Learning Design Manager

At Crisis Text Line, we believe that every person in crisis deserves to be heard, understood, and supported. Our mission is carried forward by people who lead with empathy, integrity, and a deep sense of responsibility to one another and the communities we serve.

Volunteers are central to Crisis Text Line's mission, providing empathetic, real-time support to people in their moments of need. Our Community & Education team equips volunteers with the training, guidance, and ongoing learning opportunities they need to provide exceptional support while growing personally and professionally.

If you’re driven by purpose, passionate about creating meaningful learning and engagement experiences, and inspired to lead work that empowers volunteers and sustains their growth and connection, this is the role for you.

Role

The Learning Design Manager leads the Learning Design function within the Community & Education team, setting direction and driving alignment between volunteer training strategy and organizational priorities. As the people manager for this function, the role is accountable for ensuring learning solutions are high-impact, scalable, and grounded in measurable outcomes.

The Learning Design Manager builds and leads a high-performing team to create innovative, evidence-informed training experiences that strengthen volunteer capability, confidence, and readiness to serve. Through thoughtful design and continuous improvement, this role plays a critical part in advancing the quality, consistency, and impact of volunteer learning across the organization.

As the Learning Design Manager, you will:

• Provide strategic leadership to align learning and engagement initiatives with organizational goals, ensuring volunteer training drives meaningful impact.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team of Program Leads, setting clear expectations, fostering growth, and driving overall team performance.
• Oversee program operations and impact measurement, ensuring learning solutions scale effectively across the full volunteer lifecycle.
• Bring expertise and a strong perspective in customer engagement, community education, or volunteer learning programs to inform innovative and effective approaches.

Minimum Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in learning design, instructional design, or education program development.
• 2+ years of people management experience, leading designers or content specialists.
• Proven ability to design and scale training programs aligned to defined competencies and learner outcomes.
• Strong point of view on learning strategy, instructional quality, and learner experience.
• Experience prioritizing work and aligning learning solutions to organizational goals and impact measures.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous environments and evolving existing programs or systems.
• Experience partnering cross-functionally with Learning Engagement, Community, Clinical/SMEs, Operations, or Product.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in nonprofit, healthcare, mental health, or volunteer-based organizations.
• Familiarity with LMS platforms, learning tools, or digital learning ecosystems.
• Background in customer education, enablement, or community education.
• Experience supporting distributed or volunteer learner populations.

Reliable High-Speed Internet Required: Must have a stable high-speed internet connection to support seamless remote collaboration, virtual meetings, online job tasks, etc.

For United States-based candidates: 

The full salary range for this position, across all United States geographies, is $79,464 to $97,650. The upper portion of the salary range is typically reserved for existing employees who demonstrate strong performance over time. Starting salary will vary by location, qualifications, and prior experience; during the interview process, candidates will learn the starting salary range applicable for their location. We pay competitively in the tech-forward nonprofit space and offer a robust benefits package.

Benefits & Well-Being

Crisis Text Line recognizes that we are all unique human beings with unique life circumstances, and our benefits package aims to be as flexible as possible to support your needs as you work to promote mental well-being for people, wherever they are. Our benefits package is thoughtfully designed, incorporating an equity lens and input from our team, as well as industry best practices.

Highlights include:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision options that prioritize accessibility and financial peace of mind
• Employer-funded HSA contributions
• Generous PTO, sick time, and 19 paid holidays with a winter break
• 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave after 26 consecutive weeks of service
• Monthly internet and mental health stipends
• Annual Wellness Stipend
• Home office and professional development stipends
• 403(b) retirement plan with employer contribution
• Sabbatical after 3 years of service

Benefits are for U.S.-based employees; international benefits may vary.

Within the United States, only candidates in the following states will be eligible for employment: CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, MD, MA, MI, MO, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA.

This is a remote-only position

Please note: The following eligibility applies to U.S.-based roles only.

Only candidates in the following states will be eligible for employment: CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, MD, MA, MI, NJ, NM, NY, NC, PA, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA.