lynda.com
Job Description:
Program Director for [Content] Area
Program Director of [Content] Area
lynda.com
A Program Director of [Content] Area reports to the Senior Director of Education and
Content Planning as well as works closely with the Senior Director of Production and the
Senior Project Manager of Content Planning.
A Program Director is successfully able to:
 To create, grow and manage a content area by developing and maintaining
exceptional educational content and an author pool.
 To improve academic integrity and pedagogy as driven by the following three
factors:
1. Industry directions and careers; learning objectives and pathways
2. Tools, Projects, Principles, and Inspiration
3. Outside Industry Experts/Leaders (Advisory Board)
A “successful” Program Director can perform the following four major roles:
administrative, leadership, interpersonal, and resource development.
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Administrative roles
 Fiscal overseer
 Schedule coordinator for
authors & courses & team
meetings
 Report generator
 Team leader & collaborator
 Supporter for internal career
pathways of team members
Resource development roles
 Author recruiter
 Author/Course team mentor
 Author/Course evaluator
 Resource warrior
 Team builder
Interpersonal roles
 Counselor
 Coach
 Mediator
 Climate regulator
 Collaborator
Leadership roles
lburruss
Inspired visionary
Internal advocate
Internal intermediary
External liaison
Curriculum leader
Role model
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2/10/16
lynda.com
Job Description:
Program Director for [Content] Area
Key tasks/goals of department chair (channel manager) include but are not limited to
the following:
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Grow the Content Area in both viewer ship & content. Increase lynda.com’s overall
subscriber base.
Create & manage entire content area’s educational roadmaps.
Be accountable for approving the best “A” authors to teach courses.
Recommend and suggest authors to the acquisitions team members.
Grow, maintain and retain the best authors in the content area.
Oversee & approve author’s Course Proposal and Table of Contents.
Be the keeper of the educational flame of the content area.
Keep authors in check in terms of quality and meeting lynda.com expectations in the
particular content area.
In the particular content channel, contribute to, and encourage author contributions to
blogs and channel/content areas on the site to gain and retain viewership.
Present monthly and quarterly reports that identify problem areas, successes and future
goals.
Review feedback about authors. If significant negative feedback exists for any given
author, alert other Program Directors and the Senior Director of Education for
approval/appraisal.
Create & moderate an “A-list” advisory board of content peers/experts at the top of
their professions to guide educational roadmap & review curriculum/play list/author
list.
Earn, grow, and maintain the respect of the specific content area’s industry and the key
players. Attend strategic industry conferences, shows, seminars; work with acquisitions
to identify key speakers and potential teachers/authors going forward.
Record key courses, topics, and talks within the range of the Program Director’s
expertise if warranted.
Be the figurehead at Lynda.com for the content area and its related topics.
Communicate with Lynda.com audience through video blogs, podcasts, and other online
communications regarding content area developments, news, and discussion boards.
Prerequisites
1. 5+ years or equivalent experience as software product manager and/or
publishing and/or curriculum development.
2. Respected within the content area or proven expertise amongst peers in the
industry (Demonstrated success, recognition, and accomplishments in the
content area and its industry peers/leaders.)
3. Demonstrated commitment and passion for the content area and education.
4. 5+ years work experience in the industry of proposed content area.
5. Excellent communication skills (evidence of written, oral, and visual presentation
skills); ability to work with type “A” personalities/egos.
6. Excellent problem solving skills.
7. Evidence of leadership of teams and/or collaborative experiences and processes.
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lynda.com
Job Description:
Program Director for [Content] Area
8. Ability to share, contribute, collaborate, and to work “cross-functionally,” across
a diverse range of tasks and areas.
A Handbook for Program Directors
(Guidelines and Best Practices)
ADMINISTRATIVE ROLES
The administrative role includes four specific sub-roles, in which success depends chiefly on
careful attention to details.
1. Fiscal Overseer: Program Directors must monitor the content area budget to ensure
that the Education Division’s work is done and that they do not overspend their
allocations.
2. Schedule Coordinator: Program Diretors schedule courses, production timetables, and
recruit authors each quarter in coordination with the Senior Director of Education and
the Senior Director of Production. In so doing, the Program Director has responsibilities
to lynda.com and its members to see that courses are appropriately scheduled to
facilitate authors and content area projected scope and vision. Program Directors are
responsible for helping authors manage their time efficiently and for balancing their
course loads across the content area and production schedule.
