Technical Instructional Designer

Description

Every team has AI. Few have mastered it. Humans were built to adapt, but AI is now moving faster than most workforces can.

Our ambition is to put AI capability in every worker’s hands. Now Mastry, our new adaptive learning platform, takes that further, guiding a company’s AI workforce transformation from start to finish. Mae, our AI guide inside Mastry, is a real-time AI agent that thinks, speaks, listens and sees, working alongside the tools you already use, like Claude and Copilot.

If you want to shape how the workforce wins in the AI era, come and join us.

The opportunity

AI can draft a lesson in seconds. It can't tell you whether that lesson will actually land with a nervous career-switcher three weeks into an AI apprenticeship — or whether the concept it just explained is subtly, but fundamentally, flawed.

That's where you come in.

You'll be the human judgement layer sitting on top of our AI-assisted content pipeline — part subject-matter expert, part instructional designer. You'll decide what AI got right, fix what it didn't, and build the parts no AI can: the high-touch, high-stakes, deeply human moments in a learner's journey that make the difference between content that's technically correct and content that actually changes someone's career.

You'll have experience building content in generative and/or agentic AI — not just someone who's read about it, but someone who can explain it, question it, and know when the AI-generated explanation of tricky subjects is actually going to help a learner or quietly confuse them.

What you'll actually do

Design outcomes, not just content. Apply end-to-end backward design to build AI programmes and content where success is measured by what learners can do on the job — not just what they can pass a test on. You'll own the hardest part: turning a job-aligned outcome into content that actually gets learners there.

Chase real-world impact, relentlessly. When a piece of learning isn't landing — when an AI practitioner cohort isn't showing the outcomes it should — you won't wait to be told. You'll spot it, own it, and scope the revisions that bring it up to the standard it needs to hit.

Build what AI can't. Design the custom, high-touch programmes and creative assets — branching narratives, bespoke multimedia, high-stakes onboarding moments — that need real human empathy, creativity, and nuance. If AI could have built it, it's not your job; if only a person could, it is.

Put AI to work, deliberately. Use AI tools and prompt engineering to accelerate your own content development and uncover learning design approaches nobody's tried yet. This isn't about using AI because it's there — it's about knowing exactly where it earns its place.

Advise up, not just build. Work directly with Programme Designers and senior stakeholders on the quality and pedagogical effectiveness of the content you design. Your feedback doesn't stay in the room — it shapes how our rules, principles and frameworks evolve.

Prototype for the long game. Lead new learning formats and modalities that don't exist yet — and know how to balance shipping fast against building something sustainable enough to reuse.

What you'll bring

Real command of end-to-end ADDIE and backward design — you've built measurable, job-aligned outcomes and the assessments that prove learners hit them, not just theoretical frameworks on a CV.

A habit of treating "good enough" as a starting point, not a finish line — you notice when learning isn't driving real outcomes, and you take the initiative to fix it.

Genuine fluency with AI-powered tools and prompt engineering, used to accelerate content development and find genuinely new applications in learning design.

The ability to take a genuinely complex generative and/or agentic AI concept and design a learning experience around it that actually works — for a range of different learner personas

The confidence and track record to influence peers and senior stakeholders toward a specific, measurable curriculum improvement — not just raise a concern and move on.

Resilience when things don't go to plan — you can point to a time a project hit a real obstacle (a blocker, a shifting SME, a launch that missed the mark) and describe exactly what you did about it, and what you learned.

What gets you in the door

You'll need at least one of these:

Hands-on experience producing technical content for generative and/or agentic AI.

2+ years designing instructional content in a commercial environment or for commercial clients.

Plus one of:

A Data or Computer Science degree (or close cousin of one)

Completion of a technical apprenticeship in Data or AI

2+ years working as a practitioner in Data or AI

If you're a strong technical practitioner who's never formally studied instructional design, or a seasoned learning designer who's spent the last year deep in AI tools — either path can get you here. We're looking for the judgment, not a checklist.

What we'll actually explore together

We're upfront about what our process looks for, because we'd rather you come prepared to talk about the real thing than guess what we want to hear. Across the conversations, we'll dig into:

Advanced curriculum & applied design — how you turn an end-to-end backward-design process into measurable, job-aligned outcomes, and how you build creative assets that genuinely need a human touch.

Impact & excellence — what you do when a piece of learning isn't hitting its real-world mark, and how you weigh speed against building something built to last.

AI integration & innovation — where and how you've put AI tools and prompt engineering to work, and what that's actually unlocked.

Influence & stakeholder management — how you've moved a curriculum forward through a genuine disagreement or feedback conversation, not just delivered a good pitch.

Coachability & resilience — how you've handled a launch that didn't land, or a project blocker outside your control, and what you changed as a result.

Benefits

• Time off: 27 days holiday (including 3 winter shutdown days) and bank holidays, plus 5 extra days off (1 life event, 2 volunteer days and 2 summer shutdown days).
• Health and wellbeing: Bupa private medical insurance, a medical cash back plan, therapy through Spill and gym access through Wellhub.
• Equity for all : we believe that when the company wins, we all win, which is why every permanent employee receives share options.
• Financial security: life insurance at 3x salary, a workplace pension with 4% contribution from us, Cycle to Work and a Tech Scheme.
• Family support: enhanced maternity and paternity leave, adoption and shared parental leave, paid leave after pregnancy loss, and a workplace nursery scheme.
• Hybrid working: 3 days a week in the office - except for Coaches & Instructors who come into the office 1 day per month. Plus 10 days a year to work from anywhere.
• Work perks: quarterly team socials, company-wide events, happy hours, lunch delivered to the office once a week, fully stocked snack bar and a drinks fridge!
• Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• We’re an equal opportunities employer. And proud of it. Every applicant and employee is afforded the same opportunities regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. This will never change. Read our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion policy here .
• Our Commitment to Safeguarding
• The company is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our learners. We expect all employees to share this commitment and adhere to our Safeguarding Policy , our Prevent Policy and all other the company company policies. Successful applicants will be required to undertake at least a Basic check via the Disclosure Barring Service (DBS).
• For roles that will involve a Regulated Activity, successful applicants must also undergo an Enhanced DBS check, including a Children’s Barred List check and a Prohibition Order check. Roles involving Regulated Activity may interact with vulnerable groups, therefore are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 meaning applicants are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands, and final warnings.
• Providing false information is an offence and could result in the application being rejected or summary dismissal if the applicant has been selected, and possible referral to the police and the DBS.