How To Become A Curriculum Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a curriculum designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Dr. Richard Fuller

A curriculum designer works closely with teachers, organizations, and clients to produce and implement effective education programs for schools, offices, universities, and other organizations.

Their role is to come up with detailed, organized, and engaging web-based curriculum and learning materials based on the given objectives and time frames. They conduct research studies to develop and align a variety of digital resources with the needs of the participants, ensuring that the students and clients will have a positive learning experience.

In performing their duties, they should excel in project management, communication, technical writing, and research. Most important of all, they should be passionate about education.

Choosing to work as a curriculum designer warrants a degree in education or a related discipline, although employers prefer candidates with a master's degree. Depending on state regulations, licensure may or may not be a necessary part of the qualifications. Practical experience as educators is also a plus.

What general advice would you give to a Curriculum Designer?

Dr. Richard Fuller

Director, Ph.D. Instructional Management and Leadership, Robert Morris University

AI is growing and becoming more and more part of the lexicon of teaching and learning in all areas of prek-12, higher education, and corporate training and development. This will need to be understood on both the offensive side, which is using AI as pedagogy as well as the defensive side to combat academic integrity issues. Online teaching and learning, in both synchronous and asynchronous modalities in addition to more traditional f2f methodologies and pedagogies, will become more and more important as Universities look for more sustainable tools. Much was learned during the pandemic lock-down and this knowledge and skill are being used in a post-pandemic world. Keep an open mind to new innovations in curriculum design and different theories and methods to map, align, and develop curriculum. This ever-changing dynamic is grounded, however, in the fundamentals that were learned through your degree. Additionally, stay up on all the technology that is advancing. This is key in the C&I; and the instructional design world. Tech moves very fast and what you know today is outmoded tomorrow. C&I; must stay current and active to assist others through teaching and design. Knowing how to use tech and different software is tantamount to success as an instructional designer or teacher.

ScoreCurriculum DesignerUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $54,176

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.7

Growth Rate 7%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.75%

Asian 5.47%

Black or African American 9.76%

Hispanic or Latino 16.92%

Unknown 4.24%

White 62.86%

Gender

female 63.10%

male 36.90%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.4

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.3

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a curriculum designer

Explore curriculum designer education requirements

Most common curriculum designer degrees

Bachelor's

61.8 %

Master's

27.8 %

Associate

4.8 %

Start to develop specific curriculum designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Subject Matter Experts	8.89%
Course Content	6.55%
Project Management	6.55%
Curriculum Design	6.02%
Curriculum Development	5.98%

Complete relevant curriculum designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New curriculum designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a curriculum designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real curriculum designer resumes.

Research curriculum designer duties and responsibilities

Lead the virtualization of military training exercises and provide periods of instruction using virtual simulations.
Coach SMEs on content development, delivery techniques and facilitation skills.
Create storyboards for elearning solutions, including activities and knowledge checks.
Develop practical working solutions to address performance gaps using ADDIE model.

Prepare your curriculum designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your curriculum designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a curriculum designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Curriculum Designer Resume templates

Build a professional Curriculum Designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Curriculum Designer resume.

Apply for curriculum designer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a curriculum designer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do curriculum designers rate their job?

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Curriculum Designer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2020

Pros

My passion to help other teachers and leaders become aware how our worl is changing everyday. I am a positive agent of change and has 10+ experience with an excellent professional and education background to be a great fit for this position.

Cons

I do not like when teachers feel the tracing is repetitive and does not participate or actively engage in the activities that can address their instructional practices and strategies.