The Chicago Architecture Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public interest and education in architecture and design. The Chicago Architecture Foundation presents a comprehensive program of tours, exhibitions, lectures, special events, and adult and youth education activities, all designed to enhance the public’s awareness and appreciation of Chicago’s outstanding architectural legacy.

Overall Responsibility        

Develop and implement effective digital learning and engagement experiences for DiscoverDesign.org users that align with the Education Department strategic plan and the Technology Master Plan.  Build and diversify the DiscoverDesign.org community of users. Manage initiatives to enable DiscoverDesign.org to evolve to serve as a badging and learning management system. Collaborate with colleagues and learning networks on institutional projects. Develop and maintain partnerships locally, nationally and internationally.  

Position Summary

DiscoverDesign.org currently enables educators and students to work through real-world design problems and get feedback from professional mentors. Throughout the design process users post original photos, digital models, animations, architectural drawings, videos and text. The award-winning website serves as an architectural "town square" where users can be inspired, pose questions and get feedback from professionals. 

The DiscoverDesign.org manager is a new position that will be responsible for enhancing, supporting, and maintaining the DiscoverDesign.org website, portal pages, badging system and social media to ensure DiscoverDesign.org is the premier tool for educators who want to enable students to apply design thinking through explorations of the built environment. DiscoverDesign.org capacity is growing to encompass a new organizational learning management system for the Education Department including: secure communication amongst staff, professional mentors and users; ability for users to access content; and pre- and post-project assessment tools. Social media showcasing student design work and enabling educators to learn from each other will be key features of the evolution of this program.

 The manager will be responsible for working with our beta test site practices and the application development team to enable users to earn badging successfully via the portal; will maintain and improve user functions and train users and will provide client and project management for roll-out of new features with users and internal audiences.

 This position is a critical member of the Education Department and the Digital Engagement Team at Chicago Architecture Foundation and manages external vendors to provide technical support and systems administration, for website and portal issues during the growth and development of this program.

 Key Duties and Responsibilities

DiscoverDesign.org Development 

• Coordinate the development of new Discover Design.org features throughout conception, research, prototyping, audience testing, platform evaluation and requirements gathering.
• Manage strategy, integration and execution of DiscoverDesign.org-based badging and learning management systems; manage the integration of content and asset development/aggregation for a DiscoverDesign.org-based learning management system.
• Build relationships and grow users for Discover Design across formal and informal education communities locally, nationally and internationally. 
• Support and provide thought leadership on weekly metrics/data and analytics.
• Coordinate project evaluations, working with marketing to develop front end and summative evaluations; analyze data and complete evaluation reports.
• Work with other organization members, including social media, to ensure full integration of the Digital Master Plan into DiscoverDesign.org.

Website Management 

• Coordinate, develop and/or update content.
• Coordinate Discover Design.org project proposals and recommendations for educational experiences and learning management.
• Give input into e-mail marketing campaigns targeting educators, youth and Architecture, Construction, Engineering and Design professionals; manage online marketing projects ranging from SEO to social media marketing.
• Manage professional development and support strategies to grow the user base.

Technical Maintenance 

• Optimize website; troubleshoot issues and continually improve site to generate inquiries and awareness for its offerings.
• Serve as administrator for learning technology applications and websites where appropriate/needed.
• Monitor, assess, and report on DiscoverDesign.org performance
• Ensure website functionality.
• Ensure domain registration and hosting are current.

Administration   

• Manage project stakeholders including staff, external stakeholders, UX professionals, designers, content creators/curators, developers, interns, volunteers; manage contracts with consultants and contractors.
• Collaborate with development department on exhibition fundraising, including identification of funding opportunities and grant application preparation assistance.

Research & Development   

• Maintain deep awareness of educational trends and methodologies related to digital learning and engagement with a focus on mobile technologies, location-based applications, games, reward/incentive systems, augmented reality, and social networks.
• Evaluate digital learning and engagement products and strategies employed by peer organizations and competitors as directed.
• Participate in digital learning and engagement communities of practice.

Administrative 

• Serve as key liaison with IT department to ensure digital experience products are produced and planned in accordance with any established CAF hardware and software technology policies or standards when appropriate (includes hosting, coding standards, accessibility standards, domain management, etc.).
• Support Development department by creating budgets, schedules and managing other department deliverables for grant applications.

Other   

Perform other duties as assigned

Skills and Attributes

• Passion for online experiences and educational technology
• Ability to simultaneously manage multiple complex projects with tight deadlines.
• Excellent analytic, planning and organizational skills; detail oriented; able to determine and adjust competing priorities.
• Professional research, presentation, design and communication skills.
• Experience and knowledge of digital learning methodologies, user experience and digital engagement strategies.
• Ability to work with and across multiple project teams.
• Expert knowledge of technology tools, ability to execute rapid prototyping and agile product development.
• Thorough knowledge of standard office, web, and digital media software and a willingness to learn new tools.

Education and Experience Requirement

• Bachelor’s degree in architecture, design, user experience, digital learning, education, or learning technology-related field required. (Master’s degree preferred)
• Minimum 4-6 years of experience in planning, developing and managing multiple, complex, digital-based projects required.
• Knowledge, awareness, or enthusiasm for architecture, engineering, urban planning, and design is a plus. 

Chicago Architecture Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.