Early Childhood Education Content Development Specialist

Role overview

The University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning is seeking an Instructional Designer II to help strengthen early childhood teaching and learning through the creation of research-informed professional learning content. The Center focuses on improving teaching, learning, and childcare by developing and scaling educational innovations for children and adults. Its priority areas include kindergarten readiness, third-grade reading proficiency, and algebra proficiency, with work grounded in research, practice, and policy. This position is based in Florida and is a time-limited staff full-time role.

What you will do

You will design, test, and improve early childhood learning materials and implementation supports in partnership with internal leaders and regional practitioners. The work combines content development, field testing, quality review, accreditation support, and cross-team collaboration.

• Create early childhood professional learning content and implementation supports through rapid prototyping and local field testing.
• Build in-person and digital learning experiences for early childhood teachers, coaches, facilitators, mentors, and administrators, emphasizing practical, job-embedded strategies.
• Support pilot rollouts of early childhood products in different delivery formats and collect immediate feedback from providers.
• Develop facilitator guides, implementation manuals, and other resources that help ensure products are used effectively in real-world settings.
• Partner with internal colleagues so that content design matches implementation expectations.
• Write evidence-based learning content, online learning scripts, and guidance that reflects current research and best practices.
• Help produce video-based learning assets that showcase local educators demonstrating effective practice.
• Create tools and facilitation supports that help early childhood practitioners and coaches transfer learning into daily practice.
• Stay current on early childhood research, adult learning theory, online learning, instructional methods, and facilitation approaches.
• Use disaggregated data and in-person focus groups with regional practitioners to shape product development and improvement.
• Share field insights with internal and external research teams so product, implementation, and research efforts stay aligned.
• Strengthen content quality by developing developmentally appropriate, evidence-based strategies for professional learning.
• Review user feedback, pilot observations, implementation data, research findings, and market trends to drive fast, iterative improvements.
• Check that materials follow templates, evidence-based practices, and intended implementation models.
• Work to established deadlines and schedules while contributing to project timelines and budget goals.
• Review content for usability, quality, and alignment with standards and professional competencies.
• Collaborate with the Product Manager to support product hypotheses, value propositions, market demand, and end-user adoption.
• Participate in kickoffs, weekly standups, and retrospectives to inform development and implementation needs.
• Support the Center’s IACET accreditation work by helping maintain and revise internal processes, documentation, annual reports, and applications.
• Resolve issues as they arise and coordinate communication with project staff and regional partners.
• Work across teams, including research and evaluation partners, to align accreditation requirements with content and implementation practices.
• Carry out other assigned responsibilities as needed.

Required qualifications

Candidates must meet one of the following education and experience combinations: a master’s degree in a relevant field plus two years of related experience, or a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field plus four years of related experience.

Preferred qualifications

• Ability to organize and monitor documents effectively.
• Reliable internet access.
• Strong ability to prioritize tasks when multiple obligations compete.
• Comfort adapting quickly when plans or needs change.
• Experience with Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Excel, and/or SmartSheet.

Application instructions

Applicants must upload both a cover letter and resume to be considered. The submission must be completed by 11:55 p.m. ET on the closing date. This is a time-limited position. A health assessment is not required.

Additional information

Job number: 540316. Work type: Staff Full-Time. Location: In the State of Florida. Categories: Academic Advising/Support and Education/Training/Instructional Design. Department: 18300000 - ED-LASTINGER CENTER. Classification title: Instructional Designer II. The role is advertised as a full-time onsite position in the North Port-Sarasota area. Posting dates shown in the source indicate the job was advertised on 22 Jun 2026 and applications close on 06 Jul 2026.

The organization aims to improve the quality of teaching, learning, and childcare through research-based innovation and system improvement. It operates within a public research university setting and focuses on building sustainable systems that use educational technology and evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for children and adults.

Expected pay for this role is $66,000 to $71,000.

Equal to the role’s time-limited nature, applicants should expect the appointment to be for a defined period.