Instructional Designer Job Description (2026): Duties, Skills and Salary
An instructional designer plans and builds training: online courses, workshops, onboarding programs and job aids. They interview subject-matter experts, decide what a learner truly needs to know, and structure that into lessons, activities and assessments that hold attention and check understanding.
Instructional designers work in corporate learning and development, higher education, healthcare training and software companies building product education. The tools change by setting, from Articulate Storyline and Camtasia to an LMS and video, but the core skill is the same: design for how people actually learn, not just how content is organized.
Instructional Designer job description template
Copy it, replace everything in [brackets] and cut what doesn't apply. Keep the requirements to what the job really needs.
Template · replace the [brackets]
Instructional Designer
[Company] · [City and office days, or remote with the countries or time zones you hire in] · [Full-time]
About [Company]
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, who it serves and why this team matters now.]
About the role
[Company] is hiring an instructional designer to build training for [audience]. You'll work with subject-matter experts to turn their knowledge into courses and materials that [team] can use to learn [skill or process] quickly and retain it.
What you'll do
- Interview subject-matter experts to gather content for new courses and training.
- Design course structure, learning objectives and assessments for [program].
- Build e-learning modules in [Articulate Storyline / Camtasia / Rise] and publish them to [LMS].
- Write scripts, job aids and facilitator guides for instructor-led sessions.
- Pilot new courses and revise them based on learner feedback and results.
- Maintain the course catalog and keep existing materials current.
- Track completion rates and assessment scores to measure training effectiveness.
- Partner with [HR / product / compliance] to align training with business needs.
What you'll bring
- [X]+ years designing training or e-learning content.
- Instructional design models such as ADDIE or Bloom's taxonomy, applied in practice rather than recited.
- Experience with an authoring tool such as Articulate Storyline, Rise or Captivate.
- Comfort writing clear scripts and learning objectives for adult learners.
- Experience with an LMS for publishing and tracking courses.
- Ability to turn a rough subject-matter expert interview into a structured course outline.
Nice to have
- Video editing or voiceover recording experience.
- Experience with [domain, e.g. compliance training, sales enablement or clinical education].
- Basic graphic design skills for slides and job aids.
- Familiarity with accessibility standards for e-learning.
What we offer
- [Pay range: e.g. $X–$Y base salary, plus bonus or equity if offered]
- [Learning stipend, flexible hours, remote-friendly]
- [Health cover, retirement or pension plan, paid time off, parental leave]
- [Work authorization: whether you can sponsor a visa or hire through an employer of record]
[Our process: a recruiter call, a portfolio review, a short design exercise where you outline a course from a sample topic, and a meeting with the learning team.]
[Your equal opportunity statement, and how candidates can ask for adjustments during the process]
Put the pay range in the ad. Several US states, including California, Colorado, New York and Washington, require it in job postings, and the EU Pay Transparency Directive gives applicants the right to know the starting pay or its range before the interview.
Instructional Designer duties by seniority
What the job usually looks like at each level. Pitch the ad at one level and say which in the title.
Junior
- Builds course modules and job aids from an approved outline, with review.
- Edits existing courses for clarity and keeps materials up to date.
- Learns the authoring tools and the organization's course standards.
Mid-level
- Owns design for a full course or program from interview to launch.
- Chooses the right format, activities and assessments for the content and audience.
- Pilots courses, gathers feedback and revises based on results.
Senior
- Leads design strategy for a curriculum or major program across multiple courses.
- Sets design standards and reviews other designers' work.
- Advises stakeholders on what training can and can't fix, and proposes alternatives.
Instructional Designer career path
- Associate Instructional Designer
- Instructional Designer
- Senior Instructional Designer
- Learning Experience Lead or L&D Manager
Instructional designer is reached from teaching, training, technical writing or HR backgrounds, often after building a portfolio of sample courses. Later moves include learning and development management, curriculum leadership, or a shift into UX design given the overlap in designing for how people learn and use things.
Similar roles
- Learning and Development Specialist job description
Runs and delivers training programs rather than designing the courses themselves.
- Technical Writer job description
Documents how a product or process works rather than designing how to teach it.
- Teacher job description
Delivers instruction directly to students rather than building materials for others to use.
- UX Designer job description
Designs product interfaces rather than learning experiences, with similar attention to how people process information.
Instructional Designer job description FAQ
What does an instructional designer do?
Turns subject-matter knowledge into structured courses, e-learning modules and job aids, using learning design models to decide what to teach and how. They interview experts, build and pilot materials, and revise based on learner results.
What skills should an instructional designer job description require?
An authoring tool such as Articulate Storyline or Rise, knowledge of a design model like ADDIE, experience with an LMS, and strong writing. Video or graphic design skills are useful extras, better listed as nice-to-have.
Does instructional design require a teaching background?
It helps but isn't required. Many instructional designers come from teaching, training, technical writing or HR, and build core skills through an authoring tool and a portfolio of sample courses rather than a classroom credential.