Program Specialist - ELA/Humanities

As a Program Specialist, you will help shape the future of K–12 learning by designing innovative, research-informed, and classroom-relevant educational experiences. Reporting to the VP, Content & Curriculum, you will partner closely with subject-area Product Managers and cross-functional teams to create high-quality digital learning solutions for teachers and students.

This role is ideal for an experienced educator with strong subject-matter expertise, a deep understanding of the student developmental trajectories in ELA/Humanities, a passion for teaching and learning, and curiosity about how technology, including AI, can meaningfully enhance classroom experiences. You will serve as a trusted voice of the classroom, ensuring product decisions are grounded in authentic instructional practice and focused on improving student outcomes.

You will operate as both a pedagogical expert and strategic thought partner, helping translate curriculum goals, classroom realities, and market insights into engaging, effective, and scalable teaching and learning experiences.

Why This Role Matters

This is a high-impact opportunity to influence learning at scale. Your expertise will directly shape the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of educational experiences used by teachers and students every day. You will help ensure innovation in EdTech remains grounded in what matters most: real teaching, real learning, and real classroom success.

Requirements

Shape Product Vision & Instructional Design

• Partner with Product Managers during discovery and development to define product vision, learning outcomes, and instructional approaches
• Ensure alignment to curriculum standards, effective pedagogy, subject integrity, and authentic classroom application
• Apply classroom experience to guide how content is structured, delivered, and experienced
• Identify opportunities to improve learning design through innovation, including thoughtful use of emerging technologies such as AI

Lead Content Creation & Quality

• Serve as a subject-matter expert and educational advisor across a portfolio of K–12 products
• Oversee content quality, ensuring accuracy, instructional integrity, and classroom usability
• Guide content contributors, authors, and reviewers by providing feedback and maintaining high standards
• Develop content for prototypes, validation activities, and core product components as needed
• Continuously improve content using performance data, educator feedback, and market insights

Collaborate, Mentor & Build Capability

• Support onboarding and training for content creators and contributors to ensure alignment with pedagogy, product vision, and classroom best practices
• Mentor content creators and reviewers in developing high-quality instructional materials
• Help define contributor skill sets and staffing needs in collaboration with Product Managers

Bring the Voice of the Classroom to the Market

• Engage with teachers, students, and education stakeholders to validate needs and gather insights
• Participate in classroom observations, user research, conferences, and educator conversations to stay connected to evolving practice
• Support development of materials for RFPs, presentations, and go-to-market initiatives

Drive Continuous Improvement

• Analyze content effectiveness and identify opportunities to optimize, enhance, update, reuse, and scale high-performing assets
• Contribute to a continuous improvement mindset grounded in data, educator feedback, and student impact

What You Bring

• University degree; ideally a certified educator with 10+ years of K–12 classroom teaching experience
• Deep subject-matter expertise in ELA/Humanities, with strong understanding of curriculum and assessment practices
• 5+ years of experience in content development and lesson creation within K–12, EdTech, or digital learning environments
• Strong instructional design expertise and the ability to translate and interpret curriculum into engaging learning experiences
• Experience working with digital content workflows (e.g., templating, HTML-based systems, or similar tools)
• Familiarity with emerging educational technologies, including AI, and interest in their classroom applications
• Strong communication, collaboration, and mentoring skills
• Highly organized, adaptable, and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment
• Strong commitment to improving student outcomes and educator experiences
• People management experience is an asset

Benefits

Compensation

The base salary range for this position starts at $80,000 per annum based on experience. Compensation is part of our broader Total Rewards package, which includes benefits and programs that support employee well-being and growth.

What We Offer

At Nelson, we believe in taking care of our people.

Your well-being, growth, and work-life balance matter to us, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support you—professionally and personally.

Health & Wellness

• Flexible and customizable health, dental, and paramedical plans for employees and their families
• Health Spending Account (HSA) for medical, hospital, or dental costs not covered by insurance
• Personal Spending Account (PSA) for wellness expenses, including fitness and health related products
• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providing confidential support spanning from mental health services to financial counselling, and many things in-between

Financial & Professional Wellbeing

• Pension plan with company matching contributions
• Registered Retirement Pension Plan to help secure your future
• Annual educational reimbursement for professional development
• Access to LinkedIn Learning for continuous skill growth

Flexibility & Time Off

• Hybrid work model with remote and in-office options
• Flexible work hours (divisional dependent)
• Generous paid time off policies, including vacation time, sick leave, parental leave top-up, personal days, and more
• Annual paid volunteer day to support causes you care about
• Holiday closure from Christmas to New Year’s
• Summer Fridays
  

Don’t have 100% of the above qualifications? Do you still think Nelson is a great fit for you? We encourage you to apply anyway!

Our EDI Statement

Nelson teaches the world by learning from everyone in it.

We are committed to fostering an equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplace environment. This is an integral part of our company’s culture and mission that aligns with our four key pillars of Employee Diversity, Developing Authentic and Accurate Content, Amplifying External Voices, and Supporting the Local Community and Beyond.

We believe in the power of education and our ability to impact social change. Truth, honesty, integrity, and respect guide our decisions and actions in the development of learning solutions that empower success for all educators and learners.

We value a respectful, inclusive, and safe workplace that nurtures belonging and represents many different cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, and opinions. Everyone is free to be who they are.

We foster and continue to build relationships that are equitable, diverse, and inclusive with existing and future partners in education.

We commit to holding ourselves accountable by creating measurable short and long-term goals that place equity, diversity, and inclusion at the core of what we do in our resources, the workplace, the educational community, and in the larger society.

We strive to build an inclusive world for everyone. We are stronger together.

AI and Automated Hiring Tools
Nelson uses AI support tools in our applicant tracking system to help with tasks such as summarizing points and anonymizing applications. All candidate screening, assessments, and hiring decisions are done by people.

Interview Outcome Notification
Nelson is committed to keeping candidates informed. All candidates who attend an interview for a publicly advertised role will be notified of the outcome of their candidacy. Candidates will be notified of the hiring decision no later than 45 days after the last interview.

Our Commitment
Nelson is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. As part of this commitment, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, gender, gender identity, colour, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or disability status.

Should you require any accommodation during our recruitment and selection process, please reach out to peopleandengagement@nelson.com.