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Job Description For: Director of Product Development, K-12 Curriculum & Innovation
Venture Upward empowers families to cultivate a love of learning through high-quality curriculum, mentorship, and community support. Our mission is to make home education accessible, clear, and engaging for every family we serve.

Venture Upward is seeking a strategic, innovative, and execution-focused Director of Product Development, K–12 Curriculum & Innovation to lead the continued transformation of our Adventure Learning Labs into a cohesive, scalable, high-quality learning system. This role will lead the design, development, and continuous improvement of online and blended learning products primarily for K–8, with the long-term vision of supporting K–12 growth.

Adventure Learning Labs has grown rapidly across teams and programs. We are now entering an exciting phase focused on strengthening cohesion, scalability, and long-term product excellence. We are seeking a leader who can build on this strong foundation and help bring greater alignment, efficiency, and consistency as we continue to grow.

This role is ideal for a leader who enjoys building and scaling high-quality learning products, translating vision into strong, effective execution. The right candidate will be experienced not only in curriculum design, but in developing strong online courses, building efficient product systems, leveraging AI and automation tools responsibly, and leading a team through meaningful change.

This role will also play a central part in our transition to our new LMS, D2L Brightspace, helping Venture Upward modernize how we build, organize, deliver, and improve learning experiences for students, teachers, and school partners.
We have built a strong foundation and are now entering an exciting phase of growth focused on scaling and further unifying our programs. This role builds on the work of our current team and is focused on strengthening alignment, scalability, and long-term impact across our learning experiences. You will be joining a highly capable and dedicated team that is ready to partner with strong leadership to continue advancing the quality and reach of our programs.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead the vision, strategy, and roadmap for Adventure Learning Labs product development across K–12 learning programs, with primary responsibility for K–8 in the near term.
• Further develop and refine our curriculum and course-development systems to create a more cohesive, efficient, and scalable model.
• Establish a clear and unified instructional philosophy that ties Venture Upward’s programs together across subjects, grades, and states.
• Oversee the design and development of high-quality online courses, curriculum, lesson frameworks, teacher guides, student materials, assessments, rubrics, and implementation resources.
• Lead the migration and thoughtful buildout of learning experiences within D2L Brightspace.
• Create systems for quality control, version control, workflow efficiency, and long-term product maintenance.
  Build products that can be adapted for different state requirements, school models, and student populations while maintaining strong instructional integrity.
• Ensure curriculum aligns to state standards and can flex to meet specific regional or partner needs, including customized state or local content requirements.
• Use educator feedback, implementation data, and student outcomes to refine and strengthen products over time.
  Identify and implement responsible uses of AI and automation to improve curriculum design, course development, workflow efficiency, personalization, and innovation.
• Help develop internal expectations and guidance for ethical, age-appropriate, student-safe use of AI in both product development and student learning.
• Partner with internal teams to train staff, support implementation, and build organizational alignment around new systems and processes.
• Bring fresh thinking and strong judgment to evolve existing systems and build forward-looking solutions aligned with our mission.

Skills & Competencies:

• Demonstrated ability to navigate complex environments and establish clarity, structure, and operational alignment.
  Deep commitment to the mission of Venture Upward, coupled with the judgment and confidence to challenge inefficiencies and drive meaningful improvement.
• Strong strategic thinking skills, with the ability to understand and plan for long-term organizational growth and impact.
• Highly practical and execution-oriented, with a track record of building systems that are scalable, sustainable, and effective in real-world application.
• Proven ability to operate with a high level of autonomy, making sound decisions and advancing work without the need for extensive oversight.
• Creative and innovative mindset, with the ability to design engaging, high-quality learning experiences.
  Demonstrated strength in leading organizational change across people, products, and processes.
• Ability to translate vision, early-stage ideas, or loosely defined concepts into well-structured, high-impact educational products.
• Significant experience in K–8 curriculum development, with the capacity to support and scale programs through K–12.
• Extensive experience designing and building comprehensive online courses, beyond standalone curriculum materials.
• Proven success in designing, launching, and continuously improving educational products or programs from concept through full implementation.
• Strong proficiency with learning management systems, including direct experience with D2L Brightspace or the ability to quickly achieve advanced fluency in comparable platforms.
• Deep expertise in instructional design, standards alignment, learning progressions, student engagement strategies, and digital course development.
• Experience developing curriculum across multiple states, regions, or educational contexts, with the ability to adapt products to varying standards and local requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement systems and processes that improve efficiency, consistency, and product quality across teams.
• Working knowledge of AI and automation tools relevant to curriculum design, online learning, and educational product development.
• Clear understanding of ethical considerations related to AI use in K–12 settings, including student privacy, safety, accessibility, bias, and age-appropriate implementation.
• Experience leading complex projects and aligning cross-functional teams toward shared goals.
• Strong organizational, communication, planning, and execution capabilities.
• Ability to quickly integrate into and contribute within a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Demonstrated proficiency with project management platforms (e.g., monday.com) to plan, track, and execute complex workflows across teams.
• Working proficiency with content creation and media tools such as Canva, Screencastify, and YouTube Editor, or the demonstrated ability to quickly learn and effectively utilize similar tools to support high-quality instructional design and delivery.
• Proven ability to lead and deliver results under tight timelines while maintaining team alignment, motivation, and support.

Position Details & Compensation:
Department: Product Development
Reports To: Vice President of Program Development
Employment Type: Full-time, remote. Benefits offered
Hours: 40 hours per week with some flexibility
Compensation: Starting salary $80,000-$100,000 depending on experience

Licenses/Degrees

• A bachelor’s degree in Education or a related field—such as Curriculum & Instruction, Instructional Design, Educational Leadership, Learning Experience Design, or Product Development—is required.
• A master’s degree in Curriculum Design, Instructional Design, Educational Technology, or a closely related field is preferred.
• Homeschool experience and knowledge preferred

Technical / Equipment:

• Reliable computer and high-speed internet access.
• Front-facing camera and screen recording capability.
• Proficient with Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Google Meet.

Other Preferred Requirements:

• Experience leading a major LMS transition, course migration, or digital learning rebuild.
• Experience in product development, not just curriculum writing or academic planning
• Experience in school partnerships, custom program design, or adapting products for specific districts, schools, or state requirements.
• Experience in K–12 online learning, blended learning, microschools, homeschool-support models, enrichment programs, or nontraditional learning environments.
• Experience training teams in course design, digital learning systems, AI-supported workflows, or implementation practices.
• Experience in a mission-driven, entrepreneurial, or fast-growth education organization.

Equal Opportunity Statement – Venture Upward is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity in our workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

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