Lead Academic Learning Specialist - School of Medicine

Why Work at BYU   

As the flagship higher education institution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young University (BYU) strives to be among the exceptional universities in the world. At BYU, we are devoted to our faith and to our students. We take an active role in the University's Mission: "To assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life.” 

Our unique mission, deeply rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, provides countless ways to serve and make an impact. This, along with our remarkable culture of belonging, weekly devotionals, and endless opportunities for learning and growth—all situated within a beautiful and historic campus—make it an inspiring place to work. 

Brigham Young University strongly prefers to hire faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must hold and be worth to hold a current temple recommend.

**The last day to submit an application for this position is August 20, 2026, by 11:59pm MST. **

Lead Academic Learning Specialist - School of Medicine

Provides advanced academic counseling, learning strategy instruction, early alert follow-up, board preparation support, and structured academic improvement support for medical students in the BYU School of Medicine, while also serving as the functional lead for the academic learning specialist team. This role leads learning specialist calibration, develops academic support workflows, provides complex case consultation, supports quality improvement for academic learning services, and serves as an operational liaison for accommodation implementation workflows with the University Accessibility Center. This position supports student progress while maintaining appropriate boundaries from formal assessment, academic standing decisions, and accommodation determinations.

A successful candidate will be highly organized, proactive, adaptable, anticipate needs, and contribute to a culture of collaboration and spiritual enrichment. This role will play an important part in supporting and fostering a spiritually enriching environment where employees and students can deepen their testimonies of Jesus Christ while preparing students for a lifetime of service as Christ-centered physicians. 
 

This position is critical to the success of the BYU School of Medicine, a newly established organization within the university. As the school continues to launch and grow, a successful candidate must demonstrate adaptability and a willingness to take on evolving responsibilities and assignments to support its effective implementation and ongoing operations.

What you’ll do in this position:

​Academic Counseling and Student Support

• Provide one-on-one academic counseling to medical students across all phases of the curriculum, including students with complex academic learning needs.
• Assess student learning approaches, study systems, time management, retrieval practice, test-taking strategies, note-taking, clinical learning habits, and self-regulated learning behaviors.
• Develop individualized academic success plans using student performance data, student self-assessment, and established support templates.
• Respond to early alert referrals and conduct timely outreach to students identified through academic performance trends, course or clerkship concerns, board readiness concerns, or student self-referral.
• Support students in academic improvement plans, remediation support activities, and follow-up meetings as directed by the Office of Student Progress (OSP) workflows or Student Progress Committee follow-up plans.
• Assist students with NBME and USMLE preparation strategies, including study planning, resource selection, self-assessment use, readiness milestones, and adjustment of study schedules.
• Refer students to tutoring, career advising, accessibility services, Office of Student Experience and Wellbeing (OSEW), or other support resources when indicated.

​Academic Support Leadership, Calibration, and Complex Case Consultation

• Serve as the senior academic learning specialist for the OSP learning support team, providing day-to-day academic support guidance to Academic Learning Specialists with Director-approved protocols.
• Lead calibration of academic learning specialists to promote consistent academic counseling methods, documentation practices, referral boundaries, and follow-up expectations.
• Provide consultation on complex academic support cases, including students with repeated academic difficulty, board readiness concerns, remediation needs, return-to-study challenges, or overlapping support needs.

​Academic Enhancement Program Development

• Develop and direct academic support workshops, group sessions, learning strategy programming, and board preparation programming under the operational leadership of the Director of Academic Learning and Progress.
• Create student-facing resources related to study strategies, time management, exam preparation, clinical learning, feedback use, board readiness, and academic resilience under the direction of the Director of Academic Learning & Progress.
• Lead implementation of structured board preparation resources, readiness milestones, study plan templates, and escalation workflows for students at risk.
• Utilize and present data to inform student support decisions.
• Maintain documentation standards consistent with FERPA, institutional policy, and OSP workflows.

