Instructional Designer

The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a premier institution built on 150 years of innovation, pushing the boundaries of making and teaching music. Renowned for its dedicated faculty, gifted students, and contributions to the cultural landscape, NEC seeks a dynamic and innovative Instructional Designer (ID) to join our team in a full-time capacity. This role is a strategic appointment designed to support the institution’s growth, with an introductory focus on positioning and development within NEC’s Expanded Education division, as well as providing strategic instructional design expertise to the College (degree programs).

The successful candidate will lead the design and development of high-quality, engaging, and accessible learning experiences that meet the unique needs of a comprehensive music conservatory, including in-person and digital learning experiences. This position offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of music education, expanding traditional pedagogy, including with digital delivery, and an emphasis on learner-centric and evidence-based teaching and learning.

Role and Responsibilities

The Instructional Designer will work closely with academic leadership, divisional faculty, and institutional strategy to translate complex musical and pedagogical content into effective learning outcomes.

I. Strategic Focus: Expanded Education

• Program Innovation: Lead the design of micro-credentials, workshops, and non-credited professional training for musicians, educators, and adult learners.

• Diverse Learner Support: Develop curricula tailored to a multi-generational population, ranging from preparatory students to continuing education professionals.

• Digital Growth: Drive the creation of asynchronous and synchronous online course offerings to expand NEC’s global reach, as well as cohort-based learning and bespoke programming.

II. Core Institutional Support (College & Beyond)

• Curricular Integration: Collaborate with College leadership and faculty to support the design of high-quality, integrative educational offerings that cultivate students’ artistic, professional, and cultural development.

• Course Design: Introduce and apply established instructional design models (e.g., ADDIE, Backwards Design, or others) to support faculty in creating and revising curricula across all modalities (in-person, hybrid, and online).

• Assessment & Quality: Collaborate with academic leadership to design authentic assessment instruments and rubrics based on NEC’s curricular framework, while ensuring all materials meet high standards for accessibility and copyright compliance.

• Faculty Development: Serve as a pedagogical partner and coach to faculty, providing training on educational technology and best practices in learner-centric teaching techniques, and designing targeted training for faculty professional development.

Qualifications

Required:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent professional experience) in Instructional Design, Educational Technology, Curriculum & Instruction, or a closely related field.

• 3–5 years of professional experience in instructional design, preferably within a higher education and/or music or artistic setting.

• LMS Mastery: High-level proficiency with Learning Management Systems (e.g., Canvas, Brightspace, NEO, or equivalent) and the integration of third-party tools (video conferencing, digital annotation, etc.) as well as AI-forward technologies.

• Theory & Practice: Strong understanding of adult learning theory and the ability to apply it to performance-based subjects with a learner-centric approach.

Highly Desired:

• Experience working with performing arts, music, or studio-based curricula.

• Experience working with performing arts faculty, introducing teaching and learning best practices to a variety of constituents, and managing in-person and digital formats.

• Familiarity with the challenges and opportunities of teaching courses, but also ensemble and one-on-one instruction, in digital formats.

• Fluency in multimedia production (audio/video editing), content creation, and perspective on e-learning authoring tools.

NEC is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.

Annual Clery Report

In accordance with the federal Clery and Campus SaVE Acts, New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) commits to providing all current and prospective students and employees with access to the annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report. This report will provide the reader with a record of statistics regarding crimes that were reported in the NEC community during the previous three years as well as College policies and procedures, in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. This report may be accessed here. A paper copy can be requested by contacting NEC's Director of Public Safety at 290 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115.