Learning Designer Services - Next-Generation Education
Posted on: December 20, 2025 | $70 - $80 USD Per Hour
Company Name: Masterclass.com
Team: Next Generation Education / Learning Innovation
Reports To: Head of Learning Design
Division: Product & Learning | Experience Level: Senior Level
Engagement Type: Independent Contributor (1099)
Location: Remote (Work from Anywhere)
Schedule: Project-Based, Flexible Hours
Revolutionizing Career Education: About MasterClass
MasterClass has transformed how millions of people learn from the world's most accomplished creators, innovators, and leaders. With over 200 world-class instructors teaching everything from culinary arts to business strategy, from creative writing to negotiation, we've built the premier streaming platform for knowledge and inspiration.
Now, we're embarking on our most ambitious initiative yet: building a groundbreaking educational program that delivers measurable, transformative career outcomes for adult learners. This next-generation offering combines three powerful elements:
- World-Class Faculty - The same caliber of instructors who have made MasterClass synonymous with excellence
- AI-Powered Personalization - Cutting-edge artificial intelligence that adapts learning experiences to each individual's needs, pace, and goals
- Evidence-Based Learning Science - Rigorous pedagogical approaches proven to accelerate skill acquisition and retention
The mission is audacious: help adults acquire high-value career skills faster and more effectively than ever before, with demonstrable outcomes including promotions, salary increases, and expanded professional opportunities.
Important Notice: Independent Contractor Engagement
This is an independent contractor opportunity, not an employment position. MasterClass is seeking to engage experienced professionals to provide project-based learning design services as 1099 independent contractors only. As an independent contractor, you will:
- Maintain complete control over your work methods and schedule
- Operate your own business and manage your own business expenses
- Deliver specific project outcomes according to agreed timelines
- Work remotely from any location
- Invoice for services provided based on project completion or hourly work
- Be responsible for your own taxes, insurance, and benefits
This engagement offers flexibility, autonomy, and the opportunity to collaborate with MasterClass on groundbreaking educational initiatives while maintaining your independence as a business owner.
The Strategic Importance of This Contractor Role
We're seeking an exceptional Learning Designer to provide independent contractor services that will be instrumental in bringing this vision to life. This isn't about creating traditional online courses. This is about reimagining how adults learn business and career skills in the age of AI, where personalization meets pedagogy, and where compelling storytelling serves rigorous educational outcomes.
As an independent contractor, you'll deliver high-impact project work that directly shapes our educational offerings. You'll maintain autonomy over your methods while collaborating closely with our internal teams to achieve extraordinary results. Your expertise in instructional design, learning science, and curriculum development will be the foundation upon which we build transformative learning experiences.
This is an opportunity to work at the frontier of educational innovation, combining timeless principles of how humans learn with emerging technologies that make personalization possible at scale. Your contributions will directly impact how thousands of professionals advance their careers and transform their economic trajectories.
Services You Will Provide as an Independent Contractor
Learning Science Research and Synthesis
Conduct comprehensive research into best practices for accelerated adult learning. You'll work with leading academics and practitioners who are pioneering new approaches to skill acquisition. Your deliverables will synthesize cutting-edge research into actionable frameworks that inform curriculum design. This includes reviewing academic literature, analyzing successful learning programs, and identifying evidence-based techniques that drive rapid mastery of complex business skills.
Curriculum and Learning Experience Design
Design comprehensive curriculum and learning experiences that seamlessly blend three critical elements: compelling storytelling that engages learners emotionally, AI-powered personalization that adapts to individual needs, and rigorous pedagogy grounded in learning science. Your curriculum designs will make challenging material both accessible and effective, breaking down complex business concepts into learnable components while maintaining engagement throughout the learning journey.
You'll create detailed course outlines, learning objectives mapped to career outcomes, assessment strategies that measure true comprehension, practice activities that build real-world capabilities, and progression pathways that guide learners from novice to proficient. Every design decision will be informed by evidence of what works in adult learning contexts.
AI-Learning Integration and Rapid Iteration
Collaborate with MasterClass product, engineering, and content teams as an external contractor to translate learning science principles into product features and AI-powered experiences. You'll work with AI tools to rapidly prototype, test, and iterate on learning approaches. This includes designing prompts for AI tutoring systems, creating adaptive learning pathways, developing intelligent assessment mechanisms, and building feedback loops that continuously improve the learning experience.
