Professional Learning Specialist Jobs
Professional learning specialist jobs are open across K-12 education, higher education, corporate learning and development, and nonprofit sectors, from entry-level instructional coach roles to senior curriculum designer and director of professional development positions, with specializations in adult learning, instructional design, and coaching. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Showing 5 of 65+ Professional Learning Specialist jobs
Job Description
The Vice Provost for Workforce Partnerships and Professional Learning provides university-wide strategic leadership for Virginia Tech's workforce and professional learning enterprise by fostering innovative educational models and creating educational pathways that: respond to evolving workforce needs and employer demand; align with institutional priorities and Virginia Tech’s research and scholarly expertise; and advance Virginia Tech's land-grant mission through educational innovation, workforce preparation, and economic development. The Vice Provost builds partnerships across academic and administrative units and leads the growth of a sustainable portfolio of professional graduate degrees, certificates, executive education, and other credentialed workforce programs.
The Vice Provost has entrepreneurial drive and works collaboratively with and provides strategic leadership across the academic colleges and departments, research institutes, the Graduate School, Enrollment Management, Outreach & International Affairs (OIA), and Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) to launch and sustain programs that capitalize on the institution's strengths and geographic opportunities. As a member of the Provost's senior leadership team, the Vice Provost advises the Provost on institutional growth and sunsetting strategies related to workforce partnerships and professional learning.
The position will be based either in Blacksburg or the Greater Washington, D.C. area.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership
- Develop and implement Virginia Tech's strategy for professional workforce education.
- Develop an organization that brings coherence to activities related to workforce partnerships and professional learning that includes organizational design, staffing, governance, long-term strategic priorities, and a financial operating model such that it is a self-sustaining unit.
- Lead university-wide strategic development for professional master’s degrees, graduate certificates, executive education, and other relevant credentialing offerings, ensuring alignment with Virginia Tech’s academic strengths, research priorities, and market opportunities.
- Advise the Provost regarding institutional investments, policies, and priorities related to workforce education and professional learning.
- Identify and recommend changes to university policies, processes, and governance that enable more agile development and delivery of workforce education and professional learning opportunities.
- Coordinate workforce education and professional learning strategies across Virginia Tech's statewide locations to maximize institutional impact while responding to regional workforce priorities.
Organizational Strategy and Portfolio Management
- Lead institutional market and feasibility analysis and portfolio planning to identify opportunities for new workforce education and professional learning initiatives (in-person, fully online, or hybrid) aligned with Virginia Tech's strengths.
- In partnership with the Graduate School, academic colleges and departments, research institutes, and VCE, develop and manage a university-wide portfolio of workforce education and professional learning offerings, ensuring academic quality, financial sustainability, and alignment with institutional priorities.
- Regularly assess the portfolio using enrollment, financial, workforce demand, learner outcomes, and employer engagement metrics, recommending expansion, modification, or discontinuation as appropriate.
- Establish performance expectations and portfolio review processes for workforce education and professional learning initiatives.
Partnerships and Pathway Development
- Build strategic partnerships with academic leaders across Virginia Tech to leverage faculty expertise, research strengths, and geographic assets in support of workforce education and professional learning. Initial foci will center on Blacksburg/Roanoke and the Greater Washington, D.C. area, with emerging foci in the Tidewater and Richmond regions.
- Develop strategic partnerships with industry, government agencies, military organizations, health systems, and nonprofit organizations to expand workforce education and professional learning opportunities.
- Advance workforce education and professional learning as a strategic component of Virginia Tech's research enterprise by partnering with principal investigators and research institutes to integrate workforce development into major sponsored initiatives.
- In partnership with the Division of Enrollment Management, establish enrollment goals, evaluate market opportunities, prioritize new program development, and monitor portfolio performance using shared institutional metrics.
- Serve as the primary academic partner to VCE, establishing a collaborative division of labor for VCE-related non-credit training and professional certifications and for-credit graduate and certificate programs.
- In partnership with OIA, establish a collaborative transition plan and division of labor to transition contract credit programs and other credentialing programs that may lead to professional graduate degrees.
- In partnership with the Graduate School, academic colleges and departments, and research institutes, identify, evaluate, and prioritize opportunities for new and expanded professional master’s programs and develop formal non-credit-to-credit pathways that allow students to complete training and certifications to stack, articulate, or ladder into credit bearing graduate certificates and degrees.
Academic Programs and Operations
- Provide executive oversight for the operational infrastructure supporting workforce education and professional learning programs, including admissions, enrollment, learner records, instructional delivery, student support, and compliance.
- Partner with Enrollment Management to develop recruitment, marketing, enrollment, and student success strategies that support sustainable program growth.
