Senior Consultant: Instructional Design and Project Management

Job Overview:

Position Name: Senior Consultant: Instructional Design and Project Management

Employment Type: Full Time

Work Location: New Delhi, India

Department: Skills Development Network

Job Description:

The Wadhwani Foundation (WF) is a global not-for-profit, and works like a start-up, at a fast-moving, dynamic pace. Skills Development Network of the Foundation targets empowering millions to earn a family-sustaining wage and lead a dignified life. We offer programs covering the entire life cycle of an individuals school-to-work journey: from career advisory, employability and in-demand job skills training to job placement and progression.

Our programs enable students and early-stage employees to gain the essential skills needed to get ready and accelerate their progression. Through Genie AI, our AI-powered, mobile-first platform, we are scaling up at speed in partnership with academia, industry and the government to build a future-ready workforce. All our programmatic interventions are without charge.

This position is a part of the Content Strategy and Services vertical of the Wadhwani Skilling Network that designs, develops and deploys learning experiences focused on the target audiences for various programs across the globe. This role requires a strategic approach to creating engaging and effective learning experiences for diverse audience profiles, leveraging advancements in educational technology and digital learning.

The recruit will be responsible for guiding and mentoring junior instructional designers and content project managers, ensuring high-quality content creation, and maintaining instructional integrity. This role involves end-to-end project management, including scoping, budgeting, stakeholder collaboration, and content development oversight. Proficiency in e-learning authoring tools, instructional design frameworks, and learning theories is essential, along with expertise in MS Excel for project tracking and budget management.

The recruit will collaborate closely with SMEs, graphic designers, LMS teams, and other stakeholders to drive impactful learning interventions. The ideal candidate will have strong analytical and problem-solving skills, a detail-oriented approach, and the ability to manage multiple projects efficiently in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Pedagogical approaches powered by research: Incorporate effective pedagogical techniques keeping learner at center, selecting the appropriate models based on need, to enable outcomes from the learning product. Deliver engaging pedagogy that stems from the understanding of learner profiles and varying learning styles for the targeted skills, while being anchored on the solid foundation of the theory of learning for such learners.

• Instructional design strategy: Identify emerging trends and best practices in instructional design and content development to envision, design and configure appropriate Instructional Strategy for target audiences varying across geography, prior knowledge and goals.

Design instruction for various categories of learning products, while keeping the target learner
in focus. Manage the balance between design-superiority and pragmatic implementation-constraints. Stay updated on advancements in the field of learning platforms, services, AI technology to understand & use their potential. Bring efficiency and agility in design and development.

• Innovative approaches in learning content: Recommend effective and innovative learning content interventions for specific learning products. Align with established models and standards. Drive the development and implementation of such innovative learning experiences. Learning Content should augment the pedagogical approaches, tangibly bringing to form, the rich-design. Technological tools to be judiciously leveraged to bring about concrete content deliverables including but not limited to microlearning, stackable- credentialing, gamification, adaptive learning experiences etc. Be responsible for deployment of solutions for such distinctive pedagogical experiences with the LMS platform teams post QA.

• Project Planning and Execution: Develop comprehensive project plans for content design and development. Execute projects with effective coordination across internal and external teams, vendors and stakeholders. Proficiently use MS Excel in planning and management

• Quality, Time and Cost Management: Monitor project budgets, make necessary adjustments keeping the focus on meeting commitments of time and quality. Oversee quality checks at different project stages to ensure deliverables meet high standards. Utilize project resources effectively, based on strengths and requirements.

• Learning and Development: Keep yourself updated in the developments in the field of learning principles, design, services and content development. Train junior IDs and PMs.

Skills & Experience:

• Education: Graduate or Post-graduate in a relevant field.
• Experience: 10+ years. Last 4 years in coordination and management of edtech projects
• Excellent Communication Skills.
• Strong relationship and oral communication skills, including the ability to engage effectively with executive leadership and strategic partners
• Strong English language proficiency with excellent grammar and proofreading skills.
• Understanding of project scoping and execution, with the ability to use MS Excel for tracking project timelines, and maintaining simple project budgets, and reporting
• Problem solver attitude. Ability to meet deadlines, adapt to changes, and maintain high-quality standards in content development.

Must-have competencies and behavioral attributes:

• Self-motivated with a proactive approach to tasks.
• Attention to detail ensuring high-quality content development.
• Willingness to learn and continuously improve skills.
• Strong teamwork skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across teams.
• Strong work ethic with a commitment to delivering quality results.
• Takes ownership of work and is accountable for deliverables.
• Ability to meet stringent deadlines and work efficiently under pressure.
• Adaptability to change in a dynamic work environment.