Senior Assessment Developer

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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:

Job Description

Job Profile Summary:

A senior assessment developer (senior AD) is responsible for developing and maintaining Western Governors University's (WGU) objective and performance-based assessments. This individual assists in the mentorship and development of both ADs and associate ADs. A senior AD facilitates design and development workshops using industry best practices to ensure assessment validity and reliability. A senior AD combines strategic and creative thinking with efficient, time-sensitive execution to drive the creation of assessments and mitigate risks while identifying areas for improvement.

Location: This position requires you to live in Utah and work at our headquarters, 4001 South 700 East Salt Lake City, UT 84107, with the ability to work a hybrid schedule in the office 4 days a week.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Manages the design and development process for objective and performance assessments, including milestones and timelines, and tracks progress.
• The Senior AD will communicate project status updates to cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
• Works with cross-functional teams to ensure projects have appropriate resources and realistic timelines and to solve any content-related issues regarding the assessments.
• Organizes and facilitates workshops for internal assessment development and review.
• Oversees subject matter expert involvement in the design, development, and review. processes, as well as in the validation of an assessment's congruency and accuracy.
• Maintains assessment design and development standards to ensure assessment integrity.
• Identifies and mitigates risks that may impact the quality or on-time delivery of assessments.
• Collaborates with the assessment team to define and execute assessment policies, processes, and best practices.
• The Senior AD Ensures alignment and consistency of assessments to WGU's business objectives.
• Develops and implements item- and exam-level scoring guidelines and validates the successful implementation of these guidelines.
• Oversees assessment QA processes, identifying and resolving issues and trends, as required.
• Maintains knowledge of exam performance and makes necessary quality improvement adjustments throughout the exam lifecycle.
• Participates in a cross-functional team to implement exam security measures.
• Assists in the professional development of others.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities:

• Ability to facilitate groups and meetings in person and remotely.
• Excellent written, oral, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong organizational and time management skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple projects effectively.
• Ability to manage schedules and commitments.
• Problem Solving Skills: Investigates appropriate resources and involves partners when appropriate; future-oriented; assesses what will help/hinder achieving goals; focuses on what is important.
• Interpersonal Skills:Deals with others in a considerate, respectful, and unbiased manner; approaches conflict proactively; solicits and shares feedback openly; listens with empathyand maintains composure.

Competencies:

Organizational or Student Impact:

• Accountable for decisions that impact their faculty team and the students they serve.
• Creates or facilitates learning experiences that directly affect students' attainment of knowledge and skills.
• This individual is a go-to person for corresponding teams.
• Actively contributes to initiatives at the program or cluster level.

Problem Solving & Decision Making:

• Works on diverse and moderately complex matters.
• Supports student needs to help them achieve course or program outcomes at the student and team level.
• Supports innovation to improve student outcomes at the individual student or team level.
• Work directly impacts team objectives and contributes collectively with the team or contributes directly to functional objectives.
• With general guidance from senior faculty and program leaders, acts independently in executing teaching practice.
• Can apply organization policies and procedures.

Communication & Influence:

• Communicates with students if/as appropriate to the teaching practice area.
• Communicates and collaborates with fellow faculty members within content area and discipline.
• Individual provides feedback and continuous improvement recommendations to discipline and practice leadership.
• Will provide subject matter expertise for curricular, learning resources, assessment development, and material redevelopment.
• May contribute to scholarly presentations and publications within content area and discipline.

Leadership & Talent Management.

• Considered team or functional leader within applicable discipline or practice.
• A source of advice, mentoring, and counsel within the team.
• Support team learning and quality initiatives and may lead training within the area of specialty.
• Supports initiatives within the area of specialty.
• Displays a positive attitude toward change and supports change management practices.

Job Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Masters degree and all applicable licenses or certifications.
• 5+ years of assessment design and development experience.
• This role will serve as a demonstrated subject matter expert in job-relevant content or practice area.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Terminal degree and all applicable licenses or certifications.
• Project management experience (PMP certification preferred).
• Experience with both objective and performance assessments preferred.
• Experience in online assessment and education preferred.
• Experience managing vendor and external resources relationships preferred.
• Experience creating AI generated content using AI prompt Engineering.

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.

Position & Application Details

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It's not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. #DEI