Ascension is seeking an accomplished Program Manager / Lead Instructional Designer to lead the modernization of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Training Academy curriculum. This senior, dual-hatted professional will combine program-management leadership with advanced instructional-design expertise to coordinate three integrated workstreams:

1. Training consultation and program revision;
2. Development of innovative eLearning content; and
3. Training delivery support.

The selected candidate will guide the transformation of a highly technical, approximately 125-course curriculum used to prepare new patent examiners. The role requires a strategic learning leader who can establish the curriculum-modernization framework, manage an accelerated schedule, collaborate effectively with patent and legal subject-matter experts, and translate complex examination procedures into engaging, accurate, accessible, and measurable learning experiences.

The ideal candidate is an organized and decisive leader who can operate effectively in a fast-moving and sometimes ambiguous environment. The candidate must balance schedule, instructional quality, legal and technical accuracy, stakeholder expectations, accessibility, and implementation feasibility.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Program Manager / Lead Instructional Designer serves as the primary point of integration across the engagement. The position manages the program schedule, risks, dependencies, quality controls, stakeholder coordination, and delivery checkpoints while also providing senior instructional-design leadership.

The role leads the review and modernization of the Patent Training Academy’s 10-week curriculum, which currently includes approximately 125 courses and supports nearly 1,000 new patent examiners annually. The individual develops the curriculum-modernization strategy, applies adult-learning and instructional-design principles, and works with USPTO subject-matter experts to strengthen learning objectives, instructional sequencing, course activities, assessments, pedagogy, and delivery methods.

The position also provides design leadership for converting instructor-led courses into interactive, Section 508-conformant eLearning modules. This includes establishing design standards and development processes for microlearning, gamification, scenario-based learning, AI-supported learning solutions, assessments, graphics, and accessible multimedia.

This individual must understand how to manage curriculum transformation at scale without sacrificing legal, regulatory, procedural, or technical accuracy. The role will anticipate delivery barriers, resolve competing priorities, coordinate reviews and approvals, and maintain alignment among instructional designers, eLearning developers, instructors, accessibility specialists, technical personnel, and USPTO stakeholders.

Anticipated Day-to-Day Responsibilities

The Program Manager / Lead Instructional Designer will:

• Lead the overall planning, execution, monitoring, and coordination of the Patent Training Academy modernization effort.
• Develop and maintain an integrated program schedule covering curriculum review, course redesign, eLearning development, stakeholder reviews, testing, implementation, and training delivery.
• Establish a scalable curriculum-modernization framework for reviewing and revising approximately 125 courses.
• Direct the instructional-design strategy across the training consultation, eLearning development, and training delivery workstreams.
• Apply adult-learning theory, instructional systems design, and learner-centered design principles to technical, legal, regulatory, and patent-examination content.
• Assess the existing curriculum structure, course sequencing, learning objectives, instructional activities, assessments, delivery methods, and supporting technology.
• Recommend innovative approaches that improve learner engagement, knowledge retention, job-skill acquisition, and application of patent-examination procedures.
• Collaborate with USPTO patent, legal, technical, and operational subject-matter experts to confirm content accuracy and instructional relevance.
• Facilitate curriculum-design workshops, stakeholder interviews, requirements sessions, course-review meetings, and design-validation sessions.
• Translate highly technical and legally sensitive material into clear, structured, and instructionally effective learning experiences.
• Elevate course learning objectives so they are measurable, appropriately sequenced, and aligned with desired examiner competencies.
• Modernize course pedagogy, learner activities, practice exercises, assessments, feedback mechanisms, and instructional delivery methods.
• Define standards and templates for instructor-led training, virtual instruction, eLearning, microlearning, scenario-based learning, and blended learning.
• Guide the conversion of at least 25 instructor-led courses into eLearning modules within the anticipated accelerated development period.
• Establish eLearning design and development processes, including storyboarding, prototyping, SME review, accessibility testing, quality assurance, and final acceptance.
• Evaluate appropriate uses of AI for content development, scenario generation, learner personalization, assessment development, and instructional support.
• Recommend gamification techniques that increase learner motivation and retention while remaining accessible and appropriate for federal training.
• Ensure that learning materials incorporate clean visuals, effective technical writing, intuitive navigation, and Section 508 accessibility requirements.
• Recommend course schedules, classroom configurations, technology requirements, and delivery methods for USPTO headquarters and regional locations.
• Coordinate instructional designers, eLearning developers, instructors, accessibility specialists, graphic designers, and technical subject-matter experts.
• Maintain program risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, decisions, and corrective-action items.
• Monitor schedule, quality, staffing, and deliverable performance and escalate issues that could affect implementation.
• Implement quality-control checkpoints for instructional soundness, technical accuracy, consistency, accessibility, and usability.
• Review storyboards, prototypes, course materials, assessments, facilitator guides, participant materials, and completed eLearning modules.
• Oversee pilot testing, usability reviews, learner feedback, and revisions before implementation.
• Develop performance measures to evaluate learner engagement, knowledge acquisition, course effectiveness, and training outcomes.
• Prepare program briefings, status reports, recommendations, risk updates, decision papers, and executive-level presentations.
• Support instructor preparation and the consistent delivery of complex technical training in classroom and virtual environments.
• Promote continuity of training services and help prevent avoidable course cancellations or rescheduling.
• Ensure that all work complies with applicable USPTO standards, federal accessibility requirements, and approved quality-control procedures.

Tools and Processes

The selected candidate should be capable of leading or using the following tools and processes:

• Microsoft 365, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Teams;
• Project scheduling and task-management tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Jira, Asana, or comparable platforms;
• Articulate Storyline 360 and Rise 360;
• Adobe Captivate or comparable eLearning-authoring platforms;
• Learning management systems and SCORM/xAPI-compatible content packaging;
• Virtual instructor-led training platforms, particularly Microsoft Teams;
• Storyboarding, curriculum mapping, competency mapping, and course crosswalks;
• ADDIE, SAM, Agile instructional design, rapid prototyping, or comparable methodologies;
• Adult-learning, experiential-learning, scenario-based-learning, and blended-learning practices;
• AI-supported content-development and assessment processes with appropriate human review and quality controls;
• Section 508, WCAG, accessible document, multimedia, keyboard navigation, captioning, and screen-reader testing practices;
• Risk, issue, action, and decision tracking;
• Formal SME review, content validation, version control, and approval workflows;
• Quality-assurance checklists, usability testing, pilot testing, and learning-effectiveness measurement.