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Learning Designer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Machine Learning Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$163.20 - $236.40/hr

We are looking for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to power the intelligence inside our products ... AI Use Guidelines for Interviews Our interviews are designed to reflect your own skills and ...

Learning Design Consultant

San Francisco, CA

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

This is a role for an experienced learning designer who enjoys solving complex learning challenges, making strategic instructional design decisions and building scalable programs that drive lasting ...

HI Designer

Cupertino, CA

$184K - $324K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Retirement

The Apple Human Interface Design team conceptualizes, designs and ships the user experience for Apple products and services. Your ideas can impact the interaction, graphic, sound, and haptic ...

Learning Design Consultant

San Francisco, CA · On-site

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

This is a role for an experienced learning designer who enjoys solving complex learning challenges, making strategic instructional design decisions and building scalable programs that drive lasting ...

Showing results 21-40

Learning Designer information

See California salary details

$26

$40

$68

How much do learning designer jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 17, 2026, the average hourly pay for learning designer in California is $40.16, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $29.18 and $52.21 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a learning designer?

A learning designer develops educational activities using a variety of online tools. The goal of this career is to help students acquire knowledge and skills as effectively as possible. As a learning designer, your duties may include creating eLearning experiences and course content that aid in retention, identifying students’ educational needs, conducting research, and documenting the results of each project. You also work toward the fulfillment of state and national educational goals or requirements. To become a learning designer, you typically include a master’s degree in educational technology, instructional design, or a similar field and relevant work experience. Additional qualifications include teaching and technical skills, as well as creative problem-solving ability.

What does a learning designer do?

A Learning Designer, also known as an instructional designer, develops educational materials and experiences to help learners acquire specific skills or knowledge. They analyze learning needs, create course outlines, design engaging content, and often use technology to deliver training in schools, businesses, or online platforms. Learning Designers collaborate with subject matter experts and use best practices in pedagogy and instructional technology to ensure effective learning outcomes.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a learning designer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Learning Designer, you need expertise in instructional design, curriculum development, and learning theory, often supported by a relevant degree or certification. Familiarity with e-learning authoring tools (such as Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate), Learning Management Systems (LMS), and multimedia production is typically required. Creativity, strong communication, and project management abilities help Learning Designers collaborate effectively and create engaging learning experiences. These skills are vital to ensure educational solutions meet learners’ needs and organizational goals.

How do learning designers typically collaborate with subject matter experts (SMEs) during a project?

Learning Designers often work closely with subject matter experts to ensure that instructional materials are both accurate and engaging. This collaboration usually involves conducting interviews or workshops with SMEs to gather content, reviewing drafts for technical accuracy, and incorporating feedback at several stages of development. Clear communication and project management skills are essential, as Learning Designers must balance SME input with pedagogical best practices and learner needs. Building a strong working relationship with SMEs can help streamline the process and result in more effective learning experiences.

What is the difference between Learning Designer vs Instructional Designer?

AspectLearning DesignerInstructional Designer
CredentialsTypically requires a degree in education, instructional design, or related fieldsSimilar credentials, often with certifications in instructional design or e-learning
Work EnvironmentDesigns learning experiences for various platforms, including online, corporate, or educational settingsDevelops instructional materials, often for e-learning, corporate training, or academic courses
Employer & Industry UsageUsed in education, corporate training, e-learning companiesCommon in education, corporate training, government agencies

While both roles focus on creating effective learning experiences, Learning Designers often emphasize designing comprehensive learning journeys, whereas Instructional Designers typically focus on developing specific instructional materials and courses. The roles overlap significantly, but Learning Designers may have a broader scope in experience design.

Are learning designers in demand?

Learning designers are in demand as organizations seek to improve training and educational programs through e-learning, instructional design, and digital tools. The role requires skills in curriculum development, multimedia, and learning management systems, with job growth driven by the expansion of online education and corporate training initiatives.

