What roles exist in corporate edtech?

The landscape of corporate education technology is vast, encompassing much more than just the creation of digital learning content. It is a complex ecosystem where pedagogy meets product development, sales strategy, and data analytics. Understanding the roles within this sector reveals a dynamic career path for individuals ranging from seasoned educators to software engineers and marketing specialists. The sheer variety of job titles reflects the multidisciplinary nature of building and delivering effective learning solutions at scale. ^[1][3]

# Product Teams

Roles centered on what is being built and why constitute a major part of any EdTech company structure. These positions bridge the gap between market needs, pedagogical soundness, and technical feasibility. ^[1]

# Managers Defined

The Product Manager (PM) is a central figure, often described as the CEO of the product. ^[1] In EdTech, this role frequently evolves into a Learning Product Manager. ^[1] Their responsibility involves defining the product vision, managing the roadmap, prioritizing features, and ensuring the product meets user needs and business goals. They must deeply understand the target market, whether it is K-12 institutions, higher education, or corporate training departments. ^[3]

A critical distinction in EdTech PM roles is the integration of learning science. Unlike a PM in, say, a pure productivity software company, the EdTech PM must constantly weigh technical requirements against known effective learning principles. ^[1]

# Design Specialists

The design spectrum in EdTech is highly granular, often creating confusion around job titles. At its simplest, a creator might be an Instructional Designer (ID). ^[3][7] However, this field has seen significant evolution and specialization. Many companies now look for Learning Experience Designers (LXD). ^[1][3] While both create learning experiences, the LXD title often suggests a deeper focus on the user's end-to-end interaction, incorporating more UX/UI principles than a traditional ID who might focus more narrowly on content structure and assessment design. ^[1]

Other related roles include Learning Designer ^[1] and Content Developer. ^[3] Furthermore, individuals transitioning from teaching often find excellent fits as Curriculum Specialists, ^[3] focusing on mapping content to specific standards or learning outcomes. The title Content Creator also exists, generally focusing on the assembly and presentation of existing material rather than the full instructional strategy. ^[3]

A key point to observe in tracking career progression is the subtle differentiation between these "designer" titles. A company using the title "Learning Experience Designer" is often signaling a commitment to modern, user-centered design methodologies, potentially moving away from older, more linear models of content delivery. This distinction in naming can indicate the maturity of the organization’s learning science integration.

# User Focus

To ensure the product actually works for learners and administrators, specialized roles focus entirely on the user perspective. User Researchers are vital for gathering qualitative and quantitative data on how people interact with the learning platform, informing design and product decisions. ^[1] UX Designers work directly on the interface and interaction design to make the learning experience intuitive and engaging. ^[1]

# Content and Pedagogy

Beyond the software or platform itself, the actual stuff people learn from requires dedicated professionals. This is where the educator background often shines brightest, although the work environment is decidedly corporate. ^[7]

# Subject Matter Expertise

The Subject Matter Expert (SME) is fundamental. These individuals provide the deep, accurate content knowledge that forms the basis of the learning modules. ^[3] In an EdTech setting, SMEs must often partner closely with Instructional Designers to translate their deep knowledge into bite-sized, teachable components suitable for the digital medium. ^[3]

# Content Leadership

For larger products, there is a need for oversight and creation at scale. The Director of Learning or Chief Learning Officer (CLO) represents the highest level of pedagogical strategy, setting the vision for how the company approaches learning efficacy across its entire product suite. They ensure that the content creation engine runs effectively and aligns with the business strategy.

# Technology and Engineering

Like any software company, EdTech relies on a strong technical backbone, although their tools are often tailored for educational workflows, such as integrating with Learning Management Systems (LMS) or handling complex progress tracking. ^[1]

# Core Development

Software Engineers build and maintain the platform, whether it’s the front-end interface learners see or the back-end infrastructure managing data and user accounts. ^[1] These roles require standard software development skills, but familiarity with educational standards (like LTI, xAPI) is a significant asset. ^[1]

# Data and Quality

The efficacy of EdTech is increasingly tied to data, leading to specialized technical roles:

• Data Scientists analyze learning patterns, engagement metrics, and outcomes to provide insights into what works and what doesn't. ^[1] They might help determine if a new feature actually improves test scores or completion rates. A modern evolution of this role is the Learning Data Scientist, explicitly focused on deriving actionable insights from educational usage data. ^[9]
• Quality Assurance (QA) professionals test the product rigorously to ensure reliability, especially focusing on tricky areas like assessment logic, progress saving, and cross-device compatibility—areas where failure directly impacts the learning experience. ^[1]

# Go To Market Roles

A great product is useless if nobody knows about it or knows how to use it correctly. This necessitates strong sales, marketing, and support functions that understand the unique buying cycle of educational institutions or corporate L&D departments. ^[3]

# Customer Engagement

Customer Success Managers (CSMs) are essential for retaining clients and ensuring they achieve their desired outcomes with the product. ^[3][7] In K-12 or Higher Ed EdTech, this often involves deep relationships with district administrators or university department heads. A variant seen in some organizations is the Teacher Success Manager, whose focus is specifically on ensuring that the end-users (teachers) are proficient and satisfied. ^[7]

Implementation Specialists or Implementation Consultants handle the initial setup, data migration, and initial training for new clients. ^[3][7] This is a project management-heavy role that requires technical aptitude mixed with strong client communication skills. ^[7]

