Learning Specialist $100,000 USD/year Pay is set based on global value, not the local market.
Most roles = hourly rate x 40 hrs x 50 weeks
Description
- $100,000 annual salary paid weekly, health/dental/vision coverage begins day one
- Full-time on-site position at one Alpha campus: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, Fort Worth, Houston (South Houston or The Woodlands), or Plano, TX; Park City (Salt Lake City), UT; or Dorado, Puerto Rico (relocation assistance available)
- 40 hours per week, 100% classroom-based work with K-2 students
You have deep expertise in structured literacy. Your training spans Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson, IMSE, or a Master's in reading instruction. You can identify a phonemic gap from a single miscue. You can build a phonics lesson from scratch without a script. That competency is baseline. It is not what distinguishes you.
What distinguishes you is that six-year-olds are excited when you enter the room. At Alpha, this role is first and foremost a Guide: a magnetic, high-energy presence children genuinely enjoy learning with. Your structured-literacy credentials open the door; your capacity to captivate a K-2 classroom during a 20-minute workshop is what secures the hire. If "magnetic, high-energy presence" does not describe you, this position is not the right fit.
Alpha has redesigned traditional instruction entirely. Students progress through academic content independently via AI-adaptive applications — no lectures, no textbooks, no district pacing calendars. Your role represents the one area where a human expert cannot be replaced. You create small-group reading workshops informed by live student performance data, and you facilitate motivation sessions that ensure 100% of students meet their weekly app targets using Alpha's motivational framework (campus currency, leaderboards, developmentally appropriate gamification).
Your initial months center on earning the trust of the classroom. Workshops must be engaging, differentiated, and demonstrably effective. Student satisfaction metrics and "love your Guide" survey results (target 90%+) measure this outcome directly. Once you establish credibility, your responsibilities expand: analyzing AI-generated performance data to refine subsequent instruction, communicating fluency growth and decoding progress to families, and influencing how Alpha's K-2 reading model develops in parallel with adaptive technology. As Alpha opens additional campuses, the systems you create will serve as the blueprint for reading instruction across the organization.
Prior to hire, you will submit a short video in which you tell an engaging story suitable for young children, and you will spend a full day on campus working directly with K-2 students. Low energy with children will disqualify you, regardless of credential strength. This is intentional. Apply today.
What you will be doing
- Creating and facilitating small-group K-2 reading workshops rooted in structured-literacy approaches (Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, LETRS, IMSE, or equivalent), informed by live student data
- Facilitating daily motivation sessions that ensure 100% of students meet their weekly adaptive-app objectives, using Alpha's motivational framework (campus currency, leaderboards, developmentally appropriate gamification)
- Conducting and evaluating running records, fluency probes, and decoding assessments to monitor growth and refine instruction for the next session
- Analyzing AI-generated performance data from Alpha's adaptive learning platforms to differentiate instruction in the moment, not only during planning phases
- Serving as the approachable, energetic adult your K-2 students are excited to see each day
What you will NOT be doing
- Implementing a commercial reading curriculum, scripted lesson plan, or district pacing calendar; you create your own lessons based on student data
- Delivering whole-class lectures; all teaching occurs in small, targeted groups while students engage with academic subjects through adaptive apps
- Serving as a reading consultant, instructional coach, or district-level specialist; you work directly with children in the classroom daily
- Managing a conventional classroom schedule — subject-by-subject instruction, homework correction, test preparation; your scheduled time is devoted to workshops, motivation sessions, and data-informed small groups
- Assigning or grading homework or issuing report cards; student progress is captured in app data and your assessment records
Key responsibilities
Provide structured-literacy instruction that produces measurable acceleration in K-2 reading outcomes, including phonics, fluency, and decoding.
Candidate requirements
- Certification in structured literacy (Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Wilson Reading System, IMSE, CERI, Neuhaus, UFLI, or equivalent) OR a Master's degree in reading instruction
- Bachelor's degree in any discipline, plus 2+ years of full-time K-2 structured reading instruction in a school or clinical environment, employing systematic phonics or structured literacy
- Proven ability to develop your own reading lessons and clearly explain what you teach and how, independent of a published program
- Willingness to work full-time in person at one Alpha campus: Phoenix, AZ; Oklahoma City or Tulsa, OK; Nashville, TN; Austin, Fort Worth, Houston (South Houston or The Woodlands), or Plano, TX; Park City (Salt Lake City), UT; or Dorado, Puerto Rico (relocation assistance available)
- Willingness to work with all K-2 students (not exclusively struggling readers) and to incorporate AI and adaptive-learning tools into everyday instruction
- Legal authorization to work in the U.S. or Puerto Rico without requiring visa sponsorship
- Bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish required for the Dorado, Puerto Rico campus
Nice to have
- Direct experience with AI-driven or adaptive reading platforms (e.g., Amira, Lexia, i-Ready, Reading Plus) for instructional planning or student data interpretation
- Documented reading outcomes (fluency gains measured in WCPM, accuracy improvements, decoding level progression) you can cite with specific numbers
- Experience in non-traditional or innovative educational settings (charter schools, micro-schools, Montessori, hybrid models)
- Experience in performance, youth sports coaching, or otherwise engaging a K-2 audience beyond the reading classroom
You will be working for
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