What are the most commonly searched types of Learning Designer jobs in California?

The most popular types of Learning Designer jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Learning Designer jobs?

Cities in California with the most Learning Designer job openings:

Infographic showing various Learning Designer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 68% Full Time, 11% Part Time, and 21% Contract. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $83,540 per year, or $40.2 per hour.

Machine Learning Engineer - Reinforcement Learning

pony.ai

Fremont, CA • On-site

$150K - $250K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Re-posted 20 days ago


Job description

Founded in 2016 in Silicon Valley, Pony.ai has quickly become a global leader in autonomous mobility and is a pioneer in extending autonomous mobility technologies and services at a rapidly expanding footprint of sites around the world. Operating Robotaxi, Robotruck and Personally Owned Vehicles (POV) business units, Pony.ai is an industry leader in the commercialization of autonomous driving and is committed to developing the safest autonomous driving capabilities on a global scale. Pony.ai's leading position has been recognized, with CNBC ranking Pony.ai #10 on its CNBC Disruptor list of the 50 most innovative and disruptive tech companies of 2022. In June 2023, Pony.ai was recognized on the XPRIZE and Bessemer Venture Partners inaugural "XB100" 2023 list of the world's top 100 private deep tech companies, ranking #12 globally. As of August 2023, Pony.ai has accumulated nearly 21 million miles of autonomous driving globally. Pony.ai went public at NASDAQ in November 2024.
Responsibility
  • Build scalable systems for training and fine-tuning large generative models that produce realistic, informative driving behaviors for evaluation and scenario coverage.
  • Implement and iterate on RL-style methods: algorithms, reward / preference objectives, and training setups suited to high-fidelity, insightful behaviors in simulation-aligned workflows (closed-loop evaluation mindset).
  • Ship deep learning solutions (including LLM / VLM where appropriate) that improve human-led triaging, automate high-volume workflows, and support nuanced analysis of self-driving behavior to surface critical anomalies.
  • Own production-oriented ML for fleet-scale assessment: training, optimization, monitoring, and iteration of models used to judge performance across large real-world exposure.
  • Design and evolve data + evaluation systems inspired by RL from human preferences (RLHF) and related paradigms-turning preference/judgment signals into repeatable, scalable training and evaluation loops.
  • Partner broadly with teams such as Prediction, Planning, Research, and platform/engineering leads to land cross-cutting improvements with clear metrics.

Requirements
  • M.S. or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or a related field-or equivalent practical experience.
  • Hands-on experience building and applying ML in production-grade settings, with a strong RL component (policy learning, preference/feedback optimization, or offline/online RL pipelines).
  • Depth in deep learning, sequence modeling, and generative models.
  • Demonstrated impact via strong publications or a clear history of shipping impactful ML systems end-to-end.
  • Experience with large-scale distributed training and large-scale data processing.
  • Ability to lead ambiguous technical work from problem framing through reliable delivery.

Preferred
  • Background in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or complex simulation environments.
  • Strong grasp of modern RL and post-training techniques in LLM, dLLM, VLA and video generations.
  • Hands-on integration of simulation platforms with ML training and evaluation workflows.
  • Python fluency and frameworks such as PyTorch
  • Experience defining and operating metrics for complex, safety-critical AI systems.
  • Technical leadership: influencing stakeholders, aligning teams, and raising the bar for evaluation rigor.
  • Excellent communication-simple explanations of complex trade-offs.

Compensation and Benefits
Base Salary Range: $150,000 - $250,000 Annually
Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on many factors, including the candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Compensation and this role may be eligible for bonuses/incentives and restricted stock units.
Also, we provide the following benefits to the eligible employees:
  • Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
  • Retirement Plan (Traditional and Roth 401k)
  • Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
  • Paid Time Off (Vacation & Public Holidays)
  • Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
  • Short Term & Long Term Disability
  • Free Food & Snacks

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