Your expertise will help the team understand how AI can enhance learning outcomes rather than simply automate content delivery. You'll be at the forefront of exploring how generative AI, adaptive learning systems, and intelligent tutoring can work together to create truly personalized educational experiences.
Employer and Industry Needs Analysis
Conduct comprehensive interviews with employers, industry leaders, hiring managers, and successful professionals to ensure curriculum directly addresses real business needs. Your deliverables will document the specific skills, competencies, and capabilities that lead to career advancement in target domains.
This isn't about theoretical knowledge—it's about immediately applicable skills that create value in professional contexts. You'll identify the gap between what traditional education provides and what the market actually demands, then design learning experiences that bridge that gap. Your research will inform decisions about which skills to prioritize, how to sequence learning, and what constitutes mastery.
Learner Outcomes Research and Validation
Design and conduct surveys, user research studies, and outcome tracking mechanisms to validate that learners achieve measurable career outcomes. You'll develop methodologies for measuring promotions, salary increases, new job opportunities, expanded responsibilities, and other tangible indicators of career advancement.
Your work will establish baseline metrics, design research protocols, analyze data to identify what's working, and provide recommendations for improvement. This research will be critical for demonstrating program effectiveness and continuously enhancing learning outcomes.
Subject Matter Expert Collaboration
Extract and codify expertise from high-profile subject matter experts, translating their knowledge into structured learning content. This involves conducting interviews, facilitating knowledge transfer sessions, identifying key concepts and mental models, and shaping raw expertise into pedagogically sound learning materials.
You'll work with accomplished professionals and thought leaders, drawing out not just what they know but how they think, how they approach problems, and what makes them exceptional in their fields. Your ability to structure this expertise according to learning science principles will ensure learners don't just consume information but develop genuine capability.
Project Delivery and Timeline Management
As an independent contractor, you're responsible for delivering all agreed project outcomes on time and in accordance with the scope defined in your contractor agreement. This includes managing your own schedule, allocating sufficient time to deliverables, communicating proactively about progress and challenges, meeting quality standards, and adjusting your approach as needed to ensure successful outcomes.
You'll invoice for completed work according to the terms of your agreement, maintain professional documentation of your deliverables, and operate with the accountability and business discipline expected of an independent professional services provider.
Ideal Contractor Profile: Expertise and Capabilities
Deep Instructional Design and Learning Science Expertise
You bring substantial expertise in instructional design, learning science, curriculum development, or closely related fields. You understand cognitive load theory, spaced repetition, retrieval practice, deliberate practice, and other evidence-based learning principles. You've designed learning experiences that demonstrably improve learner outcomes, not just deliver content.
Your portfolio showcases curriculum and programs you've designed, with clear evidence of their effectiveness. You can articulate the pedagogical rationale behind your design decisions and explain how learning science principles inform your approach.
Passion for Business Education and Career Transformation
You have genuine passion for helping people learn business topics and advance their careers. You understand the challenges adult learners face—limited time, competing priorities, the need for immediate applicability—and you design with empathy for their circumstances. You're energized by the prospect of creating learning experiences that change people's economic trajectories.
AI Fluency and Comfort with Emerging Technologies
You're comfortable using AI as a research and synthesis accelerator. You don't just view AI as a threat to education; you see it as a powerful tool for enhancing learning outcomes through personalization, intelligent feedback, and adaptive experiences. You've experimented with AI tools, understand their capabilities and limitations, and can envision how they might transform educational experiences.
User Research and Stakeholder Interview Experience
You have proven experience conducting user research, designing and administering surveys, and conducting stakeholder interviews. You know how to ask questions that uncover true needs rather than surface-level preferences. You can synthesize qualitative and quantitative data into actionable insights that inform design decisions.
Ability to Thrive in Ambiguity and Move Quickly
You excel at working at high speed with incomplete information. You're comfortable making decisions with 70% of the data rather than waiting for perfect clarity. You iterate quickly, test assumptions, gather feedback, and adjust course based on learning. You understand that in innovation contexts, speed of learning matters more than initial perfection.
