Ascension is seeking an accomplished Senior Instructional Designer / eLearning Developer to support the modernization of the USPTO Patent Training Academy’s extensive new-hire training curriculum.

This individual will serve as a senior, hands-on instructional design and digital-learning professional responsible for reviewing complex instructor-led courses, strengthening learning objectives and instructional activities, developing detailed storyboards, and converting selected courses into accessible and engaging computer-based training.

The ideal candidate combines the capabilities of an:

• Senior instructional designer;
• eLearning and computer-based training developer;
• Storyboard developer;
• Adult-learning consultant;
• Microlearning and gamification designer; and
• Responsible AI-enabled learning designer.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working with highly technical, legal, regulatory, or procedural material. The individual must be able to collaborate closely with USPTO subject-matter experts while translating complex content into instruction that is accurate, understandable, engaging, accessible, and scalable.

This is a production-oriented role. Ascension is seeking someone who can develop both the instructional strategy and the resulting eLearning products—not an individual whose experience is limited to providing high-level recommendations.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The USPTO Patent Training Academy prepares newly hired patent examiners to perform complex examination work. Its current program consists of approximately 125 courses delivered during a 10-week academy through lectures, small-group laboratories, practice applications, active-learning exercises, and examination time.

The Senior Instructional Designer / eLearning Developer will help reimagine this curriculum by applying modern instructional-design practices, adult-learning principles, interactive eLearning, adaptive gamification, microlearning, scenario-based learning, assessment design, and appropriate AI-enabled development methods.

A major component of the role is supporting the conversion of at least 25 instructor-led courses—each approximately one to 2.5 hours in length—into eLearning modules within an anticipated three-month production window. The broader effort also includes reviewing and helping modernize the approximately 125-course curriculum.

The contractor will work through a structured instructional-design and development process that includes:

1. Curriculum and course analysis;
2. Learning-objective refinement;
3. Content organization and instructional strategy;
4. Storyboarding and prototype development;
5. SME and stakeholder review;
6. eLearning production;
7. Accessibility and quality assurance;
8. Testing and revision; and
9. Final publication-ready delivery.

The ideal candidate is analytical, creative, organized, and highly detail-oriented. The individual must be self-directed, comfortable operating in a fast-paced or evolving environment, and capable of managing multiple course-development assignments with limited supervision. The person must anticipate design and production risks, propose practical solutions, and maintain progress through multiple SME review cycles.

Expected Day-to-Day Activities

The Senior Instructional Designer / eLearning Developer will:

• Review existing instructor-led courses, presentations, facilitator materials, exercises, assessments, and supporting documentation.
• Analyze learner needs, course content, performance objectives, instructional gaps, and opportunities for modernization.
• Evaluate the structure and instructional effectiveness of individual courses within a large, interconnected curriculum.
• Refine learning objectives so they are measurable, performance-focused, and aligned with required patent-examiner competencies.
• Recommend appropriate instructional strategies, delivery methods, course sequencing, learning environments, and supporting technologies.
• Apply adult-learning principles and recognized instructional-design methods such as ADDIE, SAM, or an equivalent iterative model.
• Collaborate with patent-examination, legal, regulatory, policy, and technical subject-matter experts to validate course accuracy.
• Translate complex legal, technical, and procedural information into clear, learner-centered instruction without changing its intended meaning.
• Develop course-design documents, content outlines, learning maps, detailed storyboards, scripts, prototypes, and production specifications.
• Convert instructor-led training into interactive, self-paced computer-based training and blended-learning products.
• Build eLearning modules using Articulate Storyline 360, Adobe Captivate, Rise 360, or comparable development platforms.
• Create realistic scenarios, decision points, simulations, branching activities, interactive exercises, and knowledge checks.
• Incorporate adaptive or appropriately structured gamification to improve learner engagement, participation, and knowledge retention.
• Design microlearning products that reinforce targeted knowledge, processes, or job skills.
• Develop formative and summative assessments aligned with course objectives and desired performance outcomes.
• Use AI-enabled capabilities responsibly to assist with ideation, scenario generation, content development, personalization, and assessment design when authorized.
• Verify all AI-assisted output for accuracy, appropriateness, bias, security, and alignment with approved source content.
• Design clean visual layouts, graphics, interactions, navigation, and on-screen instructions appropriate for technical adult learners.
• Produce Section 508-conformant learning products, including keyboard-accessible interactions, alternative text, captions, transcripts, accessible documents, and appropriate focus order.
• Coordinate scheduled content reviews, prototype demonstrations, technical reviews, and SME validation checkpoints.
• Track comments, decisions, dependencies, changes, defects, and approvals through an established review process.
• Perform instructional, functional, accessibility, editorial, and usability quality-control reviews.
• Revise course products in response to consolidated Government and SME feedback.
• Manage assigned production schedules and communicate risks that could affect the accelerated development timeline.
• Maintain organized project files, naming conventions, version control, source documentation, and approval records.
• Prepare final source files, published course packages, accessibility documentation, and supporting job aids.
• Support deployment testing within the Government-designated learning environment or learning management system.
• Recommend continuous improvements based on SME input, learner feedback, assessment performance, and quality-review findings.