Academic Technologist

About the University of Massachusetts Global

University of Massachusetts Global is a private, nonprofit affiliate of the University of Massachusetts, created to help working adults change their lives through flexible, high-quality education built for real life. Regionally accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and recognized by U.S. News & World Report among the Best Online Programs for 13 consecutive years (2013–2025), the university has a long track record of online innovation. Students across 49 states and internationally can upskill, reskill, and move forward without putting life on hold through technology-enabled, real-world learning. With 55+ fully online, career-focused programs designed around the realities of work, family, and constant change, we remain ever-focused on developing future-ready learners who can thrive in a rapidly shifting world.

This position is open to candidates who currently reside in one of the following approved states from which the role may be performed remotely: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin.

Employees must be available for collaboration during core hours from 10am to 3pm (PST).

About The Role

The Academic Technologist is responsible for assisting various teams in providing technical, administrative, and logistical support for online graduate and undergraduate courses. This role provides support to Learning Management System (LMS) users in the investigation, analysis, and resolution of all problems specifically related to the LMS and its integrated applications. The Academic Technologist is also responsible for conducting accessibility and functionality audits, ensuring accessibility compliance of all newly developed courses.

General Supervision is received from the Associate Director, Digital Learning, indicating that the incumbent performs a variety of duties, some of which may be complex, within established policy guidelines, and receives occasional supervision.

Position Duties And Responsibilities

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Faculty and Student Support

• Monitor the course triage and instructor support queue to ensure timely resolution of faculty and student requests.
• Provide technical and functional support for the LMS, assisting users with navigation, troubleshooting, and best practices.
• Test and evaluate LMS updates and new functionalities and review results.
• Deliver advanced technical assistance by phone, email, and other channels for educational technologies (e.g., Kaltura, Zoom) and course-integrated tools.
• Support users in the use of licensed academic content and integrations (e.g., Films on Demand, Harvard Business Review, McGraw-Hill Connect, Pearson MyLab, Labsim, and Ucertify).
• Coordinate with university departments and technical support teams to streamline issue resolution and enhance the faculty and student online learning experience.
• Perform course triage as needed by updating live courses, correcting content issues, and maintaining consistency across course components.
• Conduct copy out preparation checks each term to verify course readiness, addressing broken links, missing materials, tool integrations, textbook availability, syllabus alignment, gradebook configuration, due dates, rubrics, instructor resources, and accessibility compliance (ADA).

Course Building/Instructional Design Support

• Collaborate with instructional designers and/or faculty to upload documents, apply basic HTML coding, upload/build quizzes, build LTI integrations, and incorporate audio and visual media.
• Conduct post-development User Experience (UX) design audit and remediation.

Accessibility Specialist

• Conduct accessibility audits of online courses to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.2 standards.
• Utilize assistive technology and tools to identify non-compliance areas, providing remediation support as needed.
• Aid Instructional Designers, Faculty, and Students registered with the Office of Accessible Education in formatting course materials for WCAG compliance. This may include but is not limited to formatting course documents and html coding to ensure compatibility with screen readers and generating ADA compliant alt text, closed captions, and transcription for multimedia content.

Trainings

• Provide training for faculty and students on the use of educational technologies including but not limited to LMS, Zoom, Kaltura, Google Drive, etc. This includes the following tasks: Developing training materials and job aids, Writing scripts for asynchronous training development, Leading synchronous trainings via Zoom, Hosting “office hours” style support sessions.
• Perform other duties, as assigned.

Position Specifications And Requirements

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, CERTIFICATION AND/OR LICENSES:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or combination of experience and education.
• 1 to 3 years of experience in LMS, educational technology, or instructional support.
• ADA compliance and training experience preferred.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Moderate to Advanced technical skills with Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Brightspace, Strut, Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas, etc., and other educational technologies.
• Advanced knowledge of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for online course delivery and proficiency in ensuring WCAG compliance using tools like G Suite (Google Products), Adobe Acrobat, and Microsoft Office.
• Advanced skills with G Suite (Google Products), Adobe Acrobat, and Microsoft.
• Proficiency in creating vtt files for closed captions and utilizing accessibility tools and techniques to create accessible digital content.
• Experience in using and troubleshooting academic technologies, including LMS, video conferencing tools like Zoom, online collaboration platforms, and multimedia authoring software.
• Familiarity with software applications commonly used in education, such as Microsoft Office Suite and Google Workspace, and providing support to users via email, phone, and video conferencing technologies.
• Strong analytical skills to troubleshoot software and hardware issues and provide technical support to faculty and students.
• Versatility in both PC and Mac operating environments.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to effectively convey technical information to faculty and students.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment, demonstrating discretion and judgment within delegated authority.
• Proven customer service skills, including handling problems, questions, conflicts, and suggestions with diplomacy and patience.

Machines, Tools, Equipment, Electronic Devices And Software

• Machines/Tools/Equipment: Desktop or laptop computer, mobile devices (smartphones, tablets), peripherals (headset, webcam), assistive technology devices (screen readers, braille displays).
• Electronic Devices: Desktop computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones.
• Software: Learning management systems (e.g., Brightspace, Strut, Canvas, Blackboard etc), video conferencing software (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams), assistive technology software (e.g., JAWS, NVDA), Microsoft Office Suite, Google Workspace.

Contact with Students: Frequent

Contact with Faculty and/or Staff: Frequent

Contact with Community and Vendors: Occasional

Compensation

The hiring range for this position is $24.00 - $30.30 per hour. Offers are determined by a variety of factors, including but not limited to geographical location, knowledge, skills, years & depth of experience, and equity with internal team members.

Special Requirements

Position may be required to work flexible hours particularly given the need to support students’ or stakeholders’ and work flexible hours to provide support/course triage support. Incumbents must be available Mon–Fri 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. PT; and Sat–Sun 11:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. PT. Applicants for this position are subject to a background check and a criminal history review.

Benefits And Perks

• Health: Medical, dental, and vision coverage with spending account options.
• Work-Life Balance: Remote options, flexible schedules, 1/2 day Fridays (biweekly), generous time off, including paid holidays and a paid winter break.
• Financial Security: Life, disability, accident, legal, identity protection, and student debt support.
• Retirement: 403(b) plan with a Roth option. 3% non-elective contribution and up to 6% match for a 9% total employer contribution!
• Education: Tuition discounts for employees and family and Tuition Exchange program with other universities. PSLF eligible employer.
• Wellness: Counseling services, Free Calm Health subscription and year-round wellness programs.

Equal Employment Opportunity

UMass Global is committed to providing an educational and work environment free of unlawful discrimination and harassment in any form. UMass Global prohibits all forms of discrimination and harassment on the basis of age, race (including hairstyle/texture, protective hairstyles, braids, locks, and twists), color, religion (including religious observance, belief, practice dress and grooming practices), citizenship, pregnancy (including temporary physical or mental limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or any related medical conditions), sex, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, national origin, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, legally-protected medical condition, military (past, present or prospective) status, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, sexual and reproductive health, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by local, State or Federal law.

Reasonable Accommodation

UMass Global provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the recruitment department at recruiting@umassglobal.edu.

Key skills/competency

• Learning Management System (LMS)
• Educational Technology
• Accessibility Compliance
• WCAG
• Technical Support
• Troubleshooting
• Instructional Design Support
• Course Building
• Customer Service
• Training Development