- Navigate university governance and collaborate with academic leaders to secure academic approval for new and revised programming.
- Establish dashboards and performance metrics for academic leaders to monitor enrollment and program effectiveness.
- Maintain compliance with regional accreditation bodies regarding relevant academic standards.
Financial Leadership
- Develop self-sustaining financial models for workforce education and professional learning initiatives, including incentive structures that encourage academic units to participate in these initiatives.
- Identify and pursue new revenue streams through sponsored programs, state initiatives, corporate partnerships, philanthropy, and self-supporting educational programs.
- Recommend institutional investments and resource allocations.
- Oversee budgets and financial performance.
- Establish financial performance metrics and accountability measures.
Required Qualifications
- Education: Master’s degree
- Significant, progressively responsible academic leadership experience.
- Specific, demonstrable success launching credential- and/or credit-bearing programs for working professionals.
- Management of large-scale professionally oriented education programs, workforce development programs, and/or online programs.
- Experience managing a self-supporting or revenue-generating unit.
- Experience leading change with prior history of navigating traditional university structures while maintaining agility.
- Proven ability to manage multi-stakeholder curriculum rollouts and instructional design resources.
- Experience monitoring and tailoring programming to market demands.
- Demonstrated record of strategic leadership resulting in significant organizational growth or transformation.
- Demonstrated ability to build consensus and lead through influence across decentralized academic organizations.
- Demonstrated understanding of faculty governance, academic decision making, accreditation, and institutional policy.
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to travel across the Commonwealth of Virginia on a regular basis. The position will be based either in Blacksburg or the Greater Washington, D.C. area, with regular time spent in both locations regardless of which campus site is the primary location.
Preferred Qualifications
- Education: Doctorate
- Experience working with and supporting faculty principal investigators on extramural research proposals.
- Management of modern learning management systems and student information systems.
- Success in securing workforce education and development grants, federal training allocations, or philanthropic gifts.
Questions about the position should be directed to search chair, David Knight at dbknight@vt.edu
Overtime Status
Exempt: Not eligible for overtime
Appointment Type
Regular
Salary Information
Commensurate with Experience
Hours per week
40+
Review Date
October 21, 2026
Additional Information
The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.
About Virginia Tech
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges, a school of medicine, a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School, and Honors College. The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including Blacksburg, the greater Washington, D.C. area, the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke, sites in Newport News and Richmond, and numerous Extension offices and research institutes. A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research annually.
Virginia Tech endorses and encourages participation in professional development opportunities and university shared governance. These valuable contributions to university shared governance provide important representation and perspective, along with opportunities for unique and impactful professional development.
Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.
If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Lisha Farrier at lfarrier@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.
Job Description
The Vice Provost for Workforce Partnerships and Professional Learning provides university-wide strategic leadership for Virginia Tech's workforce and professional learning enterprise by fostering innovative educational models and creating educational pathways that: respond to evolving workforce needs and employer demand; align with institutional priorities and Virginia Tech’s research and scholarly expertise; and advance Virginia Tech's land-grant mission through educational innovation, workforce preparation, and economic development. The Vice Provost builds partnerships across academic and administrative units and leads the growth of a sustainable portfolio of professional graduate degrees, certificates, executive education, and other credentialed workforce programs.
The Vice Provost has entrepreneurial drive and works collaboratively with and provides strategic leadership across the academic colleges and departments, research institutes, the Graduate School, Enrollment Management, Outreach & International Affairs (OIA), and Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) to launch and sustain programs that capitalize on the institution's strengths and geographic opportunities. As a member of the Provost's senior leadership team, the Vice Provost advises the Provost on institutional growth and sunsetting strategies related to workforce partnerships and professional learning.
The position will be based either in Blacksburg or the Greater Washington, D.C. area.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership
- Develop and implement Virginia Tech's strategy for professional workforce education.
- Develop an organization that brings coherence to activities related to workforce partnerships and professional learning that includes organizational design, staffing, governance, long-term strategic priorities, and a financial operating model such that it is a self-sustaining unit.
- Lead university-wide strategic development for professional master’s degrees, graduate certificates, executive education, and other relevant credentialing offerings, ensuring alignment with Virginia Tech’s academic strengths, research priorities, and market opportunities.
- Advise the Provost regarding institutional investments, policies, and priorities related to workforce education and professional learning.
- Identify and recommend changes to university policies, processes, and governance that enable more agile development and delivery of workforce education and professional learning opportunities.
- Coordinate workforce education and professional learning strategies across Virginia Tech's statewide locations to maximize institutional impact while responding to regional workforce priorities.
