Pearson Virtual Schools is transforming how learners experience education online. As our technology and programs evolve, so does how we design, build, and deliver them. This is a new role with the mandate to support that transformation for our curriculum development organization, converting a team of content developers into learning designers who develop curriculum by directing AI agents rather than drafting it by hand, and to build the operating standards that make AI-orchestrated curriculum development a repeatable capability. The person in this seat needs to be equally credible on deep K-12 instructional design and on hands-on generative AI and agent orchestration. This role also works alongside product management to manage the curriculum portfolio, comprised of proprietary and licensed courses, evaluating customer needs, technical requirements, and budget constraints to influence buy vs. build decisions.
This role aligns to industry level title, Director of Learning Design
Key Responsibilities
Learning Design & Curriculum Development
Lead the development of high-quality curriculum that supports an effective, engaging virtual learning experience and the achievement of student outcomes
Lead continuous improvement of curriculum and development processes informed by efficacy data, e.g. course performance data, assessment item analysis, and student outcome data
Team Transformation & Change Leadership
Lead the transition of content developers and managers into learning designers and learning design managers, including role redefinition, competency frameworks, and training
Assess the current team's readiness for the shift and make reskilling, redeployment, and external hiring calls in partnership with HR
Set the tone and pace for a significant change across a large team, managing skepticism and skill gaps while retaining your strongest people
AI Orchestration Standards & Quality
Define the standard for effective human-agent collaboration in curriculum production: brief and prompt standards, review checkpoints, and escalation paths for agent errors
Develop deep expertise of and hands-on experience with Pearson’s proprietary authoring toolset and ecosystem to identify tool enhancement or replacement and process improvements
Own selection and evaluation of AI content-generation tools and platforms
Build and maintain a quality assurance framework for AI-generated instructional content, covering pedagogical soundness, standards alignment, accessibility, bias, and originality risk
Adapt review processes to AI-specific content risks such as fabricated citations and uncredited material
Organizational Design & Delivery
Redesign team structure and reporting lines to reflect the shift from manual drafting to orchestration and review
Establish a documented, repeatable agent-orchestration workflow with clear quality gates before content reaches editorial review
Track throughput and cost-per-learning-unit through a rigorous measurement framework, without compromising instructional quality
Cross-Functional Partnership
Partner with product, curriculum leadership, and compliance to ensure agent-orchestrated content meets state standards, accessibility requirements, and academic rigor
Represent the team's transformation to senior leadership, reporting on productivity, quality, and risk metrics
Required Qualifications
8+ years in curriculum, instructional design, or content development leadership, including experience in K-12 or virtual/online education
Direct, hands-on experience with generative AI tools for content creation, including prompt engineering, agent orchestration platforms, or AI-assisted production workflows
Proven experience leading managers, not only individual contributors, through a significant operating-model change such as a reorganization or process transformation
Working knowledge of K-12 content compliance, including state academic standards, accessibility requirements, and copyright and rights-clearance basics
Sound enough judgment to say no to weak AI-generated output and defend that call to both the team and to leadership pushing for speed
Preferred Qualifications
Experience standing up or scaling an AI operations or tooling function, such as prompt libraries, agent QA pipelines, or model evaluation
Background spanning both content development and management of content developers, having experienced this transition from both sides
Familiarity with the legal and ethical considerations of AI content in education, including AI-generated misinformation risk
Compensation at Pearson is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific location. As required by the California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York State, New York City, Vermont, Washington State, and Washington DC laws, the pay range for this position is as follows:
The minimum full-time salary range is between $160,000 - $170,000.
This position is eligible to participate in an annual incentive program, and information on benefits offered is here.
Applications will be accepted through Friday, Nov 20, 2026. This window may be extended depending on business needs.
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Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.
If you are an individual with a disability and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career site as a result of your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by emailing [email protected].
Skills Required
- 8+ years of experience in curriculum, instructional design, or content development leadership
- Experience in K-12 or virtual/online education
- Hands-on experience with generative AI tools for content creation
- Experience with prompt engineering, agent orchestration platforms, or AI-assisted production workflows
- Experience leading managers through a significant operating-model change, reorganization, or process transformation
- Working knowledge of K-12 content compliance, state academic standards, accessibility requirements, copyright, and rights-clearance basics
- Judgment to evaluate and reject weak AI-generated output and defend quality decisions
- Experience establishing or scaling an AI operations or tooling function
- Experience developing prompt libraries, agent QA pipelines, or model evaluation processes
- Background in both content development and management of content developers
- Familiarity with legal and ethical considerations of AI-generated educational content, including misinformation risk
What We Do
We are the world’s learning company with more than 22,500 employees operating in 70 countries. We provide content, assessment and digital services to learners, educational institutions, employers, governments and other partners globally. We are committed to helping equip learners with the skills they need to enhance their employability prospects and to succeed in the changing world of work. We believe that wherever learning flourishes so do people.
