Director of Instructional Design, Break Through Tech (NYC)

About Cornell Tech:

Cornell Tech is Cornell University’s state-of-the-art campus in New York City that develops leaders and technologies for the AI era through foundational and applied research, graduate education, and new ventures. Located on Roosevelt Island, the growing campus was founded in partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and in close collaboration with the NYC Economic Development Corporation after Cornell won a worldwide competition initiated by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration to create an applied sciences campus in New York City. More than 1,000 Cornell students are now educated annually on the campus, including 700 in Cornell Tech programs. Since opening in 2012, nearly 120 new companies have spun out from startup programs at Cornell Tech, and 95 percent of them are based in New York City. Cornell Tech continues to have a transformative economic impact on the region’s tech sector.

About Break Through Tech:

Break Through Tech works at the intersection of academia and industry to propel more underrepresented women into higher education and careers in tech -- with a particular emphasis on Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and first- generation college going women and non-binary students. 

Launched in 2016 in New York City as a partnership between Cornell Tech and the City University of New York (CUNY), Break Through Tech has since expanded nationally, serving undergraduate students across the country through our Sprinternships™ and AI programs. Our north star is our focus on placing our program participants in internships or full-time roles post-graduation. Today, we achieve this through our technical skills training, experiential learning, and career and leadership development programming to increase the competitiveness and marketability of students pursuing technical careers.

Position Summary:

While position responsibilities vary, every member of our community is expected to foster a culture of belonging and a psychologically healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.

As the Director of Instructional Design at Break Through Tech you’ll be instrumental in elevating the quality and impact of our programs. You will drive the product strategy and curriculum development for Break Through Tech’s technical skills training and work cross-functionally with experiential learning, learning experience design, and program delivery to specify curriculum objectives in alignment with industry standards and influence instructional best practices to help drive the technical readiness of Break Through Tech Fellows. Curriculum will be designed in a hybrid format that includes online courses, live labs and workshops, and through academic experts and industry volunteers.

As the ideal candidate for this role, you’ll have technical subject expertise in software engineering, web development, data science, machine learning or AI and experience designing or delivering tech education products and programs. You are a strategic thinker, possess strong program or project management skills, and have led projects to successful completion. You have experience working with various audiences (including students, faculty, industry, and cross-functional stakeholders), and can collaborate and influence others to achieve outcomes in a matrixed organization without positional authority. You’ll thrive in this role if you have a strong continuous learning orientation, are an advocate of proactive communication, welcome feedback and have experience navigating ambiguity and adapting as needed.

Successful candidates will need to have and display the following competencies as part of this role: 

Manages ambiguity - Operating effectively, even when things are not certain or the way forward is not clear

Decision quality - Relies on a mixture of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment when making decisions

Collaborates - Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives

Balances stakeholders - Understands internal and external stakeholder requirements, expectations, and needs

Tech savvy - Anticipates the impact of emerging technologies and makes adjustments

This is a full-time, benefits-eligible 3-year term position with the possibility of renewal. This is a remote position, with the option to work in-person on the Cornell Tech NYC campus at least one day per week (Wednesday) on the Cornell Tech campus in New York City. Flexible work schedules are subject to change. Occasional work on evenings and weekends, particularly during the academic year required.

Visa Sponsorship is not available.

Starting Salary Range: $108,200-142,200.

Essential Functions: 

