Role Overview 
The Enablement Vendor Instructional Design Senior Manager is responsible for managing relationship with external vendors and partners who will help design and deliver innovative learning programs for key CRO roles and partners. This role will work closely with the Senior Director of Enablement Services to develop a strategy to ensure that Instructional Design work is completed to the highest possible standards through external agencies. This Senior Manager role will partner closely with Enablement program managers and business partners to manage the intake of requests through to a predictable production schedule for the development of high quality content designed to delight the field and partners sales organizations.  

Key Responsibilities 

Vendor Strategy and Relationship Management 

• Serve as the single point of contact (SPOC) and strategic partner for all external instructional design vendors and agencies. 

• Manage end-to-end vendor lifecycle, including selection, onboarding, performance review, and off-boarding. 

• In partnership with finance and procurement help to design contracts, Statements of Work (SOWs), and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to secure the best value and ensure timely, high-quality content delivery. 

• Act as the primary bridge between internal Enablement Program Managers (who define learning needs) and external ID agencies (who execute the development). 

Operational Excellence and Process Design 

• Design, implement, and continuously optimize a scalable, structured intake process for all instructional design and content development requests. 

• Establish clear governance models, prioritization criteria, and project scoping frameworks to ensure efficient workload management for external partners. 

• Implement robust project management tools and metrics to provide real-time operational visibility into project status, vendor throughput, and budget consumption. 

• Track key performance indicators (KPIs) and operational metrics (e.g., time-to-delivery, quality scores, budget adherence) for all vendor projects and provide regular reports to leadership. 

Content Quality, Innovation, and AI Integration 

• Establish and enforce rigorous quality assurance (QA) standards, content templates, and brand guidelines to ensure all vendor-produced materials are consistent, engaging, and instructionally sound. 

• Ensure vendor utilization of the latest adult learning theories and instructional design methodologies (e.g., blended learning, microlearning, experience design). 

• Proactively collaborate with external agencies to pilot and embed the latest Generative AI and content creation technologies into their development workflows to enhance speed and creativity while maintaining accuracy and quality. 

• Oversee the maintenance and iteration of content repositories and development standards used by vendors. 

Financial and Budget Management 

• Manage the dedicated Operational Expenditure (Opex) budget for external instructional design services. 

• Ensure accurate forecasting, tracking, and efficient allocation of funds across various enablement projects. 

• Identify opportunities for process efficiency and cost reduction without compromising content quality or velocity. 

Required Qualifications 

• Experience: Minimum 5 years of experience in Learning & Development, Enablement, or Talent Management or Outsourced Service management role related to content creation. 

• Instructional Design: Proven understanding of instructional design principles, adult learning theory, and various content modalities (e.g., e-learning, video, live virtual training). 

• Operational Acumen: Demonstrated ability to design, implement, and manage complex operational processes (e.g., intake, triage, project management, and governance) at scale. 

• Financial Skills: Experience with budget management, financial forecasting, and contract negotiation (SOWs, vendor agreements). 

• Soft Skills: Exceptional communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills, particularly in a high-volume, cross-functional environment. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Technology Fluency: Familiarity with modern content authoring tools (e.g., Articulate Storyline/Rise, Adobe Captivate) and Learning Management Systems (LMS) capabilities. 

• AI Integration: Practical experience or deep knowledge of leveraging Generative AI tools (e.g., LLMs, image generators) in the content development lifecycle to enhance efficiency and quality. 

• Industry Knowledge: Experience working in a global technology, B2B, or high-tech infrastructure company (e.g., data centers, cloud services). 

• Education: Master's degree in Instructional Design, Educational Technology, Business Administration, or a related field.  

• Experience in high-tech GTM motions (Sales, Channel, Customer Success) preferred.