Accelerator Design & Development Director

Accelerator Design & Development Director

At InStride, people are our purpose. We believe that investing in people is the most powerful way to drive success—for individuals and organizations alike.

As a public benefit corporation, we partner with leading employers to unlock opportunities for their employees, providing access to top-tier education programs that align with their employees' career goals and the company's business goals.

Our mission goes beyond skill-building; we're here to empower our partners' employees to advance their careers, elevate their expertise, and achieve meaningful personal and professional growth.

No matter the team you're on, our dedication to the success of our partners and their employees is what drives us. If you're passionate about making a difference and driving educational and professional advancement, InStride is the place for you.

Candidates must be located in one of the following states to be considered eligible for employment: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MA, MI, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NY, PA, OH, OR, TX, VA, WA, WI.

What We're Looking For (Role Overview):

At InStride, we're redefining how employers develop talent—through applied, university-quality learning that delivers measurable business impact. Our Capability Accelerators—cohort-based, role-aligned programs co-developed with leading universities and employers—help organizations build the skills that drive performance and mobility at scale.

To build on this momentum, we're hiring an Accelerator Design and Development Director to design and scale the next generation of these programs. This role sits at the intersection of business, learning science, and technology—leading innovation in applied learning, deliberate practice, and AI-enabled feedback to transform workforce capability.

Reporting to the Enterprise Learning Director, you'll lead the design and development of custom and ready-to-deploy Accelerators, turning employer priorities into structured program blueprints and bringing them to life with academic and industry partners. You'll also codify and evolve the Accelerator model—creating the systems, templates, and frameworks that ensure quality, scalability, and continuous innovation across our portfolio.

This is both a strategic and hands-on role: you'll design flagship programs for employers today while building the foundation and tools that power InStride's growth tomorrow.

Skills We'd Love To See You Show Off:

• Learning Innovation & AI Fluency: Skilled at using AI, simulation, and practice-based learning to personalize experiences, deepen engagement, and accelerate skill development.
• Program Design & Development Expertise: Proven record designing enterprise learning programs—from concept to launch—grounded in learning science and aligned to business outcomes.
• Client Engagement & Relationship Management: Experienced collaboration with senior L&D leaders and CLOs to translate business goals into actionable, high-impact learning designs.
• Higher Ed + Corporate Experience: Confident navigating between academic and corporate worlds—blending academic rigor with employer relevance and speed.
• Learning Systems Builder: Expert at codifying models, creating templates and playbooks, and scaling innovation into repeatable excellence.
• Instructional Design Leadership: Adept at guiding instructional designers and content teams across multiple platforms to deliver engaging, high-quality programs.
• Strategic Problem Solving: Able to connect the dots between business needs, learning strategy, and measurable outcomes—balancing creativity with execution.
• Project Management Excellence: Experienced managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects with clarity, precision, and accountability.
• Collaboration & Influence: Strong communicator who builds trust and alignment across employers, academic partners, and internal teams.
• Entrepreneurial Drive: Thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment—energized by building what doesn't yet exist.

Who You Are (Ideal Profile):

• 10+ years in learning design, corporate education, or higher education: With a track record of building and scaling innovative learning programs that deliver measurable impact.
• Deep understanding of adult learning and instructional design principles: Including applied and cohort-based models.
• Experience partnering with enterprise clients to co-design programs: Tied to business performance and capability development.
• Proven success working with academic institutions or faculty: To co-create programs that combine rigor with real-world relevance.
• Familiarity with AI-enabled learning design: Adaptive feedback, or simulation-based practice environments.
• Experience managing instructional design teams: Or vendors to deliver high-quality, complex projects.
• Skilled at building and improving learning systems: Processes, and frameworks for scale and continuous improvement.
• Strategic and organized: Able to juggle multiple priorities while maintaining focus on quality and outcomes.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity: And adapting quickly as technology and client needs evolve.
• Willingness to travel occasionally to collaborate with clients, academic partners, and internal teams.

How You Will Create Impact (Key Responsibilities):

• Lead employer engagements during the design and development of custom and semi-custom Capability Accelerators: Translating business needs into structured, outcome-driven learning blueprints.
• Design or oversee development of programs that integrate AI-enabled practice, simulation, and feedback to drive measurable skill growth.
• Collaborate with academic and industry partners: To co-create programs that combine academic rigor with business relevance.
• Manage instructional designers and content developers: (contract and, over time, full-time) to deliver engaging, high-quality learning experiences.
• Advance InStride's ready-to-deploy Accelerators by refining and adapting core content for rapid customization and scale.
• Codify and continuously improve the Capability Accelerator model: Developing repeatable design systems, templates, and playbooks.
• Partner with internal teams: To ensure tight alignment between client objectives, academic partnerships, and delivery execution.
• Manage multiple concurrent projects: With clear priorities, communication, and accountability.
• Review feedback and performance data to continuously strengthen content, models, and learner impact.
• Build for scale: Help define the systems, tools, and workflows that enable InStride's expanding Accelerator portfolio.

Compensation range:

$150,000 - $165,000 USD

We are looking for someone who is not only technically skilled, but also enthusiastic about making a meaningful impact. If this description resonates with you, we're excited about the possibility of having you on our team. As a skills-driven employer, we encourage you to apply if there is a skill-fit, even in the absence of years of experience.

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At InStride, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role, but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this role!

Benefits @ InStride

As an organization that champions investing in people, it's critical we walk the talk. That's why InStride employees are eligible to enroll in 2,800+ online certificate and degree programs through our Step Forward program. Unlike traditional tuition reimbursement programs, InStride covers your tuition upfront, regardless of your course of study, degree type, or school—eligible to employees starting Day 1.

This role is also eligible for the following benefits:

• 401(k) plan with company match
• Flexible vacation policy
• Paid family leave
• Best-in-class health care benefits
• And more!

InStride Diversity and Inclusion Statement

At InStride, we foster a culture of