Instructional Design Specialist

Thumbtack
United States
RemoteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

Best suited to instructional designers with experience in tech or call center environments, working in a learner-first, cross-functional team setting.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 4–6 years of experience in instructional design, particularly in high-growth tech or call center settings
    — “4–6 years of experience in instructional design, curriculum development, or performance consulting, preferably in a high-growth tech or call center environment.”
  • Professionals who can independently manage learning programs from needs analysis to evaluation
    — “own projects from needs analysis through evaluation while balancing scope, sequencing, and tradeoffs.”
  • Individuals skilled in AI-assisted content creation and who can demonstrate this in their portfolio
    — “Demonstrated hands-on experience using AI tools (e.g., Claude/OpenAI) to build asynchronous learning content.”

Things to consider

  • This role requires a strong commitment to continuous improvement and high-quality design standards
    — “A learner-first mindset with a commitment to continuous improvement, experimentation, and high-quality design standards.”
  • Candidates must be prepared to work remotely and adapt to evolving business priorities
    — “maintaining and evolving existing learning programs to reflect product updates, process changes, and shifting business priorities.”

How to stand out

  • Highlight ownership of complex learning programs in your portfolio with clear outcomes and impact metrics
    — “strong portfolio demonstrating ownership of complex learning programs and a variety of instructional modalities.”
  • Showcase your ability to translate business goals into learning strategies with performance gap analysis examples
    — “translate business goals into effective learning strategies, surfacing performance gaps.”
  • Demonstrate builder-level fluency with AI tools in your resume, not just familiarity
    — “builder-level fluency preferred - active use in a design workflow, not just familiarity.”
  • Emphasize your experience in cross-functional collaboration with stakeholders from different departments
    — “collaborate cross-functionally (e.g., Product, Engineering, Ops) and communicate design rationale clearly to diverse audiences.”
  • Position yourself as a strategic partner who aligns learning solutions with measurable business outcomes
    — “create thoughtful, scalable solutions that support every stage of the employee lifecycle.”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • designing learning programs
  • partnering with SMEs
  • measuring program effectiveness
Typical background
instructional design experienceBachelor’s Degree

Skills & requirements

Required

Instructional DesignPerformance ConsultingLearning EcosystemsContent Governance

Preferred

AI Tools UsageMultimedia Asset Creation

Stack & domain

Instructional DesignLearning EcosystemsAction MappingPerformance ConsultingAI ToolsMultimedia AssetsCollaborationTeamworkProblem-solvingCommunicationProject ManagementEducationTrainingPerformance Improvement

About the role

Original posting from Thumbtack via Ashby

THUMBTACK HELPS MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CONFIDENTLY CARE FOR THEIR HOMES.

Thumbtack is the one app you need to take care of and improve your home — from personalized guidance to AI tools and a best-in-class hiring experience. Every day in every county of the U.S., people turn to Thumbtack to complete urgent repairs, seasonal maintenance and bigger improvements. We help homeowners know which projects to do, when to do them and who to hire from our growing community of 300,000 local service businesses. If making an impact inspires you, join us. Imagine what we’ll build together.

ABOUT THE FIELD ENABLEMENT TEAM

The Field Enablement team at Thumbtack empowers our employees, pros, and customers through impactful learning experiences that drive performance, skill development, and business outcomes. We’re a collaborative, cross-functional team made up of three key pillars: Enablement Design, Enablement Delivery, and Content & Communications. Together, we identify learning needs across the organization and create thoughtful, scalable solutions that support every stage of the employee lifecycle. From onboarding to ongoing development, our work is deeply embedded in the success of Thumbtack’s frontline teams and plays a vital role in ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience for the pros and customers who rely on us every day

ABOUT THE ROLE

As an Instructional Designer on the Field Enablement team, you are a master architect of learning experiences. You will be responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining engaging and effective learning programs that drive performance and business outcomes. You'll partner closely with subject matter experts (SMEs), project managers, and frontline leaders to conduct needs analysis, outline learning objectives, and build scalable learning solutions. Your work will directly impact the speed at which our frontline teams become proficient and the quality of the experience we deliver to pros and customers.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

  • Lead end-to-end instructional design for complex, high-impact learning programs, owning projects from needs analysis through evaluation while balancing scope, sequencing, and tradeoffs to maintain quality and delivery commitments across multiple initiatives.
  • Design learning ecosystems that extend beyond formal training through social, experiential, and digital reinforcement aligned with the 70/20/10 model, applying Action Mapping and performance consulting techniques to drive measurable behavior change.
  • Partner closely with cross-functional stakeholders and SMEs to translate business goals into effective learning strategies, surfacing performance gaps, reframing solution requests, and articulating tradeoffs to align on the right instructional approach.
  • Develop assessments and evaluation plans to measure program effectiveness, analyzing outcomes across Kirkpatrick Levels 1–3 and contributing insights tied to business performance.
  • Contribute to content governance, peer review, and instructional design standards to ensure quality, consistency, and scalability, while maintaining and evolving existing learning programs to reflect product updates, process changes, and shifting business priorities.
  • Actively use AI tools such as Claude/OpenAI to design, develop, and iterate on asynchronous learning content, applying builder-level fluency to improve speed, quality, and design fidelity.
  • Create basic multimedia assets including screen recordings, short-form video, and AI-assisted voiceover content in support of learning programs. Full production capability not required.

IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU MUST BRING

  • 4–6 years of experience in instructional design, curriculum development, or performance consulting, preferably in a high-growth tech or call center environment.
  • A strong portfolio demonstrating ownership of complex learning programs and a variety of instructional modalities.
  • Solid expertise in instructional design models (e.g., ADDIE, SAM) and adult learning theory, with working knowledge of Action Mapping or performance consulting approaches.
  • Demonstrated hands-on experience using AI tools (e.g., Claude/OpenAI) to build asynchronous learning content. Builder-level fluency preferred - active use in a design workflow, not just familiarity.
  • Strong project management and stakeholder partnership skills, with the proven ability to independently own projects from needs analysis through evaluation without requiring manager design direction.
  • Demonstrated ability to collaborate cross-functionally (e.g., Product, Engineering, Ops) and communicate design rationale clearly to diverse audiences.
  • A learner-first mindset with a commitment to continuous improvement, experimentation, and high-quality design standards.

EXPECTED SALARY RANGES

  • For candidates living in San Francisco / Bay Area, San Jose, New York City, or Seattle metros, the expected salary range for the role is currently $108,000 - $139,700.
  • For candidates living in Austin, TX or Washington DC metros or in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Washington states, the expected salary range for the role is currently $96,900 - $125,400.
  • For candidates living in all other US locations, the expected salary range for this role is currently $91,800 - $118,800.

Actual offered salaries will vary and will be based on various factors, such as calibrated job level, qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role.

Thumbtack embraces diversity. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and do not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial, state, or local law. We also will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, consistent with applicable law.

Thumbtack is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for a medical condition or disability during any part of the application process, please contact: recruitingops@thumbtack.com.

For information about how Thumbtack collects, uses, and shares personal information about job applicants, please see our Job Applicant Privacy Policy https://www.thumbtack.com/job-applicant-privacy-policy.

We put as much craftsmanship into candidate safety as we do into the hiring experience itself. While scammers may try to impersonate our team, we’ll never ask you for money, banking info, or SSNs during hiring. Check out our blueprint on how to spot the fakes. https://careers.thumbtack.com/recruiting-scams

Source: Thumbtack careers (Ashby)

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