Senior Instructional Designer

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is a community of dedicated researchers, consultants, educators, and former practitioners who drive innovation and advancement in courts and justice systems. NCSC’s reputation for trusted leadership allows us to work alongside top judicial officers to examine some of the most complex and significant issues facing society. Our team of experts and court leaders are deeply committed to advancing just, free, and safe communities. To learn more about NCSC, visit NCSC.org NCSC is seeking an experienced instructional designer to join our Education and Program Development (EPD) team. The Senior Instructional Designer will serve as a strategic and hands-on lead instructional designer to serve as one of the main architects of NCSC’s asynchronous learning ecosystem. This Lead Instructional Designer serves as a key advisor to the Director and head of the EPD instructional design team. This person will own the ADDIE pipeline, establish instructional standards, assess and develop team capabilities, lead LMS evaluation and implementation, and drive course production with a business discipline mindset—treating revenue meeting or exceeding cost for asynchronous courses as a design requirement. This role will oversee a team of instructional designers and a writer, and will manage all aspects of that team’s performance, workload, and professional development. The ideal candidate is both a strategic leader and a skilled practitioner—capable of aligning learning initiatives with organizational goals while maintaining hands-on involvement in design quality and production. Strategic Leadership - Partner with the Director of Education & Professional Development to reform NCSC’s education model and implement a scalable, learner-centered education ecosystem. - Drive cultural shift toward business discipline—applying product development thinking, budget management, revenue projection, and ROI-based decision-making to course development. - Identify emerging trends, technologies, and best practices in adult learning, instructional design, and professional development. - Develop scalable approaches for asynchronous and eLearning offerings that support a diverse national audience of court professionals. - Establish instructional design standards, style guides, template libraries, workflows, and quality assurance processes across all learning products. - Support organizational initiatives by aligning learning solutions with strategic priorities and stakeholder needs. Team Leadership & Management - Lead, mentor, and manage a team of instructional designers and a writer, serving as the unit’s primary supervisor. - Assess the team’s technical knowledge, skills, and abilities; identify gaps; define upskilling paths; and inform hiring decisions. - Oversee workload planning, resource allocation, performance management, and professional development for the instructional design and writing team. - Foster a collaborative, innovative, and learner-centered team culture. - Provide coaching and guidance to ensure high-quality instructional design practices and consistent project execution. - Manage employee timesheets, performance management, and disciplinary actions Instructional Design & Development - Lead ADDIE-workflow asynchronous course development, establishing clear roles, ownership, transparency, accountability, and quality assurance across all five phases (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation). - Serve as QA gate for all course deliverables—reviewing and approving storyboards, assessments, multimedia assets, and final content. - Lead content architecture, design phase, and SME collaboration for new course development, prioritizing NCSC staff as SMEs before engaging third parties. - Ensure learning experiences are grounded in adult learning theory, instructional design best practices, accessibility standards, and learner engagement strategies. - Collaborate with subject matter experts, internal st…