Program Head, Instructional Design

Job Duties/Qualifications, Skills and Abilities(QSA)

Job Duties Job Duties General Accountability

The Program Head (PH) provides academic and operational leadership for the Instructional Design (ID) team and supports the Manager, Learning Technology Initiatives (Manager) in ensuring team workflows are directly aligned with institutional strategic priorities. The PH services as a key operational partner to the Manager, translating strategic direction into actionable team objectives and high-quality instructional outcomes. The role ensures the consistent delivery of high-quality instructional design services that support teaching excellence, curriculum development, and the effective use of learning technologies across all delivery modalities. The PH is responsible for the end-to-end stewardship of all course development projects.Nature & ScopeBased at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, any campus, the Program Head reports to Manager, Learning Technology Initiatives. This position involves a minimum of 50% time spent on administrative work and rest on development work as a functional Instructional Designer.

Administration FunctionThis position will oversee the Instructional Designer Team and collaborate with the Learning Technologies (LT) Project Manager on matters concerning course development. The goal is to create and sustain, a course development team that has high skill and performance, outstanding internal teamwork, cooperation, and creativity, an excellent standard of efficiency and client service and demonstrates knowledge and competence of current learning trends practices and emerging technologies.The Program Head connects the ID team members with Manager, Learning Technology Initiatives and all LT team leads, aiming to communicate effectively, promote ID services as essential for student success and work with other LT areas to support the institutional goals of Learning Technologies. QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND EXPERIENCE Specific Accountabilities

Specific Accountabilities

Academic Leadership & Institutional Alignment

• Academic Leadership & Advocacy: Acts as the primary liaison between the Manager and the ID team; translates departmental direction into actionable plans and ensures institutional goals are championed and implemented with a solution-oriented mindset.
• Institutional Alignment & Monitoring: Translate strategic objectives into actionable workflows; proactively identifies and resolves misalignments at the program level to ensure institutional goals are met.
• Pedagogical Excellence & Standards: Leads the delivery of high-quality ID support; collaborates on the drafting of institutional standards while leading the creation of localized ID benchmarks that ensure all course development meets or exceeds requirements for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Indigenization.
• Innovation Catalyst: Maintains a cutting-edge understanding of global industry trends and emerging educational technologies (e.g., AI-supported design, AR/VR); creates an environment that fosters creativity and innovation.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Representation: Represents the ID team in a variety of contacts including external partners, internal committees and builds collaborative, trust-based relationships with partners to promote and integrate ID services.

Project Stewardship & Operational Excellence

• Project Lifecycle Accountability: Assumes primary accountability for the successful delivery of academic projects, taking a lead role in the hands-on management of complex course developments from intake to completion.
• Portfolio Prioritization: Continually assesses the team’s project portfolio against the Learning Technologies department’s strategic roadmap; makes real-time adjustments to resource allocation to ensure the highest-priority institutional goals are met first.
• Data Integrity & Reporting: Maintains and validates project data within internal management systems; provides the Manager with reliable, real-time information for risk assessment and informed decision-making.
• Operational Rigor & Continuity: Anticipates workflow bottlenecks and takes proactive action to prevent delays, ensuring consistent service continuity and “just-in-time” support during critical project periods.
• Resource & Budget Oversight: Manages day-to-day resource allocation (staffing/tools) and contributes to budget planning and expenditure monitoring in accordance with institutional policies.

Team Leadership & Capacity Building

• Professional Culture: Promotes a culture of accountability, inclusion, and solution-focused behaviour; models the reliability, professionalism, and “follow-through” expected of a leadership role.
• Performance & Mentorship: Leads recruitment, onboarding, and performance management; provides active coaching and mentorship to support the professional growth of ID staff and foster a high-performance team environment.
• Workload Equity: Establishes transparent workload practices, balancing assignments based on project complexity, team capacity, and individual strengths.
• Service Continuity: Ensures high-visibility leadership and consistent availability during core operating hours to ensure project momentum and provide immediate support to team members and stakeholders.
• Professional Practice: Proactively translates research-based ID strategies into team practice and leads regular knowledge-sharing initiatives to ensure the ID team remains proficient in modern, evidence-based pedagogy and learning technologies.

Duties Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities (QSA) Candidates will be evaluated based on the minimum education requirements to support the Instructional Designer Team:

Experience: A graduate degree in instructional design and development, focusing on online education, multimedia training, evaluation, needs analysis, and educational technology, or an equivalent combination of relevant post-secondary education, recent training, and experience.

Experience: Minimum 2 years of practical experience working as an Instructional Designer developing interactive technology-rich courses at the post-secondary level with SMEs and technical teams that meet relevant provincial, federal and international standards such as WCAG.

Technical Proficiency: Proficient using learning management systems and generative AI tools. Demonstrated experience incorporating emerging technologies, such as AR, VR and 3D technologies, into the course design process to enhance learner engagement and instructional effectiveness.

Adult Learning Theories: Advanced understanding of adult learning theories and instructional design models. Desired QSA Required Competencies Leads Transformation:Anticipates emerging trends and proactively creates opportunities that shape and transform the organization and polytechnic sector in Canada.Inspires Courage & Innovation:Foster a culture where creative thinking, curiosity, and evidenced-informed experimentation are encouraged. Promotes thoughtful, calculated risk-taking, and supports team members in developing innovative approaches, tools, and solutions that enhance learning and organizational effectiveness.Cultivates Strong Relationships:Builds and sustains strong, trusting relationships across the institution and beyond. Demonstrates a stakeholder- and learner-centric mindset, actively engaging with partners, colleagues, and teams to strengthen collaboration, communication, and shared ownership of goals and outcomes.Drives Operational Excellence:Applies sound judgement, business insight, financial acumen, and operational rigor to maximize productivity and build long-term, sustainable success. Demonstrates a high degree of professional reliability and commitment to the continuity of operations, ensuring that program leadership remains stable and accessible during critical project cycles.Builds Leadership & Culture:Demonstrates authenticity, emotional intelligence, and accountability. Acts as a role model for respectful communication, integrity, and inclusive leadership. Supports the development of leadership capacity within the team and ensures team behavior is consistently aligned with the values and strategic direction of the organization.