Content Specialist

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:  Grade: Faculty 506Pay Range: $71,300.00 - $107,000.00Job DescriptionThis role is the design and build engine behind WGU’s Orientation experience — the role that turns program strategy into the actual modules, assets, and just-in-time supports that students see, click, watch, and learn from. Across both Traditional Orientation and the Career Accelerator program, the this role owns the ongoing maintenance, evolution, and creation of every orientation touchpoint.This is a hybrid role at the intersection of learning experience design, content creation, and digital asset development. Working closely with partners in Communications, EdTech, and Program Development, ensures the orientation experience stays current, on-brand, and pedagogically sound — while leading the design and development of just-in-time supports that help students get the right resource at the right moment of need. If the Engagement Specialist brings the student experience to life and the Operations Specialist makes it run on time, the Content Specialist designs and builds the experience itself. Primary ResponsibilitiesLearning Experience DesignDesigns and maintains the end-to-end orientation experience for both Traditional and Career Accelerator students, ensuring the journey is coherent, paced well, and grounded in adult learning principlesTranslates program goals and student needs into structured learning experiences with clear outcomes and meaningful checkpointsLeads the iteration of existing modules and the creation of new ones in response to data, student feedback, and program changesPartners with Program Development on changes that need to flow through the orientation experience, ensuring content stays accurate and aligned with program intentContent Creation & Digital AssetsCreates and maintains a wide range of digital assets across the orientation experience — videos, scripts, slides, written copy, graphics, interactive elements, and supporting materialsMaintains a library of reusable content, templates, and components that keep the experience consistent across populations and easy to update over timeEnsures every asset is on-brand, accessible, and aligned with WGU’s voice and valuesPartners with multimedia and design teams when more complex production is needed; manage external contributors and vendors as requiredJust-in-Time Support DesignLeads the design and development of just-in-time supports — in-the-moment resources triggered by student behavior, needs, or moments of frictionIdentifies gaps where students need contextual help, then design, build, and ship solutions that meet them where they areTests and iterates on JIT content based on usage data, student feedback, and Engagement Specialist inputMaintains and grows the JIT library as new student needs emerge and the program evolvesCross-Functional CollaborationPartners with Communications on messaging, brand consistency, and tone across all orientation contentPartners with EdTech on platform capabilities, content delivery, and learning system integrationsCoordinates with Engagement Specialists on content needs surfaced through student conversations and community activityCoordinates with the Operations Specialist on engagement and content-performance data that informs design decisionsRepresents the orientation experience in cross-departmental working groups as neededKnowledge, Skills & AbilitiesLearning Experience DesignDemonstrated experience designing learning experiences for adult learnersFamiliarity with instructional design models (e.g., ADDIE, SAM) and adult learning principlesAbility to translate complex content into clear, structured, learner-friendly experiencesStrong sense for pacing, scaffolding, and the moments where students need extra supportContent Creation & MultimediaStrong writing skills with the ability to adapt voice and tone for different audiences and channelsHands-on experience with content creation tools (e.g., Canva, Adobe Suite, video editing software, design platforms)Comfort with multimedia production — video scripting, basic editing, screen recordings, narrationVisual design sensibility and attention to detailProject & Program ManagementStrong project management instincts — able to balance ongoing maintenance, new content creation, and JIT development on parallel timelinesHighly organized with the ability to track multiple modules, stakeholders, and deadlines simultaneouslySelf-directed and reliable; comfortable holding accountability across multiple workstreamsCollaboration & CommunicationOutstanding collaboration skills — comfortable working across creative, technical, program, and student-facing teamsExcellent written and verbal communication skills for translating across disciplines and audie