3. Report Generator: Program Directors need to generate weekly/quarterly reports
regarding curriculum, acquisitions, authors, scheduling, growth of course usage,
industry advisory meeting minutes, evaluations of content area projections and author
performance, as well as any other issues under the role of the Program Director.
4. Staff Supervisor: Supervising team members means dealing with an array of issues,
from hiring and supporting authors, to managing conflicts that may arise among team
members & instructional production members. In all cases, a need to accurately absorb
information and dispense it in a timely manner is strategic in this capacity.
LEADERSHIP ROLES
1. Visionary: The visionary is the transformational leader capable of creating space for
change and generating consensus among authors and team members as to the goals
and objectives for lynda.com and its mission statement.
2. Internal Advocate: Communicating the situation and also advocating for the content
area and for the specific authors of the content area. As internal advocates, Program
Directors represent, promote, and support the authors and the overall content area to
relevant internal audiences particularly the Senior Director of Education, the Senior
Director of Production and the Executive Committee.
3. Internal Intermediary: While a Program Director sometimes advocates on behalf of the
authors and department to the Senior Director of Education, at other times they will
find themselves explaining the Senior Director of Education’s and/or Executive
Committees’ actions to the authors as well as administrative and production staff. The
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lynda.com
Job Description:
Program Director for [Content] Area
Program Director is perceived as having both administrative, team, and author
obligations.
4. External Liaison: A Program Director is responsible to establish relationships with
external audiences and industry partners. Launching these connections with audiences
outside the lynda.com community and advocating the lynda.com’s mission is a way for a
Program Director to advance the vision of the content area and ensure quality and
excellence.
5. Curriculum Leader: The Program Director takes a leadership role with respect to the
content area curriculum. Planning, revising, and implementing changes in area programs
must be a recurrent process that the Program Director monitors.
6. Role Model: The Program Director should lead primarily by example. If Program
Directors expect their authors to excel as teachers and their administrative and team
members in content and acquisitions to strive for quality in education then they should
lead by example.
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ROLES
Resources are broadly defined to include authors, as well as other assets that can be increased
in order to advance the department and its vision and impact.
1. Acquisitions Recruiter: The chair plays a primary role in acquiring content area authors.
New authors are instrumental to accomplishing the content area’s vision and can
influence the climate of the content area.
2. Author Mentor: This role encompasses providing authors with professional
development opportunities, answering their questions, and providing advice and
information to ensure their professional success and retention. Program Directors
ensure that new authors and team members get the information they need to develop,
create, and produce excellent courses.
3. Faculty Feedback: Evaluations are required for author hiring, merit raises and
incentives, retention, promotion, and decisions to retain in the future.
4. Resource Warrior: The chair maintains responsibility for finding the resources that
authors need to do their jobs. The Program Director’s goal is to remove obstacles from
the path of productive authors so that they and the content area’s team members can
reach their potential and produce excellent quality educational experiences in the
content area of expertise.
POSITION SUMMARY:
In summary, a Program Director has a complex job, requiring talents in a number of wideranging areas. It requires focusing on the interests of a broader group. While requiring
organizational skills and the ability to manage details, the Program Director role also draws upon
softer, people-oriented skills. One of the toughest aspects is focusing on the big picture.
lburruss
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lynda.com
Job Description:
Program Director for [Content] Area
Mentoring younger authors, articulating a vision, mediating conflicts, and promoting the success
of the content area are all required while addressing the administrative details that keep an area
going on a day-to-day basis. The unique nature of the position gives new meaning to the notion
of “vision” as it relates to content area expertise and curriculum.
Program Directors work between the executive committee/directors and the authors,
acquisitions and content team members, instructional producers, and administrative staff.
Team members will expect a Program Director to:
 Lead and solve problems instead of just being an advocate.
 Develop realistic budgets and budget requests.
 Demand excellence from a content area’s authors.
 Focus on the lynda.com mission over area needs.
 Pay attention to personal passion and commitment.
 Collect data and make assessment a priority.
Those content area team members working under the direction of a Program Director will:
 Develop well-articulated, concrete goals.
 Know and understand his/her colleagues and fellow administrators.
 Aspire to be a change agent.
 Appreciate and support good teaching, production processes, and member services.
 Act honestly, forthrightly, and decently.
 Treat people fairly and evenhandedly.
 Build consensus via effective communication.
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