• Balance Standardization & Innovation: You are invested in creating standardized design content and utilizing standard practices that promote efficiency while remaining open to seizing opportunities that arise and taking on innovative approaches, ensuring design systems are scalable and consistently applied across projects.

• Foster Collaboration: You are energized by working with others, especially across functions, and enjoy collaborating with diverse teams. You actively seek input from various stakeholders to create cohesive and effective design solutions.

• Growth Mindset & Continuous Improvement: You maintain core foundational knowledge and expertise while committing to ongoing learning and self-improvement. Embracing a growth mindset, you adapt to new challenges and continually enhance your skills, ensuring your work remains relevant and high-quality.

• Represent the PD Team Brand: You prioritize building strong relationships and embody the values of the PD team. You approach challenges with a “how might we” mindset, consistently seeking opportunities to enhance our brand. You orient toward an abundance mindset - you are a pie baker, not a pie eater.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of PreK-12 classroom teaching experience

• Experience teaching and/or supporting implementation of Amplify products 

• At least 2+ years of experience designing and facilitating professional development sessions for PreK-12 educators both in-person and online, at scale

• Proven knowledge of adult learning principles and experience applying them when delivering learning experiences to adults

• Strong knowledge around best practices for implementing high-quality instruction in literacy or STEM in order for students to meet and exceed rigorous grade level standards

• Strong knowledge of transformational coaching principles and strategies

• Demonstrated proficiency with instructional and visual design

• Proven time management skills when managing multiple tasks

• Experience developing and managing large-scale projects, including creating detailed project plans and meeting deadlines.

• Experience analyzing project feedback data and using it to inform implementation next steps

• Demonstrates exceptional professionalism, poise, and judgment at all times 

• Excellent skill and comfort with technology-based productivity tools, including Microsoft Office, Google Applications and video conferencing programs (Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams) and is eager and able to pick up any new technology or software with ease. 

• Able to travel for onsite and in-person meetings for approximately 20% of the year

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience designing and delivering content within the Desmos platform.

• Experience building learning content using an authoring tool and integrating into courses within an LMS.

• Experience as an Instructional Leader, Coach and/or Curriculum Developer for a school or district.

• Experience with onboarding, and/or ongoing development. 

• Experience managing contractors

• Skill in design tools such as Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator and/or Canva

• Biliteracy a plus (Spanish)

What we offer:

Salary is only one component of the Amplify Total Rewards package, which includes a 401(k) plan, competitive health insurance and mental health options, basic life insurance, paid time off, parental leave, and access to best-in-class development programs. The gross salary range for this role is $90,000-$105,000. This role is eligible to earn an annual discretionary bonus that rewards individual and company performance.
 

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To that end, we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. 

Amplify is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. 

This position may be funded, in whole or in part, through American Recovery & Reinvestment Act funds.

Amplify Education, Inc. is an E-Verify participant.

If selected, a background check will be required. As required by state and local laws and district policies, you may also be required to provide additional documentation, such as proof of vaccination or submit to enhanced background screening, including fingerprints.