A learning management systems (LMS) specialist is responsible for serving as the subject matter expert and advisor. You will be taking care of the systems on a daily basis and ensuring that they stay up to date and functioning. As such, you must be highly analytical, have strong attention to detail, and have excellent troubleshooting skills. You also need to gather input from users, subject matter experts, trainers and other systems. If you love working with systems, are passionate about learning them from front to back, and love finding problems, becoming an LMS specialist may be right for you!
Sample job description
An LMS (Learning Management System) specialist is needed for urgent hire at [Your Company Name]! An LMS specialist must work with the technology our institution uses, whether that be a high school, large corporation, or government building. You must consistently be working with the learning tools to ensure students, employees, or trainees are getting the learning tools they need to succeed. This will include adding new learning strategies and resources found, updating what you have, and deleting old, inefficient systems. You must understand the software required for not only teaching resources but surrounding areas as well, such as log-in, account verification, and most importantly have the ability to answer any questions thrown at you. To create a base for understanding, it will be your responsibility to create articles on technological support. Please apply if you are interested.
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Support operations in learning management systems, including account provisioning and access, and user permissions
- Support team members who have software-related questions or issues in the learning management system
- Regularly compile, review, and process course enrollment data for students and faculty
- Maintain professional working relationships with multiple clients and vendors
- Write articles for a technical support knowledge base
- Analyze support case data to identify and prioritize root problems
- Configure an LMS to support online, hybrid, and blended instruction
- Work directly with students to resolve technical issues
Education and experience
This position requires an associate or bachelor’s degree, preferably with either an IT or education focus. Most employers look for job candidates with at least two years of experience dealing with learning management systems.
Required skills and qualifications
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel)
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work well with others
- Outstanding analytical skills
- Solid decision-making skills
- Keen attention to detail
- Ability and willingness to work independently, with limited supervision
- Expertise in customer service
- Skilled at communicating technical information in terms understandable to non-technical end-users
- Skilled at analyzing and troubleshooting software and hardware user problems
- Experienced at training others to use specialized software
Preferred qualifications
- Common knowledge of LMS software
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- 2+ years of experience working as an LMS specialist
- Experience in technical support
Typical work environment
You will typically work in offices, schools, or other corporate buildings. Excellent verbal skills are required, as you will constantly be responding to bug reports and questions. Written communication is a key element of the job, as plenty of emails will flood your inbox. It will be the responsibility of the learning management systems specialist to analyze and troubleshoot problems, whether it be software or hardware. Because you will be the only specialist in the field, it will be expected that you have the ability to work independently of coworkers or supervisors. On top of this, you must have good decision-making skills. The vast majority of the time it will be your job to make the choice of what software to use, what tools to implement, and other technology-related decisions. As your experience grows, you can expect your wage to grow with it.
Typical hours
LMS specialists usually work regular office hours, 9 AM to 5 PM, in an office setting.
Available certifications
Certifications are not uncommon. Here are some of the most popular ones:
- LMS Certifications Ltd. This company focuses on sharpening the skills of LMS specialists, making you more valuable to your institution, school, or company. They do certification, inspection, and training. They give these services to a lot of sectors, including quality, environment, health and safety, food, information, technology, and energy.
- Spark LMS. This program allows you to flaunt your LMS skills through practical application, essays, projects, articles, and more. These certificates include personal branding including names, dates, and photos. With this system, you can also get training only for what you need because of the provided knowledge checks. This allows for more personal training, suited for what you do and do not know.
Career path
The path to becoming an LMS specialist starts with earning an associate or bachelor’s degree, preferably with either an IT or education focus. Most employers look for job candidates with at least two years of experience with learning management systems.
US, Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job outlook
SOC Code: 13-1151
| 2020 Employment | 328,700 |
| Projected Employment in 2030 | 364,200 |
| Projected 2020-2030 Percentage Shift | 11% increase |
| Projected 2020-2030 Numeric Shift | 35,500 increase |
Position trends
Employer training and development specialists should grow in many industries as they develop and introduce new media and technology into their training programs. Innovations in training methods and learning technology should continue throughout the next decade. For example, organizations increasingly use social media, visual simulations, and mobile learning in their training programs. Training and development specialists will need to modify their programs to fit a new generation of workers for whom technology is a part of daily life and work.
Because training and development contracting firms may have greater access to technical expertise to produce new training initiatives, some organizations outsource specific training efforts when internal staff or resources are not able to meet the organization’s training needs.