Education: Bachelor’s degree in English, Education, Curriculum & Instruction, or a related field
Experience: 5+ years of experience in secondary ELA curriculum development, instructional design, or content creation, preferably for an educational technology or publishing company (school- or district-based curriculum development experience also considered). A high school emphasis is welcome given near-term needs
ELA Expertise: Strong working knowledge of secondary ELA pedagogy and state standards and frameworks such as CCSS, including reading development, writing instruction, and assessment best practices
Content Skills: Excellent English writing and editing, with a demonstrated ability to produce polished, standards-aligned instructional content and to give clear, useful feedback to other writers
Judgment & Detail: A judicious eye for quality and acute attention to detail when reviewing materials, with the ability to make sound, well-reasoned content decisions independently
Accountability: A strong ownership mindset—you take responsibility for outcomes at your grade level, follow through on commitments, surface risks early, and hold yourself and others to a high bar
AI Fluency: Comfort and fluency with AI tools, and an interest in using them to accelerate high-quality content development without sacrificing pedagogical rigor
Ways of Working: Strong organizational and verbal communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams and prioritize in conjunction with business needs
We are seeking a Learning Experience Designer (LXD), Core to serve as a grade-level lead in the design and production of high-quality instructional materials for Newsela’s core secondary ELA curriculum. This role is ideal for a hands-on curriculum builder with strong ELA content and pedagogy expertise who is passionate about creating engaging, standards-aligned lessons, texts, and assessments—and who is energized by owning the quality and coherence of an entire grade level of instruction
As a grade-level lead, you are accountable for the quality of everything that ships at your grade: the development of scopes and sequences for units; development and review of teacher- and student-facing materials; content from internal teams, external contributors, and AI-supported workflows; and making the day-to-day judgment calls that keep units aligned to standards, the curriculum model, and Newsela’s quality bar. You’ll collaborate with other content teams and leaders in developing, refining, and implementing program-level frameworks and quality guidelines, and you'll own their consistent application at your grade
If you love the craft of curriculum—shaping it, improving it, and helping others make it better—this role is an opportunity to put your fingerprints on every lesson students at your grade level experience
Prior classroom teaching experience in secondary ELA
Experience contributing to a core (basal) ELA curriculum at a curriculum provider
Experience creating resources or scaffolds for multilingual learners and striving readers
Experience reviewing or guiding the work of contributors, freelancers, or vendor teams
Experience with digital content authoring tools or content management systems (CMS)
Master’s degree in English, Education, Curriculum & Instruction, or a related field
All offers of employment are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check as part of our pre-employment process