• Oversee and coordinate instructional design for technical skills training courses, including ML Foundations and to be defined Sprinternship skills training- (50%)
  • Drive the product strategy, coordination, and day-to-day oversight of Break Through Tech technical skills training product(s)
  • Collaborate with subject matter experts (computing faculty, industry experts, and/or content designers) to define and develop online coursework, including curricula frameworks, course objective creation, and quiz and assignment creation that demonstrates alignment to course objectives
  • Develop and oversee the roadmap for technology-enabled resources that enable scalable and maintainable online courseware over time
  • Define delivery standards and best practices by producing “playbooks” and enablement resources to ensure that the Delivery team is equipped for success
  • Leverage data to identify product delivery issues and intervene to recommend corrections as needed
  • Build relationships and collaborate with program stakeholders, including academic staff and faculty, and professional volunteers, to build a bench of contributors to various projects as needed
• Design “Train the Trainer” curriculum to support PD of PhD/Faculty course instructors-  (25%)
  • Lead the curriculum development of an NSF-backed train-the-trainer program to support university faculty and PhD students to instruct the Break Through Tech ML Foundations curriculum, including the coordination of a project team of computing faculty across higher education
  • Partner cross-functionally with Product and Program Delivery teams to deliver the train-the-trainer program at scale, including an active Community of Practice amongst participating course instructors
  • In partnership with the Organizational Excellence team to ensure that all NSF grant and reporting requirements are met

• Benchmark CS education curricula standards and competitor programs- (10%)
  • Independently complete landscape analyses of undergraduate and competitor computing curricula, including course learning outcomes and objectives, technology innovations
  • Ensure that all technical skills training content and methods are aligned with the evolving needs of the tech industry
  • Serve as a Product SME for the adoption of AI tools across online education programs in the industry and at Break Through Tech

• Oversee credentialing of Break Through Tech curricula & Other position-related responsibilities- (15%)
  • Participate in projects or other duties as assigned with occasional work responsibility falling above or below current classification. 
  • Completion of any university required compliance trainings. 
  • Identify credentialing bodies

Required Qualifications: 

• Master’s degree with 5-7 years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion and wellbeing.
• Subject matter expertise in computer science, data science, machine learning, and/or artificial intelligence.
• At least one year of instructional design, curriculum building or delivery experience.
• Demonstrated experience successfully designing or delivering technical skills training programs in-person and online at scale.
• Must have strong organizational skills and project management skills with experience in independently planning and executing large-scale, cross-functional projects in an academic or corporate setting.
• Ability to analyze data from a variety of sources (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Qualtrics, Salesforce, Canvas LMS, etc.) to ensure programs are achieving measurable impact. Utilizes data to make decisions and tell stories of impact and effectiveness. 
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to cultivate cross-functional partnerships with staff, faculty, industry professionals, students, and volunteers with demonstrated experience driving change in complex organizations without wielding formal authority.
• Must be a solutions-oriented self-starter that possesses the ability to see what is possible and remain optimistic in the midst of complexity and uncertainty, and willing to take bold action.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, particularly when working with high-level internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven ability to work in a team context with demonstrated ability to mentor, develop, and support staff. Highest standards of integrity in order to develop trust with current students, faculty, staff, and employers.

Culture of Inclusion and Community Standards:

As a university founded to be a place where “…any person can find instruction in any study,” diversity and inclusion are at the core of our values and mission. We strive to be a welcoming, caring, healthy, and equitable community where students, faculty, and staff with different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn, innovate, and work in an environment of respect, and feel empowered to engage in any community conversation. As a member of the Cornell University community, it is important to recognize our shared responsibility to each other to cultivate a culture of inclusion for all.  Cornell Core values 

As an individual contributor you will model and support a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and wellbeing and continually seek to understand how your role, behaviors, and actions impact the success of this culture.    

Familiarize yourself with Cornell's COVID-19 workplace guidance as well as the university's COVID-19 services and information.

While position responsibilities vary greatly, the Skills for Success and Leadership Skills for Success are foundational to what is expected of every employee and leader working at Cornell.  These skills are essential for individual and organizational success. Staff Skills for Success; Leadership Skills for Success

Rewards And Benefits:

Competitive compensation, generous time-off, and great benefits …More on Cornell Benefits

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EEEO Statement:

Cornell University's history of diversity and inclusion encourages all students, faculty and staff to support a diverse and inclusive university in which to work, study, teach, research and serve. No person shall be denied employment on the basis of any legally protected status or subjected to prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, ethnic or national origin, citizenship and immigration status, color, sex, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, age, creed, religion, actual or perceived disability (including persons associated with such a person), arrest and/or conviction record, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender expression and/or identity, an individual’s genetic information, domestic violence victim status, familial status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. 

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