Curriculum Architect and Instructional Designer

Industry:	Human Resources
Occupation:	Human Resource Training Specialist
Highlights:	For MetLife: I recommended learning and information solutions for the company's highest-revenue line of business, ensuring swift delivery of easily-updatable information to sales and underwriting staff, while saving tens of thousands of dollars that would have been spent on unnecessary media. For Pilgrim Software: I recommended and built a knowledge base for a software company's customer-facing consultants and IT help desk staff to ensure the most current solution availability between the releases of formal documentation and training with each software release. For Gartner Research: My partner Research Director and I produced timely and engaging informational articles on Information and Physical Security in the days immediately following 9/11/01. For GTE (now Verizon) IT: Designed a curriculum of training solutions for a new suite of systems supporting a major process re-engineering project. My conduct of the needs analysis built sufficient trust among the (understandably nervous) staff of the operations group that (1) they saw the potentially threatening process changes and new systems as solutions to problems they had complained of before and opportunities to greater professional growth, and (2) initiated no union protests to the process and employee role changes. The project completed on time and under budget because of the extraordinarily high level of cooperation from the unionized shop employees and front-line managers.
Ideal Companies:	PricewaterhouseCoopers
Education level:	Doctorate
Will Relocate:	Yes
Location:	Lutz, FL

6/2008 - 1/2009

MetLife

Contractor / Freelance

• Instruction Architect/Designer and Project Lead: • Serve as the key interface to the Lines-of-Business (LOB) Learning & Development associates in leveraging tools, systems and processes in designing, producing and delivering content in MetLife’s Performance-Learning model. • Support multiple projects while ensuring connectivity to the larger enterprise to reduce redundancy and lead the establishment and promotion of best practices in instructional development. • Lead in the development and refinement of tools, templates, and processes to support efficient course design and development. • Create vendor evaluation and selection criteria; establish preferred-vendor list; leverage preferred design and development vendors to support content production needs as necessary. • Establish and implement metrics to support the continuous improvement. • Analyze business requirements and system requirements, and perform related gap analyses to design workforce development programs (curricula). • Interface between business organizations and technical development and implementation organizations, leading the plan for development and implementation of courses as well as the design process. • Perform risk analysis. • Report on project progress to stakeholders and leadership. • Lead and perform quality assurance testing throughout development (from storyboards through pilot). • Conduct project close-out and lessons learned sessions, and create subsequent reports. • Monitor the latest trends and technologies used for development of training materials; play a leading role in matching instructional content to development needs, tools and platforms, evaluating and selecting instructional design methodologies and tools. • Mentor colleagues on topics such as performance metrics, performance support systems, summative assessments, and the learning psychology of “serious games.”

1/2008 - 6/2008

United Information Technologies, Inc

Manager

• Workforce Development Services Program Manager: • Analyze business requirements and system requirements, and perform related gap analyses to design workforce development programs (curricula). • Obtain client acceptance and UIT Professional Services staffing commitment to develop and execute training programs, applying performance consulting skills to network and build effective working relationships within a matrix environment. • Direct program quality assurance, working closely with Vice-president of Staffing and Project Managers on scheduling and staffing issues. • Direct editorial policies and procedures; ensure compatibility of editors with writing teams; manage editorial and publication processes. • Create and maintain supportive relationships among UIT clients, employees and contract subject matter experts to strategically refine enterprise processes for instructional design serving LOB teams.

1/2005 - 12/2007

Pilgrim Software, Inc.

Manager

• Knowledge Services Manager (enterprise information portal, and training and documentation services): • Analyze information needs and determine appropriate instructional programs for internal training of all levels of employees in the professional consulting, sales, technical services, and business units. • Design information architecture and identify tools for implementing the enterprise knowledge portal for internal users requiring easy and immediate access to mission-critical information. • Lead a team of instructional designers, trainers and documentation writers in developing knowledgebase contents and publishing materials and courses that educate Pilgrim employees and customers on the implementation and use of complex software and related operating procedures.

1/2000 - Present

(private)

Contractor / Freelance

• President & Sr. Workforce Development Consultant • Solicit engagements for Web site content development, design, or technical development • Match talent for writing, editing, technical development and project management to each engagement • Develop and nourish client relationships • Recruit and reward freelancers and subcontractors in talent pool • Establish and oversee policy for customer relationship management (CRM), recruitment, and financial management • Research and develop analytical content for the information security domain for Gartner • Columnist: “T2B” weekly column for ClickZ.com (repurposing training concepts & materials for marketing)

7/1986 - 11/1999

GTE (Verizon) IT

Individual Contributor

• Training Development and Systems Implementation Project Lead: • Designed and implemented process re-engineering curricula for executive through front-line employees in business units including billing, customer service, and provisioning. • Managed training and systems implementation for nationwide telecommunications customer call center, including training effectiveness (QA) analysis through workplace performance measures. • Developed and delivered training for Software Engineering and Management curriculum.

2008

Specialist Degree

University of South Florida

• Desktop Publishing

1990

Doctorate Degree

Nova Southeastern University

• Adult Education - Instructional Design

1984

Specialist Degree

University of South Florida

• Business - HR/Organizational Development

1974

Master Degree

Loyola College

• Education - Supervision and Management

1971

Master Degree

Indiana University

• Speech and Theater

1968

Bachelor Degree

McDaniel College

• Education - English and Theater

Instructional-design, MS Word, Excel, Visio, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Content-management, LMS, Acrobat, Documentation, Training, Editing