Organizational Strategy and Portfolio Management
- Lead institutional market and feasibility analysis and portfolio planning to identify opportunities for new workforce education and professional learning initiatives (in-person, fully online, or hybrid) aligned with Virginia Tech's strengths.
- In partnership with the Graduate School, academic colleges and departments, research institutes, and VCE, develop and manage a university-wide portfolio of workforce education and professional learning offerings, ensuring academic quality, financial sustainability, and alignment with institutional priorities.
- Regularly assess the portfolio using enrollment, financial, workforce demand, learner outcomes, and employer engagement metrics, recommending expansion, modification, or discontinuation as appropriate.
- Establish performance expectations and portfolio review processes for workforce education and professional learning initiatives.
Partnerships and Pathway Development
- Build strategic partnerships with academic leaders across Virginia Tech to leverage faculty expertise, research strengths, and geographic assets in support of workforce education and professional learning. Initial foci will center on Blacksburg/Roanoke and the Greater Washington, D.C. area, with emerging foci in the Tidewater and Richmond regions.
- Develop strategic partnerships with industry, government agencies, military organizations, health systems, and nonprofit organizations to expand workforce education and professional learning opportunities.
- Advance workforce education and professional learning as a strategic component of Virginia Tech's research enterprise by partnering with principal investigators and research institutes to integrate workforce development into major sponsored initiatives.
- In partnership with the Division of Enrollment Management, establish enrollment goals, evaluate market opportunities, prioritize new program development, and monitor portfolio performance using shared institutional metrics.
- Serve as the primary academic partner to VCE, establishing a collaborative division of labor for VCE-related non-credit training and professional certifications and for-credit graduate and certificate programs.
- In partnership with OIA, establish a collaborative transition plan and division of labor to transition contract credit programs and other credentialing programs that may lead to professional graduate degrees.
- In partnership with the Graduate School, academic colleges and departments, and research institutes, identify, evaluate, and prioritize opportunities for new and expanded professional master’s programs and develop formal non-credit-to-credit pathways that allow students to complete training and certifications to stack, articulate, or ladder into credit bearing graduate certificates and degrees.
Academic Programs and Operations
- Provide executive oversight for the operational infrastructure supporting workforce education and professional learning programs, including admissions, enrollment, learner records, instructional delivery, student support, and compliance.
- Partner with Enrollment Management to develop recruitment, marketing, enrollment, and student success strategies that support sustainable program growth.
- Navigate university governance and collaborate with academic leaders to secure academic approval for new and revised programming.
- Establish dashboards and performance metrics for academic leaders to monitor enrollment and program effectiveness.
- Maintain compliance with regional accreditation bodies regarding relevant academic standards.
Financial Leadership
- Develop self-sustaining financial models for workforce education and professional learning initiatives, including incentive structures that encourage academic units to participate in these initiatives.
- Identify and pursue new revenue streams through sponsored programs, state initiatives, corporate partnerships, philanthropy, and self-supporting educational programs.
- Recommend institutional investments and resource allocations.
- Oversee budgets and financial performance.
- Establish financial performance metrics and accountability measures.
Required Qualifications
- Education: Master’s degree
- Significant, progressively responsible academic leadership experience.
- Specific, demonstrable success launching credential- and/or credit-bearing programs for working professionals.
- Management of large-scale professionally oriented education programs, workforce development programs, and/or online programs.
- Experience managing a self-supporting or revenue-generating unit.
- Experience leading change with prior history of navigating traditional university structures while maintaining agility.
- Proven ability to manage multi-stakeholder curriculum rollouts and instructional design resources.
- Experience monitoring and tailoring programming to market demands.
- Demonstrated record of strategic leadership resulting in significant organizational growth or transformation.
- Demonstrated ability to build consensus and lead through influence across decentralized academic organizations.
- Demonstrated understanding of faculty governance, academic decision making, accreditation, and institutional policy.
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to travel across the Commonwealth of Virginia on a regular basis. The position will be based either in Blacksburg or the Greater Washington, D.C. area, with regular time spent in both locations regardless of which campus site is the primary location.
Preferred Qualifications
- Education: Doctorate
- Experience working with and supporting faculty principal investigators on extramural research proposals.
- Management of modern learning management systems and student information systems.
- Success in securing workforce education and development grants, federal training allocations, or philanthropic gifts.
Questions about the position should be directed to search chair, David Knight at dbknight@vt.edu
Overtime Status
Exempt: Not eligible for overtime
Appointment Type
Regular
Salary Information
Commensurate with Experience
Hours per week
40+
Review Date
October 21, 2026
Additional Information
The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.
About Virginia Tech
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges, a school of medicine, a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School, and Honors College. The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including Blacksburg, the greater Washington, D.C. area, the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke, sites in Newport News and Richmond, and numerous Extension offices and research institutes. A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research annually.
