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Education and Training | Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer

Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

Designs and develops instructional materials or curriculum for teachers. Analyzes what is needed for students, identifies learning objectives, and designs the content and format of instructional material. Uses instructional design to create instructional materials, which may include text, electronic and visual material. Works for a school or college or for an education, software or publishing company.

Job Outlook

There were 1189 Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 33013 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer industry, which includes the Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:

Salary

Many new Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $59,550.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $58,560.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $46,684.

Education and Experience

Posted Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree1%
Bachelor's Degree51%
Master's Degree42%
Doctoral Degree0%
Other5%

Posted Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years34%
3 to 5 years56%
6 to 8 years7%
9+ years3%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Communication Skills (57%)
  • Teamwork / Collaboration (41%)
  • Research (29%)
  • Planning (28%)
  • Writing (27%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Instructional Design (39%)
  • Teaching (38%)
  • Training Materials (17%)
  • Adobe Captivate (14%)
  • Learning Management System (12%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Project Management (20%)
  • Scheduling (17%)
  • Adobe Photoshop (14%)
  • Training Programs (13%)
  • Vaccination (10%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

  • Lesson Planning (7%)
  • Curriculum Design (5%)
  • Educational Programs (5%)
  • Adult Education (4%)
  • Learning Styles (4%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Instructional Designer
  • Education Coordinator
  • Senior Instructional Designer
  • Instructional Coach
  • Education Specialist

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Curriculum and Instructional Designer / Developer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • General Dynamics (204)
  • Guidehouse (183)
  • C2Educate (177)
  • University Of California (175)
  • Pearson (160)

North Carolina

  • University of North Carolina (43)
  • North Carolina State University (22)
  • Charter Communications (17)
  • Duke University (15)
  • Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools (13)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!