Education Designer, Dual Enrollment Early Pathways

About Education Design Lab

Education Design Lab ("The Lab") is a national nonprofit that designs, tests, and implements unique education models and credentials that address the rapidly changing economy and emerging technology opportunities to ensure equitable outcomes for learners and earners. The Lab has partnered with some of the most aspirational institutions, and often their ecosystem partners, as they consider how to design their offerings to serve learners flexibly with more data‑driven, human‑centered models, processes and tools.

Our biggest areas of work include improved career pathway visibility, micro‑pathways, 21st century skills, microcredentials, alternative on‑ramps to degree, upskilling workers, and training college leadership teams in change management and agile prototyping.

The Education Designer, Dual Enrollment & Early Pathways, advances the Lab’s Early Pathways strategy by helping institutions reimagine traditional dual enrollment as a launchpad toward equitable, stackable, career‑connected pathways. Using the Lab’s nationally recognized human‑centered design approach, this role works across K–12 districts, higher education, employers, and workforce partners to co‑create solutions that expand opportunity and upward mobility for New Majority Learners.

In this 2‑year term role, the Education Designer serves as a strategic design partner to institutions participating in initiatives like the Career Ready by Design Challenge. They guide stakeholders through discovery, design, prototyping, and implementation phases that align early college experiences with labor‑market needs. The Education Designer also plays an essential cross‑functional role, facilitating collaboration across sectors, translating learnings into actionable insights, and contributing to the Lab’s thought leadership and impact agendas.

Dual enrollment expertise is essential in this role, as the Education Designer will help colleges and districts transform traditional course‑based models into scalable, career‑connected pathways. We are looking for someone who has navigated the complexities of cross‑sector partnerships, policy environments, and sustainable funding structures. This background ensures the Education Designer can anticipate barriers, identify leverage points, and support institutions in building early pathways that drive real economic mobility.

This position combines facilitation, design, strategy, and implementation support, making it ideal for someone who thrives in complex ecosystems and is deeply committed to equitable learner pathways.

Responsibilities of the Education Designer:

• Pathway Design + Strategy
• Lead project partners through the Lab's human‑centered design methodology (Understand → Ideate → Prototype → Launch & Iterate).
• Design or enhance dual enrollment pathways that are clear, stackable, transferable, and aligned to thriving‑wage jobs.
• Integrate industry‑recognized credentials, credit transfer structures, and labor market insights to ensure pathways lead to real economic mobility.
• Embed equity considerations into every stage of pathway design, centering the needs of underserved learners.

Cross‑Sector Facilitation & Collaboration

• Manage engagement across K–12 partners, colleges, employers, workforce agencies, learners, and families.
• Facilitate ecosystems where all partners share ownership of early pathway models.
• Structure employer engagement that results in meaningful work‑based learning experiences and program relevance.
• Maintain project momentum through clear communication, strategic decision‑making, and structured collaboration.

Implementation, Scaling & Learning

• Provide coaching and technical assistance as partners implement new pathway models—including advising on holistic student supports.
• Support institutions in developing scalable and sustainable funding and staffing models.
• Surface best practices and synthesize learnings to inform future design, Lab thought leadership, and field‑facing publications.
• Track progress against impact metrics and work with Lab teams to translate insights into actionable tools and resources.