Virginia Tech endorses and encourages participation in professional development opportunities and university shared governance. These valuable contributions to university shared governance provide important representation and perspective, along with opportunities for unique and impactful professional development.
Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.
If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Lisha Farrier at lfarrier@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.
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Find JobsProfessional Learning Specialist Job Market
Who's Hiring
- AlphaBEST Education17
- IXL Learning8
- School District of Philadelphia3
- Carnegie Learning2
- Curriculum Associates2
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software
- Education
- Agriculture & Farming
- Non-Profit & Social Services
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in professional learning specialist jobs.
- Bachelor's or master's degree in education, instructional design, or a related field
- Three or more years of classroom teaching or direct instructional coaching experience
- Demonstrated expertise in adult learning theory and evidence-based instructional frameworks
- Experience designing and facilitating professional development workshops, PLCs, or coaching cycles
- Proficiency with learning management systems and virtual facilitation platforms
- Strong data analysis skills to assess program effectiveness and inform instructional decisions
Tips for Your Professional Learning Specialist Job Search
Tailor your resume to learning frameworks
Hiring managers screen for fluency with adult learning theory, instructional design models like ADDIE or Understanding by Design, and data-driven coaching cycles. Name the specific frameworks you've implemented and the measurable outcomes they produced, not just the titles of programs you delivered.
Quantify facilitation reach and impact
Vague claims about 'supporting teacher growth' won't move your resume forward. Replace them with concrete outputs: number of educators coached, cycle lengths, proficiency shifts on rubrics, or student outcome data tied to your work. Reviewers in this field know what real coaching evidence looks like.
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists professional learning specialist openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.
Read job postings for theory signals
Postings that mention 'coaching cycles,' 'PLCs,' 'job-embedded learning,' or 'instructional rounds' signal a district or organization with a defined professional learning model. Prioritize these over generic 'trainer' postings, and mirror that language precisely in your cover letter to show alignment.
Prepare a portfolio of facilitation artifacts
Many hiring panels ask for work samples before the interview stage. Assemble a short portfolio with a workshop agenda, a coaching observation tool, and one example of participant feedback or follow-up data. Keep it to three artifacts so reviewers can actually read it.
Turn the demo lesson into a coaching conversation
Demo lessons or mock facilitation rounds are common in final-round interviews. Most candidates over-prepare the content and under-prepare the debrief. Practice narrating your design decisions out loud and asking reflective questions of your 'participants,' because that is what the panel is actually evaluating.
Professional Learning Specialist Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most professional learning specialists?
The companies hiring the most professional learning specialists right now include AlphaBEST Education, IXL Learning, and School District of Philadelphia, with the largest share of openings in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. School districts, charter management organizations, and corporate learning and development departments consistently account for the largest volume of postings.
How many professional learning specialist jobs are remote?
About 89% of professional learning specialist openings are fully remote or hybrid as of September 2026, reflecting how much professional development has moved to virtual delivery since the expansion of online learning. Roles focused on curriculum design, e-learning content development, and corporate L&D tend to be the most remote-friendly, while positions centered on in-classroom instructional coaching are typically on-site.
How do you become a professional learning specialist?
Start with classroom teaching experience, since most employers require direct instructional background before moving into a coaching or specialist role. Build expertise in a specific instructional framework such as Understanding by Design or a structured literacy model. Pursue a master's degree in curriculum and instruction, educational leadership, or instructional design to strengthen your candidacy for district-level or corporate roles. Document your impact with coaching data and participant outcomes before applying.
Can you get hired as a professional learning specialist with little experience?
Entry points exist, but they almost always require prior teaching or training experience rather than substituting for it. Roles at education technology companies, nonprofit professional development organizations, and corporate learning departments sometimes hire candidates with fewer years if they bring strong facilitation skills, a relevant master's degree, or a portfolio showing curriculum design work. Framing your classroom experience as adult learning facilitation and leading professional development sessions in your current role can close the gap quickly.
What does the professional learning specialist interview process look like?
Most hiring processes include an initial screening call, a structured panel interview with curriculum or instructional leadership staff, and a performance task such as a mock workshop facilitation, a coaching debrief simulation, or a written curriculum design exercise. Panels typically probe your knowledge of adult learning theory, how you use data to adjust coaching, and your approach to working with resistant or disengaged educators. Final rounds at district employers often include a cabinet-level or superintendent interview.
Where can I find and apply to professional learning specialist jobs?
You can find and apply to professional learning specialist jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States. Search the listings for roles that match your experience level, subject area, or sector, and apply directly to each position that fits. There's no need to go anywhere else to complete your application.
See All 65 Professional Learning Specialist Jobs
Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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