Instructional Designer Lead

Job Description:

As a Content Lead at NxtWave, you will shape the strategic vision and operational excellence behind our technical curriculum, including core areas like MERN Full Stack, Python, and AI. You will lead a high-performing team to create, maintain, and continuously innovate on comprehensive educational content that empowers learners to thrive in the modern tech workforce.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Curriculum Strategy and Vision

• Define and own the strategic direction of the technical curriculum across core domains in atleast MERN Full Stack, Python or Gen AI.
• Translate business goals, learner needs, and industry expectations into curriculum frameworks and actionable content roadmaps.
• Ensure the curriculum remains dynamic, relevant, and aligned with both hiring trends and future tech trajectories.

2. Team Leadership and Mentorship

• Lead a team of Technical Curriculum Developers (TCDs) and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), providing them with clear direction, support, and professionaGen l growth opportunities.
• Oversee individual and team roadmaps, ensuring timely and high-quality content delivery.
• Build a strong feedback culture through regular review cycles, constructive critique, and shared best practices.

3. Content Development and Oversight

• Supervise the planning, design, and development of comprehensive learning materials including instructional content, assessments, hands-on projects, and revision modules.
• Ensure content is technically accurate, pedagogically sound, and optimized for different learning styles and levels.
• Establish and enforce content standards and documentation practices that enhance consistency and scalability.

4. Curriculum Maintenance and Upgrades

• Implement regular audit and update cycles to maintain curriculum relevance and technical freshness.
• Drive proactive revisions based on feedback from delivery teams, learner analytics, and emerging industry standards.
• Maintain content hygiene by identifying outdated modules, improving weak areas, and phasing out redundant topics.

5. Enhancing Learning Experience

• Collaborate with instructional designers and delivery teams to improve the learner journey across content formats.
• Ensure curriculum is engaging, outcomes-driven, and structured for strong concept retention and practical application.
• Innovate around learning formatsintroducing visual learning elements, guided walkthroughs, microlearning units, and contextual learning flows.

6. AI and Technology Integration

• Actively explore and implement AI-powered learning enhancements—such as personalized feedback, auto-generated practice questions, or interactive AI tutors.
• Infuse emerging technologies like LLMs, prompt engineering, and Gen AI tools into the curriculum as both learning content and content development enablers.
• Stay current with advancements in AI and edtech to continuously raise the bar for innovation in learning delivery.

7. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Product, Delivery, and Marketing teams to ensure curriculum is aligned with platform capabilities, learner expectations, and brand messaging.
• Collaborate with delivery leads to equip instructors with the right resources and ensure curriculum-readiness for live sessions.
• Contribute to learner support strategies by identifying content-level interventions that improve engagement, progression, and outcomes.

8. Process Building and Operational Excellence

• Design scalable systems and processes for curriculum planning, development, review, and release.
• Drive documentation practices that make it easy to onboard new team members, audit existing content, and track version history.
• Anticipate bottlenecks, manage dependencies, and ensure smooth execution of high-volume content pipelines.

9. Data-Driven Improvement

• Regularly review learner analytics, course completion data, and assessment outcomes to uncover areas for content improvement.
• Collaborate with analytics and learner success teams to understand drop-off points, confusion hotspots, or performance gaps.
• Apply insights to design more effective learning paths, better scaffolding, and measurable progression benchmarks.

10. Thought Leadership and Innovation

• Champion innovation within the curriculum team by encouraging experimentation, piloting new formats, and scaling successful initiatives.
• Identify and launch high-leverage projects that push the boundaries of traditional curriculum models.
• Represent the curriculum function in key leadership conversations and contribute to NxtWave's larger vision of transforming tech education in India.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field.
• Min 1 year+ hands-on software development experience and 1 year+ experience in technical content creation or curriculum development.
• Experience leading or mentoring content or technical teams.
• Strong foundation in core programming concepts and preferable domain expertise in frontend and backend tech.
• Familiarity with Gen AI tools, LLMs, and prompt engineering.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Passion for building impactful, learner-centered educational content.

Job Overview

• Location: Hyderabad
• Job Type: Full-Time
• Work Mode: Office-based
• Working Days: 5-day week