Sr. Certification Designer, Data Center Certifications
AmazonSeattle, Washington
Full-time
Salary
$138k–$187k/ annually
Free account to apply · application completed on Amazon
Salary
$138k–$187k/ annually
Free account to apply · application completed on Amazon
Are you an accomplished certification designer ready to shape the future of data
center workforce credentialing through rigorous exam development, psychometric
excellence, and data-driven program innovation across AWS’s global Data Center
Communities?
AWS Data Center Learning’s mission is to develop the best data center workforce
on Earth. The organization is responsible for providing training, certification,
and career development pathways to all new and existing AWS data center
employees worldwide. Our team is constantly looking to optimize the experience
and provide our operations teams with a work-ready, credentialed workforce.
Our Certification team is seeking a Senior Certification Designer who moves
beyond traditional assessment design and leads collaborative job-task analysis
workshops to blueprint and build industry-leading certification programs. In
this role you will act as a credentialing strategist, psychometric practitioner,
and empathetic designer, partnering with cross-functional teams to build
certification ecosystems that span exam development, item writing, blueprint
design, credential management, and certification pathway architecture. This
position requires consistent collaboration with Senior Leaders in Data Center
Operations, Safety, Security, Logistics, Planning, Delivery, and other teams to
design and deliver valid, reliable, and defensible certification programs. You
will consult with technical subject-matter experts, apply psychometric
principles and emerging technologies, and use data-driven iteration to produce
certification experiences that drive measurable workforce capability outcomes.
We are looking for a professional who designs and delivers innovative
certification solutions at scale. The ideal candidate will have proven mastery
of exam development methodologies, job-task analysis, item writing best
practices, psychometric principles, and credentialing standards (such as ISO
17024 or equivalent). You must be able to manage multiple complex certification
projects simultaneously, mentor fellow designers, and drive the future
certification development roadmap. The ideal candidate demonstrates ownership of
outcomes, thinks big about scalable credentialing solutions, dives deep into
psychometrics and operational challenges, and maintains the highest standards
while moving fast to meet business needs.
As the Senior Certification Designer, you will represent our organization across
Data Center Communities. This entails translating organizational competency
frameworks into actionable certification strategies that balance rigor and
agility: modular, scalable exam architectures that adapt to evolving workforce
needs. Your role will require communicating at all levels of the organization,
working with senior leaders, and building relationships across global time zones
and geographies.
Key job responsibilities
- Design and manage end-to-end certification programs—from exam blueprinting and
item development through field testing, standard setting, and credential
maintenance.
- Facilitate job-task analysis workshops and apply competency-mapping principles
to create defensible certification blueprints.
- Lead item writing workshops, guiding SMEs in developing high-quality exam
items (multiple choice, scenario-based, performance-based) aligned to blueprint
domains.
- Apply psychometric techniques (classical test theory, IRT, item statistics,
standard-setting methodologies) to ensure exam validity and reliability.
- Use performance analytics and candidate feedback to iterate on exam design,
optimize item banks, and demonstrate program quality.
- Lead cross-functional certification projects in matrixed environments,
mentoring junior designers and raising credentialing standards.
- Design scalable, modular item banks and certification architectures supporting
multiple credential levels, roles, and geographies.
- Manage the full certification lifecycle and communicate strategy alignment
with senior leadership across Global Data Center Operations.
A day in the life
Your morning kicks off with a little detective work—diving into item bank
analytics and pass/fail dashboards, hunting down those sneaky underperforming
items with lousy discrimination indices or bias flags waving for attention.
Next, you'll pop into strategic meetings with senior leaders from Data Center
Operation, playing translator between "here's what's breaking in the field" and
"here's what our certification roadmap needs to fix." By mid-morning, you're
running a job-task analysis workshop with subject-matter experts—think: sticky
notes flying, task criticality debates getting spicy, and knowledge requirements
taking shape for a shiny new data center operations credential. After lunch
(fuel up, you'll need it), you're leading an item writing jam session—coaching
SMEs on crafting scenario-based questions that actually make people think,
red-penning drafts for technical accuracy, and making sure everything maps back
to those all-important blueprint weightings. Your afternoon? It's a
choose-your-own-adventure: maybe you're wrangling a standard-setting panel for
an updated cert form, geeking out over item-level psychometric reports with a
senior psychometrician or teaming up with the learning experience crew to make
sure prep resources and exam objectives are best friends. Through it all, you're
the person holding the big picture and the fine details—making sure every
certification that ships is valid, reliable, defensible, equitable, and actually
measures the stuff that matters most for the workforce.
About the team
Our mission is to develop the best Data Center workforce on Earth. The AWS Data
Center Certification team sets the trusted standard that empowers the world's
most skilled data center workforce. We create rigorous, scalable certification
programs that validate that builders within Data Center Operations demonstrate
the technical competencies needed to work safely, securely, and effectively. The
team designs credential pathways that span a builder’s entire career journey:
from foundational role-based certifications and safety credentials to advanced
operational qualifications for tenured employees. Our certifications provide
individuals with meaningful, portable credentials and provide the organization
with a verified, defensible record of workforce capability. Our work directly
underpins the safety, availability, and operational excellence of AWS’s global
data center infrastructure. Basic Qualifications: - Bachelor's degree or
equivalent in Instructional Design, Educational Technology, Technical Training,
Design, or a related field
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent, or 5+ years of with Learning & Development
and course facilitation experience
- Experience applying concepts of learning science, educational psychology, and
instructional design principles to learning solutions
- Experience developing or delivering training programs across multiple sites or
regions
- Experience working with data analytics and using these metrics to identify
problems, or experience in profee auditing, coding, and documentation
requirements
- Demonstrated mastery of job-task analysis methodologies and the ability to
facilitate SME workshops that produce defensible, competency-aligned
certification blueprints. Preferred Qualifications: - Master's degree or
equivalent in Instructional Design, Educational Technology, Technical Training,
Design, or a related field
- Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent certification
- Experience with graphic training systems, multimedia content creation, and
Learning Management Systems (LMS) administration
- Experience mentoring trainers, using data analytics for training effectiveness
measurement, and leading change management initiatives
- Professional certification in credentialing or assessment (e.g., Certified
Credentialing Specialist (CCS), Certified Assessment Designer, or equivalent).
- Master’s degree or equivalent in Educational Measurement, Psychometrics,
Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Instructional Technology, or a closely
related field.
Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis
of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.
Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our
customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or
adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the
interview or onboarding process, please visit
https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations
[https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations] for more
information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please
contact your Recruiting Partner.
The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package
will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final
compensation will be determined based on factors including experience,
qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits
including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life &
AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health
Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy
Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave.
Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits
[https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits].
USA, WA, Seattle - 138,300.00 - 187,100.00 USD annually