You don't get paralyzed by ambiguity; you find it energizing. You're comfortable with projects that evolve, priorities that shift, and requirements that crystallize through the process of exploration and testing.
Entrepreneurial Mindset and Professional Business Operations
As an independent contractor, you operate with an entrepreneurial mindset. You manage your own business effectively, including client communications, project scoping, timeline management, invoicing, and professional documentation. You take ownership of outcomes, communicate proactively about progress and challenges, and deliver on your commitments.
Our Working Philosophy and Culture
We need independent contractors who can provide services in fast-paced, high-impact situations where the stakes are high and the opportunity is enormous. Here are the principles that guide how we work:
Speed Over Perfection
We move quickly because the opportunity to transform career education won't wait. We value rapid iteration and learning over exhaustive planning. This doesn't mean sacrificing quality—it means finding the fastest path to quality through testing and refinement rather than extensive upfront design.
Assume Great Intent
We work with talented people who care deeply about creating exceptional learning experiences. When things don't go as planned or communication is imperfect, we assume great intent and focus on solving problems together rather than assigning blame.
Speak Up When You're Stuck
If you encounter obstacles, have concerns about direction, or need support to deliver your best work, say it early and clearly. We value contractors who communicate proactively and help us identify and address issues before they become problems. There's no judgment for raising concerns—only appreciation for helping the team succeed.
Collaboration Within Independence
While you maintain independence as a contractor with control over your methods, you'll collaborate closely with internal MasterClass teams. This includes product managers, engineers, content creators, and other learning designers. Your ability to work effectively across organizational boundaries while maintaining your independent status is essential.
Compensation and Payment Terms
Hourly Rate: $70-$80 per hour
The rate listed reflects our location-based compensation strategy for NYC/CA/WA markets. As a company, we have a location-based approach, which means the disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for geographic differentials associated with other locations. MasterClass's rates are based on paying competitively for our company size and industry.
Payment Structure: As an independent contractor, you will invoice MasterClass for services provided based on hours worked or project milestones completed, as specified in your independent contractor agreement. Payment terms and invoicing procedures will be outlined in your agreement.
Tax Responsibility: As a 1099 contractor, you are responsible for all applicable federal, state, and local taxes, including self-employment taxes. MasterClass does not withhold taxes from contractor payments.
No Employee Benefits: This engagement does not include health insurance, paid time off, retirement benefits, or other employee benefits. You are responsible for securing your own insurance and benefits as an independent business owner.
Why Provide Services to MasterClass
Work on Cutting-Edge Educational Innovation
Be part of building something genuinely new in education—a program that combines world-class content, AI personalization, and rigorous learning science to deliver career transformation at scale. Your work will be at the frontier of what's possible in adult learning.
Flexibility and Autonomy
Enjoy the flexibility of independent contractor status. Work from anywhere, manage your own schedule, control your methods, and maintain the autonomy that comes with running your own professional services business.
Collaborate with Exceptional Talent
Work alongside product leaders, engineers, content creators, and educators who are deeply committed to transforming how people learn. You'll engage with world-class subject matter experts and contribute to a mission that impacts millions of lives.
Meaningful Impact
Your designs will directly influence career outcomes for thousands of learners—promotions earned, salaries increased, new opportunities unlocked. It's hard to find more meaningful work than helping people transform their economic trajectories through education.
Competitive Compensation
Earn competitive hourly rates for your expertise while maintaining the flexibility and tax advantages of independent contractor status.
How to Engage with MasterClass
If you're an experienced learning designer with the expertise, passion, and entrepreneurial mindset to help us build the next generation of career education, we want to hear from you.
Ready to design transformative learning experiences that change careers and lives? Submit your information to engage with MasterClass as an Independent Contractor Learning Designer and help us revolutionize how adults acquire high-value career skills.
MasterClass is headquartered in San Francisco, California. This independent contractor opportunity is fully remote and open to qualified professionals anywhere.
Note: This opportunity is for independent contractor engagement only. MasterClass is not offering employment. Contractors must operate as independent business entities, maintain control over work methods, and provide services according to the terms specified in independent contractor agreements.
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