Senior Academic Designer

Overview

Make an Impact!

At McGraw Hill, we create best-in-class, next-generation learning platforms that are used by millions of students and educators worldwide from kindergarten through graduate school. Our goal is to accelerate student success through intuitive and effective learning tools and content that maximize a teacher’s time and a student’s learning experience. We do all of this in a supportive, collaborative environment where you can grow your career in a way that fits into your life.

How can you make an impact?

McGraw Hill, the leading provider of digital and print educational resources, is looking for a Senior Academic Designer, K-5 Science. Senior Academic Designers are content and curriculum experts. They assemble high-quality content based on specific product requirements for programs and understanding the solution design. They collaborate with the Academic Design Directors, Academic Design Managers, and Product Managers to help develop the solution design (both conceptualization and implementation). Depending on project needs, Senior Academic Designers are asked to take on specific project assignments, working with a small team of Academic Designers throughout the various stages of product development.

This is a remote position open to applicants authorized to work for any employer within the United States. This is a Project Status Worker (PSW) role with an end date of 3/31/2027.

What you will be doing:

• Create and guide team members to produce accurate, error-free, consistent, high-quality products that meet curriculum standards (including NGSS, CCSS and other state standards), project scope, and market requirements and that display appropriate content, reading level, grammar, and style
• Train, mentor, and provide feedback to Academic Designers on guidelines and expectations around content development, documentation, and planning
• Plan and develop content (including prototypes, learning objectives, lessons, videos, and teacher resources) for teacher and student materials
• Manage vendors and freelancers to ensure quality and time expectations are in keeping with project goals
• Demonstrate effective organizational and excellent time management skills; the ability to prioritize, multitask, and exhibit flexibility to rapidly changing priorities and demands in an Agile work environment

We’re looking for someone with:

• Bachelor’s degree in elementary education, literacy, science, or related field
• Experience in curriculum development and educational publishing with a focus on Grades K–5
• A minimum of 10 years of experience in curriculum development and educational publishing with a focus on Grades K–5
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, which include a thorough command of the English language, spelling, writing, and grammar and a strong attention to detail
• Highly organized, goal oriented, and collaborative with ability to mentor others and provide guidance, direction, and leadership
• Ability to identify risks and understand concerns, needs, and issues raised by team members and create novel solutions and contingency plans, including cross functional problem solving
• Knowledge of appropriate industry and subject area content development practices, content standards such as NGSS, CCSS, and academic and pedagogical trends, with the ability to drive innovation in teams and products
• Effective organizational and time management skills; productive, efficient work habits and the ability to prioritize, multitask, and exhibit flexibility
• Experience working with Jira to manage sprint backlogs, track progress, and report on key agile metrics is desired, but not required
• Ability to adapt to changing requirements and prioritize the product backlog based on customer feedback and business value
• Diverse computer skills, expert level in MS Office suite, proficiency with Adobe Acrobat, Smartsheet, and K4/InCopy markup
• Experience building accessible content in digital authoring systems is a plus

Why work for us?

The work you do at McGraw Hill will be work that matters. We are collectively designing content that will build the future of education. Play your part and experience a sense of fulfilment that will inspire you to even greater heights.

Key skills/competency

• Curriculum Development
• K-5 Science Education
• Content Creation
• Instructional Design
• Project Management
• Vendor Management
• Team Mentorship
• Agile Methodologies
• NGSS/CCSS Standards
• Digital Authoring Systems