Position Summary
Blueprint Educational Solutions is seeking an Instructional Designer to support the development, revision, and quality assurance of higher education courses and programs. This role will work with subject matter experts, faculty, academic leaders, and institutional partners to design engaging, outcomes-aligned, and compliance-conscious online and hybrid learning experiences.
The Instructional Designer will be responsible for translating academic content into well-structured courses, developing learning activities and assessments, supporting LMS course builds, and ensuring courses meet institutional, accreditation, accessibility, and quality standards. This position is ideal for someone who understands higher education, can manage multiple course development projects, and can balance instructional quality with practical implementation.
Key Responsibilities
Course Design and Development
- Design and develop online, hybrid, and technology-enhanced courses for higher education programs.
- Collaborate with faculty and subject matter experts to convert course concepts, outlines, and raw content into complete, student-ready courses.
- Develop measurable course and module-level learning outcomes aligned with program outcomes and institutional expectations.
- Create or revise weekly/module structures, lessons, assignments, discussions, quizzes, exams, rubrics, and instructional resources.
- Ensure course content is appropriately sequenced, academically rigorous, and aligned with credit-hour expectations.
LMS and Course Build Support
- Build, revise, and maintain courses within learning management systems, including Canvas or comparable platforms.
- Organize LMS content in a clear, consistent, and student-friendly format.
- Support the creation of course shells, module layouts, gradebooks, due dates, rubrics, and assessment settings.
- Troubleshoot basic LMS design and course setup issues.
- Ensure courses are ready for launch according to institutional timelines.
Assessment and Alignment
- Develop assessments that measure stated learning outcomes.
- Create rubrics and grading criteria that support consistency and transparency.
- Conduct course alignment reviews to ensure outcomes, content, activities, and assessments are appropriately connected.
- Support program mapping, curriculum crosswalks, and other academic documentation as needed.
Quality Assurance and Compliance
- Review courses for clarity, consistency, accessibility, and instructional quality.
- Apply higher education best practices related to online learning, student engagement, adult learning, and assessment.
- Support compliance with institutional policies, accreditation expectations, accessibility standards, and applicable regulatory requirements.
- Assist with documentation needed for accreditation, curriculum review, licensure disclosure, or academic quality assurance projects.
- Identify gaps in course design and recommend practical improvements.
Faculty and Client Collaboration
- Work directly with faculty, subject matter experts, program directors, and institutional clients.
- Facilitate course development meetings and maintain clear communication about timelines, deliverables, and expectations.
- Provide guidance to faculty on effective online teaching practices, course organization, assessment design, and student engagement.
- Translate academic and technical requirements into clear, actionable development plans.
Project Management
- Manage multiple course development or revision projects simultaneously.
- Track project progress, deadlines, feedback, revisions, and deliverables using project management tools such as Asana or similar systems.
- Maintain organized records of course development decisions, source materials, and final deliverables.
- Meet established deadlines while maintaining quality and accuracy.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in instructional design, education, curriculum and instruction, educational technology, higher education, or a related field.
- Experience designing or developing courses in a higher education setting.
- Experience working with a learning management system, preferably Canvas.
- Strong understanding of learning outcomes, assessment alignment, rubrics, and online course structure.
- Strong written communication, editing, and organizational skills.
- Ability to collaborate professionally with faculty, subject matter experts, academic leaders, and clients.
- Ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines.
- Working knowledge of accessibility and inclusive course design practices.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in instructional design, education, educational technology, higher education, or a related field.
- Experience with accreditation, academic compliance, program review, or licensure-related curriculum documentation.
- Experience developing courses for career-focused, professional, healthcare, business, technology, or adult learner programs.
- Experience with Canvas, Articulate, H5P, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Asana, Dropbox, or similar tools.
- Familiarity with Quality Matters, Universal Design for Learning, backward design, Bloom’s Taxonomy, and adult learning theory.
- Experience creating curriculum maps, course crosswalks, syllabi, course descriptions, and assessment plans.
- Experience supporting faculty training or professional development.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Strong course design judgment and attention to detail.
- Ability to turn incomplete or unstructured content into clear instructional materials.
- Practical understanding of how higher education courses are built, delivered, reviewed, and improved.
- Ability to write clear instructions for students and faculty.
- Ability to balance instructional best practices with institutional timelines and client needs.
- Comfort working in a fast-paced, project-based environment.
- Professional communication and client service skills.
- Ability to receive feedback and revise work efficiently.
- Commitment to quality, accessibility, and student-centered course design.
Work Environment
This position may be remote, hybrid, or project-based depending on company and client needs. The role requires regular use of technology, video conferencing, project management systems, learning management systems, and shared document platforms.
Position Type
Part time 1099 Contractor
About Blueprint Educational Solutions
Blueprint Educational Solutions provides academic, instructional design, LMS, and higher education support services to colleges, universities, and educational organizations. The company focuses on practical, high-quality solutions that help institutions build better courses, manage academic projects, support compliance needs, and improve the student learning experience.