VP, Core Curriculum Solutions

We are looking for a highly skilled VP, Core Curriculum Solutions to revolutionize how Discovery Education creates standards-aligned content for our teachers and learners. In this role, you will own the transformation of DE's core curriculum and content from a traditional editorial operation into a modern, AI-augmented, vendor-orchestrated content production engine. This is not an incremental improvement role. It is a ground-up rethinking of how a 21st-century education company creates, maintains, scales and localizes world-class core curriculum products.

This highly visible leadership position will report to the SVP of Product and sit at the intersection of pedagogy, artificial intelligence, and curriculum operations. You will not just lead core curriculum - you will collaborate cross-functionally to architect the systems, partnerships, and workflows that make great curriculum inevitable and drastically increase our speed to market.

This role calls for someone who is energized by reinvention, comfortable with ambiguity, and capable of bringing a team along through genuine transformation. If that sounds like you, read on!

In This Role You Will:

Pioneer Core Curriculum Strategy & Development Process

• Redesign DE's core curriculum product development workflow from a writer-centric waterfall model into a modular, AI-assisted production pipeline that ships faster, localizes easily, scales elegantly, and maintains high editorial quality
• Define and own the curriculum architecture that underpins DE's K-12 core products across Science and Social Studies - ensuring coherence, standards alignment, and pedagogical integrity at scale
• Set and deliver on the instructional vision for curriculum that drives student engagement and outcomes

Lead AI-Enabled Curriculum Production

• Develop high-quality, flexible digital curriculum that balances content coverage, customer needs, and the realities of the modern classroom, recommending instructional solutions that represent innovation and ease of implementation
• Drive the integration of generative AI into every phase of curriculum development: ideation, drafting, standards tagging, differentiation, localization, and QA
• Partner with DE's engineering and data teams to build or buy AI tooling that meaningfully reduces cost-per-asset and time-to-publish without compromising quality
• Define DE's human-in-the-loop model - where AI accelerates and where expert human judgment is non-negotiable
• Stay current on the AI tools and trends regarding education and curriculum: you will be the internal expert who tells the org what is real, what is hype, and what we should be doing about it

Orchestrate a High-Performance Team and Vendor Ecosystem

• Lead a cross-functional pod of instructional designers, subject matter experts, product managers, engineers, and designers - setting direction, priorities, and quality standards for the team's collective work.
• Shift DE's vendor model from transactional outsourcing to strategic co-production: identify, qualify, and manage a network of specialized content and instructional design partners
• Build the governance frameworks, SLAs, and quality systems that let DE scale core content production through partners without losing editorial control
• Actively evaluate and onboard new vendor capabilities - including AI-native content studios, specialist SMEs, and offshore production teams - to keep DE's cost structure competitive
• Own vendor performance, including delivery schedules and quality of outputs

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the core curriculum authority within DE's integrated product teams - a genuine thought partner to product management, engineering, and design, not just a curriculum supplier
• Translate district needs, market signals, and research into content strategy decisions, product roadmap inputs, and curriculum refresh priorities
• Collaborate with the Assessment and Research teams to close the loop between curriculum development and measurable learning outcomes
• Represent DE's instructional vision externally: with district partners, at conferences, and in the market

Core Competencies for Success:

Non-Negotiables

• Deep expertise in K-12 core curriculum and instructional design and ability to translate that expertise into a cohesive and compelling vision - you must be credible with educators and curriculum teams
• Genuine fluency with AI tools in a curriculum or creative production context – practical experience, not theoretical
• Proven experience managing large, distributed vendor relationships - you have run a curriculum supply chain, not just a writing team
• Systems thinker who can design workflows, governance structures, and quality processes at scale, with exceptional project management skills and the ability to prioritize multiple tasks across various teams.
• Track record of leading through change - you have transformed something, not just optimized it
• Executive presence and cross-functional influence - you will operate at the VP level and need to earn trust fast

Ideal Scenario

• You have built or significantly re-engineered a content production system using AI tooling
• You have managed a hybrid in-house/vendor/AI model and have strong opinions about where each belongs
• You understand edtech market dynamics well enough to translate product strategy into curriculum decisions
• You have a point of view on what the future of K-12 content development looks like - and the credibility to make that case

Credentials and Experience:

• Bachelor's required; Master's or PhD in Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Educational Technology, or a related field preferred
• Proven ability to deliver comprehensive core instructional solutions for K-12 schools. Experience with US education standards (CCSS, NGSS, and state variants)
• Demonstrable experience integrating AI into content development workflows
• Legal right to work in the United States

Location

Remote, or based in our Charlotte, NC headquarters. Occasional travel required.