[Hiring] Senior Manager, Learning Design & Innovation @Aspen Dental

Role Description

The Senior Manager of Learning Design & Innovation is responsible for leading the Instructional Design team while advancing innovative, scalable approaches that improve the quality, speed, and impact of learning solutions across TAG. This role provides direct leadership, coaching, and development to Instructional Designers and ensures strong execution across the design and development lifecycle.

This role translates the broader Learning Design strategy into consistent team practices, high-quality learning experiences, and measurable results. The Senior Manager oversees design capacity, project execution, development standards, and quality while ensuring solutions remain aligned to business priorities, learner needs, and adult learning principles.

The Senior Manager also provides dedicated leadership for learning innovation across L&D, including:

• Identifying opportunities to apply AI-enabled solutions, rapid-development methods, simulations, gamification, practice-based learning, emerging authoring approaches, and new platform capabilities to real business and learner needs.
• Owning the progression of innovation from ideas through implementation—defining opportunities, developing pilots and proofs of concept, establishing success measures, evaluating results, and scaling successful approaches across L&D.

As a key leader within the Learning and Development organization, the Senior Manager partners closely with various teams to connect learning strategy, design excellence, emerging capabilities, and day-to-day execution.

The Senior Manager is a strong people leader, learning strategist, and hands-on design practitioner who balances team leadership with direct involvement in complex learning initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree preferred. Equivalent experience in instructional design, learning experience design, or learning innovation may be considered in lieu of an advanced degree.
• 7+ years of experience in learning and development, instructional design, learning experience design, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience leading, coaching, or directly managing learning professionals.
• Strong experience leading the design and development of medium- to large-scale learning initiatives from discovery through implementation.
• Demonstrated experience applying adult learning principles, instructional design methodologies, performance consulting, and learner-centered design practices.
• Experience exploring or implementing AI-enabled learning solutions, emerging learning technologies, or development efficiencies.
• Experience with simulations, scenario-based learning, gamification, rapid development, interactive learning, or other innovative learning approaches.
• Ability to move ideas from concept through pilot, evaluation, recommendation, and scalable implementation.
• Strong project and workload management skills, including the ability to balance team capacity, competing priorities, timelines, and quality.
• Experience developing reusable templates, standards, tools, frameworks, or design systems that improve consistency and scalability.
• Ability to use data, learner feedback, and business input to evaluate learning effectiveness and recommend improvements.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to connect learning design decisions to operational priorities and measurable outcomes.
• Ability to consult with senior leaders, business partners, and subject matter experts to identify performance needs and recommend practical solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to partner effectively across functions and organizational levels.
• Comfortable balancing strategic leadership, people management, and hands-on involvement in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

Requirements

• Starting at $119,000 DOE + 15% bonus opportunity