Program Director, External Training Programs

At ACT, Your Work Makes a Difference

Education has power - a power that changes lives forever. It creates opportunities that lift up individuals, their families, and sparks societal change that echoes through generations to come. From our grassroots we have fought the good fight for inclusivity in education, and we remain devoted to helping anyone who struggles to access that power. This is what matters to us and we must do better -- we've never been more sure of our purpose.

ACT team members are part of an organization dedicated to a mission that has never been more important: Helping people achieve education and workplace success. Advancing that mission within our organization, by helping our team members achieve education and workplace success of their own, is core to our values. ACT values a diverse workplace and is committed to fostering an inclusive environment in which every team member has an equal opportunity to grow.

We want our team members to have the well-being and confidence they need to do their best work, in an environment where both they and ACT thrive. To support this, our total rewards include company paid life insurance, medical, dental, vision, flexible health and dependent spending accounts, 401(k) retirement savings with company match, paid holidays, paid time off, and so much more. You can find a comprehensive list of our benefits here.

The Program Director, External Training Programs leads the strategy, design, and execution of our test coordinator training program to ensure that the external coordinators and staff are fully prepared to successfully deliver ACT assessments. This person will be an expert at synthesizing customer feedback with business requirements that ensure confidence and preparation in the delivery of our suite of high-stakes exams.

The finalist will be hired at the salary and level commensurate with their qualifications. ACT manages salaries within this range based on relevant factors, including skills, experience, and internal equity. We anticipate offering an annual salary between $95,000 to $115,000. The position is incentive eligible.

Location: This is a remote position, based in the United States.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for visa sponsorship.

What you will be working on:

The Program Director, External Training Programs is responsible for designing, delivering, and managing large-scale, nationwide test administrators training program.

Strategy and Alignment:

• 
  

  Define the organization's training and learning vision and strategy aligned with business goals, the product roadmap and customer needs.

  
  
• 
  

  Prioritize training investments based on impact and ROI.

  
  
• 
  

  Determine the best learning solutions delivery methods based on end-user needs and scalability.

  
  
• 
  

  Understand and implement new technologies such as automation and AI to accelerate learning and positive outcomes.

  
  

Program Oversight:

• 
  

  Oversee design, delivery, and evaluation of external training programs.

  
  

• 
  

  Partner with Product to align training experiences with customer journey maps.

  
  

• 
  

  Attend customer events to seek feedback and to share training information.

  
  

• 
  

  Ensure learning solutions are scalable, trackable, consistent, and high-quality.

  
  

• 
  

  Adapt training to external stakeholders to continuously improve usability.

  
  

• 
  

  Manage training budgets and resources.

  
  

• 
  

  Oversee learning technologies (LMS, analytics tools).

  
  

People and Team Leadership:

• 
  

  Lead and develop training staff, instructional designers, facilitators, and vendors.

  
  

• 
  

  Set clear expectations, performance metrics, and development paths for direct reports.

  
  

• 
  

  Coach the team toward industry-leading learning practices.

  
  

Stakeholder Partnership:

• 
  

  Work with external partners, customers, product managers, and business units to diagnose performance gaps.

  
  

• 
  

  Act as a trusted advisor on workforce capability and readiness.

  
  

• 
  

  Influence leaders to support and model continuous learning.

  
  

Measurement and Impact:

• 
  

  Establish metrics and dashboards to evaluate learning effectiveness and customer impact (behavior change, performance improvement, ROI).

  
  

• 
  

  Use data to refine programs and justify investments.

  
  

• 
  

  Report on outcomes to executive leadership.

  
  

Role Progression:

• 
  

  3- month mark: Articulate a clear vision for an external L&D program. Enhance ACT's product road map.

  
  

• 
  

  6-month mark: Vision in action, systems in use, programs running with measurable engagement.

  
  

• 
  

  12-month mark: Demonstrated outcomes tied to the product roadmap and improved coordinator performance.

  
  

This could be the job for you if you have (minimum requirements):

• 
  

  7+ years of proven experience in large-scale training delivery and strategy, program management, and team leadership.

  
  

• 
  

  Demonstrated experience leading the standing up an LMS platform (selection, implementation and management).

  
  

• 
  

  Experience using AI, modern technologies and other automated solutions to deliver trainings at scale and with efficacy.

  
  

• 
  

  Experience and demonstrated success leading, managing, and building teams of training professionals.

  
  

• 
  

  Strong self-starter with builder mindset; comfortable with ambiguity and forging new paths.

  
  

• 
  

  Strong analytical skills with ability to measure and report ROI.

  
  

• 
  

  Excellent communication, stakeholder management skills and strong customer orientation in designing learning with end-user experience in mind.

  
  

• 
  

  Willing to take on administrative work and direct training.

  
  

• 
  

  Solid knowledge of and ability to apply learning technologies and modern instructional design practices.

  
  

• 
  

  Ability to travel up to 25% to engage with customers on training, improvements and other feedback.

  
  

• 
  

  Bachelor's degree in Instructional Design, Education, Human Resources, Business or a related field of study, or an equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired.

  
  

It's a plus if you have:

• 
  

  Master's degree.

  
  

• 
  

  Experience with test administration, education assessment industries.

  
  

• 
  

  Experience supporting an organization in transformation.

  
  

About ACT

When ACT was founded in 1959, it disrupted the assessment industry with a new approach to helping students better understand their readiness so they could take steps to improve it. By leveraging our expertise and authority in assessment and research, we will again disrupt the industry-helping more people learn, better measure their progress, and improve their navigation through life's transitions.

More than ever before, ACT is fulfilling its mission of helping people achieve education and workplace success. We're doing it by pushing the boundaries of learning innovation through the work of our people, who we call team members because we're all in this together.

We know transformation does not come without challenge. That's why ACT invests in a variety of experiences for team members to strengthen their connections, explore ideas, learn from customers, and celebrate success.

Learn more about working at ACT at act.org!

ACT is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. ACT participates in E-verify. ACT's online position announcements are intended only to provide general descriptions of employment opportunities; none of the information provided for any position should be interpreted as a commitment by ACT to specific terms and conditions for employment.

Completion of the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate is recommended. Find a testing site near you to register for the WorkKeys assessments. Finalists for this position will be subject to a criminal background check as a condition of employment.

**If you have received an ACT employment-related communication from an email address that is not affiliated with @act.org and/or that requests personal or financial information, please do not reply. Instead, reach out to us at careers@act.org with the details. ACT's recruitment team appreciates your interest in working with us to transform college and career readiness pathways for all learners and wishes you the best of luck in your career journey.**