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Curriculum designer vs lead instructional designer

The differences between curriculum designers and lead instructional designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a curriculum designer and a lead instructional designer. Additionally, a lead instructional designer has an average salary of $64,428, which is higher than the $54,176 average annual salary of a curriculum designer.

The top three skills for a curriculum designer include subject matter experts, course content and project management. The most important skills for a lead instructional designer are instructional design, subject matter experts, and project management.

Curriculum designer vs lead instructional designer overview

Curriculum DesignerLead Instructional Designer
Yearly salary$54,176$64,428
Hourly rate$26.05$30.98
Growth rate7%7%
Number of jobs44,75149,563
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

Curriculum designer vs lead instructional designer salary

Curriculum designers and lead instructional designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Curriculum DesignerLead Instructional Designer
Average salary$54,176$64,428
Salary rangeBetween $38,000 And $76,000Between $46,000 And $89,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYHartford, CT
Highest paying stateConnecticutConnecticut
Best paying companyEdelman Financial EnginesHarvard University
Best paying industryInsuranceFinance

Differences between curriculum designer and lead instructional designer education

There are a few differences between a curriculum designer and a lead instructional designer in terms of educational background:

Curriculum DesignerLead Instructional Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorElementary EducationBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaHarvard University

Curriculum designer vs lead instructional designer demographics

Here are the differences between curriculum designers' and lead instructional designers' demographics:

Curriculum DesignerLead Instructional Designer
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 36.9% Female, 63.1%Male, 46.7% Female, 53.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 5.5% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 5.7% White, 62.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between curriculum designer and lead instructional designer duties and responsibilities

Curriculum designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead the virtualization of military training exercises and provide periods of instruction using virtual simulations.
  • Coach SMEs on content development, delivery techniques and facilitation skills.
  • Create storyboards for elearning solutions, including activities and knowledge checks.
  • Develop practical working solutions to address performance gaps using ADDIE model.
  • Develop animations, audio, video, scenarios, and graphics into engaging eLearning courses.
  • Conduct training session with peers, contractors and customer SMEs on training development systems and tools.
  • Show more

Lead instructional designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage SharePoint migration for the education team by collaborating with ministries and establishing best practice guidelines for content posting.
  • Design content for web-base training courses using the ADDIE design model.
  • Develop new eLearning modules to replace and revise older ilt-base content on customer-service training.
  • Propose high-level learning solutions considering multiple delivery methods such as eLearning, instructor-le, self-pace, and web-deploy.
  • Overhaul class material including creating a standardize syllabus.

Curriculum designer vs lead instructional designer skills

Common curriculum designer skills
  • Subject Matter Experts, 9%
  • Course Content, 7%
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Curriculum Design, 6%
  • Curriculum Development, 6%
  • Training Programs, 6%
Common lead instructional designer skills
  • Instructional Design, 11%
  • Subject Matter Experts, 9%
  • Project Management, 6%
  • Curriculum Development, 6%
  • Course Content, 5%
  • Training Materials, 4%

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