What does a curriculum designer do?
A curriculum designer creates and implements educational programs in schools, colleges, and other organizations that offer training and educational services. They usually work with teachers and academic administrators in establishing guidelines, academic roadmaps, and policies. A curriculum designer is also responsible for creating lesson plans and learning materials, conducting research and assessments, establishing curriculum timelines, and analyzing feedback from students, teachers, and administrators. They also monitor the students' academic progress to be able to make curriculum adjustments or changes when necessary.
Curriculum designer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real curriculum designer resumes:
- 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.
- Design and implement Internet base courses that centered upon web page design; HTML and Javascript programming.
- Lead the virtualization of military training exercises and provide periods of instruction using virtual simulations.
- Enhance client imagery using Photoshop.
- Create cascading style sheets in Dreamweaver for online presentation of learning modules.
- Photograph examples and perform photo editing functions using Photoshop.
- Design and develop ILT and self-pace instructional modules for business and industry.
- Align simulation objectives with CBT and ILT objectives to ensure that the combined curriculum support and translate into proficient on-the-job performance
- Develop and implement criterion-referenced base certification testing CBT courses for company-wide implementation at Reynolds and Reynolds.
Curriculum designer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Curriculum Designers are proficient in Subject Matter Experts, Course Content, and Project Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Decision-making skills.
We break down the percentage of Curriculum Designers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Subject Matter Experts, 9%
Facilitated all meetings with key stakeholders in this process, including Subject Matter Experts from the field and State Nursing Standards.
- Course Content, 7%
Collaborated with multiple internal organizations to develop specifications for course content.
- Project Management, 7%
Managed multiple projects using project management software.
- Curriculum Design, 6%
Collaborated with NYC elementary school teachers to create a project-based curriculum using garden-based learning and SEL/mindfulness for our curriculum design course
- Curriculum Development, 6%
Led five-person blended contractor/government team through 18 month project curriculum development project.
- Training Programs, 6%
Worked with local businesses to develop curriculum and training programs for workforce development programs.
"subject matter experts," "course content," and "project management" are among the most common skills that curriculum designers use at work. You can find even more curriculum designer responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a curriculum designer to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "instructional coordinators evaluate student test data and teaching strategies." Curriculum designers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "facilitated job task analysis review and validation process using subject matter experts (sme). "
Communication skills. Many curriculum designer duties rely on communication skills. "instructional coordinators need to clearly explain changes in the curriculum and teaching standards to school staff.," so a curriculum designer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways curriculum designer responsibilities rely on communication skills: "maintained written and verbal communication with parents relating to student achievement, improvement and behavior. "
Decision-making skills. This is an important skill for curriculum designers to perform their duties. For an example of how curriculum designer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "instructional coordinators must be decisive when recommending changes to curriculums, teaching methods, and textbooks." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a curriculum designer: "determined learning objectives of instructional materials and organized them into logical learning sequences based on needs. ".
Interpersonal skills. curriculum designer responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "instructional coordinators need to be able to establish and maintain positive working relationships with teachers, principals, and other administrators." This resume example shows what curriculum designers do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "designed and facilitated interpersonal skills classes focused on employee development of emotional intelligence. "
Leadership skills. A commonly-found skill in curriculum designer job descriptions, "leadership skills" is essential to what curriculum designers do. Curriculum designer responsibilities rely on this skill because "instructional coordinators serve as mentors to teachers." You can also see how curriculum designer duties rely on leadership skills in this resume example: "instruct leadership, management, strategic planning, and personal & professional development courses consisting of 15-20 national and international students. "
The three companies that hire the most curriculum designers are:
- Chicago Public Schools5 curriculum designers jobs
- Centene2 curriculum designers jobs
- Northrop Grumman2 curriculum designers jobs
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Compare different curriculum designers
Curriculum designer vs. Instructional technology facilitator
A vocational training instructor is responsible for teaching students with the subject expertise needed to land a job for a specific industry requirement. Vocational training instructors are the same as regular instructors as they also identify the students' strengths and weaknesses, manage their learning expectations, and develop personalized teaching plans to address difficulties. They conduct examinations and regular assessments to test the students' knowledge and learning, which is crucial to determine their level of moving up.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a curriculum designer are more likely to require skills like "subject matter experts," "course content," "project management," and "curriculum design." On the other hand, a job as an instructional technology facilitator requires skills like "instructional technology," "adult learning," "curriculum materials," and "professional development programs." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that instructional technology facilitators earn slightly differ from curriculum designers. In particular, instructional technology facilitators are 3.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a curriculum designer. Additionally, they're 2.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Curriculum designer vs. Vocational training instructor
Instructional coordinators, also called curriculum specialists, are responsible for developing, implementing, and assessing different instructional and educational material within the educational system. They work closely with the principal or school head to determine the effectiveness of materials, teaching methods, and techniques teachers use in following the school policies and guidelines. Also, they observe and evaluate their teachers and students, and they discuss the school's curriculum.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real curriculum designer resumes. While curriculum designer responsibilities can utilize skills like "subject matter experts," "project management," "curriculum design," and "k-12," vocational training instructors use skills like "customer service," "cpr," "training sessions," and "dod."
On average, vocational training instructors earn a higher salary than curriculum designers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, vocational training instructors earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $67,279. Whereas curriculum designers have higher pay in the insurance industry, with an average salary of $64,717.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Vocational training instructors tend to reach lower levels of education than curriculum designers. In fact, they're 16.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Curriculum designer vs. Certified performance technologist
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a curriculum designer is likely to be skilled in "course content," "project management," "curriculum design," and "curriculum development," while a typical certified performance technologist is skilled in "linux," "safety glasses," "hvac," and "clean environment."
Certified performance technologists typically earn lower educational levels compared to curriculum designers. Specifically, they're 23.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 4.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Curriculum designer vs. Instructional coordinator
Even though a few skill sets overlap between curriculum designers and instructional coordinators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a curriculum designer might have more use for skills like "subject matter experts," "project management," "curriculum design," and "customer satisfaction." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of instructional coordinators require skills like "student learning," "data collection," "applied behavior analysis," and "staff development. "
The education industry tends to pay the highest salaries for instructional coordinators, with average annual pay of $52,062. Comparatively, the highest curriculum designer annual salary comes from the insurance industry.The average resume of instructional coordinators showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to curriculum designers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 3.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.0%.Types of curriculum designer
Updated January 8, 2025