# Sales and Marketing

Roles in Sales and Marketing require understanding the specific pain points of educators or corporate training managers, which differs significantly from general B2B sales. ^[3] A marketer needs to speak credibly about pedagogical improvements, while a salesperson must navigate procurement cycles that are often tied to academic calendars or annual budget approvals. ^[3]

# Educator Transitions

A significant portion of the corporate EdTech workforce comprises former educators, given their inherent expertise in learning science and classroom application. ^[7] Several roles cater directly to this background:

• Learning Technologist: This role often serves as a bridge between the classroom/end-user needs and the technical/product teams. They might consult on integrating new tools into existing learning management systems.
• EdTech Specialist: A general title often involving consulting, training, and internal advocacy for the product's educational value. ^[7]
• Education Consultant: These roles often involve high-level advisory work for clients, helping them structure their learning strategy around the EdTech product.

One insight stemming from observing this transition is that the success of a former teacher in a corporate setting often hinges on their willingness to shift from delivering content (the classroom model) to designing systems that allow others to deliver content effectively (the corporate model). ^[1][7] This requires a mental pivot from direct instruction to scalable influence.

# Evolving and Specialized Positions

The industry is not static; new roles appear to address emerging needs, particularly in areas like impact measurement and advanced learning science application. ^[9]

# Architectural Roles

The move toward more sophisticated learning ecosystems necessitates higher-level design roles. The Learning Architect steps above the standard Instructional Designer, focusing on the macro-level structure of entire learning programs or product lines, ensuring coherence across multiple courses or modules. ^[9]

# Impact Measurement

As accountability increases, so does the demand for dedicated roles focused on proving value. The Director of Learning Impact exists specifically to design the metrics, gather the data, and report on the measurable success (or failure) of the learning intervention, often partnering heavily with Data Scientists. ^[9]

# Advanced Technical Expertise

Learning Technologists are also listed as a specific role, sometimes overlapping with implementation but often focusing more on staying abreast of technological standards and innovations that can be integrated into the product suite, such as VR/AR applications or advanced AI tutoring systems.

Here is a comparison of where some key non-technical roles typically sit within the organizational structure and their primary deliverable:

Role	Primary Function	Typical Department	Key Collaborators
Product Manager	Define What and Why	Product	Design, Engineering, Sales
Learning Experience Designer	Design How content is learned	Content/Product	PM, SME
Customer Success Manager	Ensure client Adoption & Retention	Customer Success	Sales, Support
User Researcher	Validate Usage patterns	Product/UX	Design, PM
Implementation Specialist	Manage Onboarding	Professional Services	CSM, Support

^[1][3][7]

An interesting analytical angle appears when examining roles like the Implementation Consultant and the Teacher Success Manager. ^[7] While both deal with client-facing support, the Consultant's focus is transactional—getting the initial setup right—whereas the Success Manager’s focus is relational and long-term, aiming for continuous value realization. Companies that confuse these roles often face early client churn because the short-term technical setup is handled, but ongoing pedagogical coaching is neglected.

The diversity of these positions shows that corporate EdTech jobs are not singular; they represent a spectrum of skill demands. A Learning Product Manager needs a foundational understanding of pedagogy, which might be 20% of their job, while a Curriculum Specialist might spend 90% of their time on pedagogical structure but only 10% interacting with software code. ^[1][3] The ability to articulate which of these areas you excel in—the design, the delivery, the technology, or the business outcome—is key to positioning oneself within the sector. ^[3][7]

For instance, an organization building an AI-driven tutoring platform will have an extremely heavy demand for Data Scientists and Software Engineers who specialize in machine learning applied to human learning patterns, whereas a company focused on selling standardized digital textbooks might prioritize Curriculum Specialists and Sales staff. ^[1][9] The necessary mix of expertise shifts dramatically based on the core technological innovation being offered. ^[9]

The field also encompasses standard corporate roles like Finance, HR, and Legal, but these are heavily informed by the unique regulatory and fiscal environments of education, meaning candidates with specific experience in K-12 procurement or university budgeting often have an advantage even in non-instructional roles. ^[7]

# Corporate Scope

The roles discussed span different scales of organizational presence. On one end, there are roles explicitly focused on building a product, like the Product Manager or Software Engineer. ^[1] On the other end are roles focused on the consumption of that product, often residing in the Professional Services or Customer Success departments. ^[3][7] Then there are strategic roles, such as the CLO or Director of Learning Impact, which look across all current and future products to measure and guide the company’s overall educational mission. ^[9]

The existence of dedicated roles like Learning Architect and Director of Learning Impact signals a maturation of the EdTech industry. Early-stage companies often had the Product Manager and the Instructional Designer covering these bases inefficiently. Now, as the sector matures, there is a clear need to separate the building of the learning path (Architecture) from the proving of the learning path (Impact measurement). ^[9] This structural separation is a marker of a company moving from rapid feature development to sustainable, demonstrable learning outcomes, which is what enterprise clients increasingly demand.

The sheer number of titles that can map back to a former teacher—from Implementation Consultant to Content Developer to Teacher Success Manager—highlights the immense value placed on frontline experience in corporate EdTech. ^[7] Companies recognize that a teacher understands pacing, frustration points, and motivational triggers in a way that someone hired solely for their coding or sales skills cannot easily replicate. ^[7] The challenge, as mentioned before, remains translating that classroom experience into scalable corporate process. ^[3]