Accessibility, Accommodation Implementation, and NBME Accommodation Navigation

• Serve as OSP’s operational liaison to the University Accessibility Center for accommodation implementation workflows while respecting UAC authority for formal accommodation determinations.
• Support implementation of approved accommodations in coordination with courses, clerkships, testing services, clinical sites, assessment leadership, and appropriate institutional partners.
• Help students understand and navigate NBME accommodation processes, including timeliness, documentation expectations, and coordination with appropriate institutional offices.
• Identify recurring accommodation implementation barriers and escalate process concerns to the Director of Academic Learning and Progress.
• Maintain appropriate documentation boundaries related to disability, accommodation implementation, academic support, and student progress records.

Collaboration, Quality Improvement, and Administrative Responsibilities

• Collaborate with course directors, clerkship directors, faculty, assessment leaders, OSP colleagues, OSEW, and institutional partners to support students and improve academic support systems.
• Contribute to academic support quality improvement by reviewing utilization, outcome, timeliness, equity, student satisfaction, and learning support effectiveness data.
• Recommend improvements to academic support workflows, board preparation programming, tutoring referral processes, and documentations standards
• Serve as a resource to faculty and staff regarding adult learning, learning science, academic performance strategies, and student support referral pathways.
• Remain current in medical education, learning science, academic coaching, remediation, accessibility implementation, and board preparation best practices.
• Contribute to School of Medicine committee service and academic enrichment initiatives as assigned.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.
• Develop and maintain standard templates and workflows for academic counseling plans, individualized study plans, academic improvement plans, remediation support, escalation pathways, and referral pathways.
• Train Academic Learning Specialists on evidence-based academic advising approaches, learning science, academic support documentation, board preparation support, and student support boundaries.

What qualifies you for this role:

Required

• A firm commitment to the mission of BYU.
• Master’s degree in education, psychology, counseling, health sciences, or related field AND 4 years of experience in academic counseling, student success services, academic coaching, student learning development, or health professions education.
• 8 years of directly related professional experience in higher education, academic support, student learning development, or medical/health professions education.
• Advanced knowledge of adult learning theory, learning science, evidence-based learning strategies, and self-regulated learning.
• Familiarity with standardized medical examinations such as the MCAT, NBME, and USMLE and related preparation approaches.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to analyze academic performance data and translate findings into individualized and system-level support plans.
• Skill in academic coaching, complex-case consultation, training, facilitation, team calibration, and workflow development.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, work independently and collaboratively in a complex academic environment, and identify system-level barriers and quality-improvement opportunities.
• Commitment to student-centered, standards-based, mission-aligned support.

Preferred

• Experience working with medical or other health professions learners.
• Experience leading academic support teams, training staff, or coordinating learning specialist calibration.
• Experience with academic remediation, structured board-preparation programming and readiness milestones, accessibility implementation workflows, or student progress support systems.
• Experience with academic counseling documentation systems, student support dashboards, or CQI reporting.
• Experience working with diverse student populations and learners in academic difficulty.
• Certificate or training in academic coaching, learning assistance, student success, accessibility support, or a related area.

What we offer in return:

In addition to our competitive pay structure, this position comes with fantastic benefits, including:

• 401k. BYU automatically contributes 8% at no cost to you. Additionally, if you contribute 5%, BYU adds an additional 4% (Rehires may qualify for different retirement plans)
• Excellent work-life balance: 13 paid holidays + 22 days paid vacation + 12 sick days, accrued annually
• Employee assistance program, available to the employee and all members of their household
• Tuition benefits for employees and eligible family members
• Access to athletic facilities
• Excellent medical/dental benefits
• Short/long-term disability benefits
• Paid parental and maternity leave
• Wellness Program
• Free on-campus parking
• Free UTA passes for employees, spouses, and qualified dependents
• Discounts at the BYU Store and for many events at BYU

Pay Grade: 53

Typical Starting Pay: $73,000 - $95,000

The actual compensation offered will take into consideration internal equity and may vary based on the candidate’s job-related experience, knowledge, skills, and other relevant factors. Candidates with very significant work-related experience may receive an offer higher than the posted typical range.

Required Documents:

All Staff positions require a resume.

Refer to the Job Posting for any additional required documents.

Brigham Young University is an equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veteran status.

Brigham Young University (BYU) is widely recognized not just for its world-class education, but for its deep commitment to inspired religious values. Gathered together in a Christ-centered atmosphere, BYU employees are a vital part of a community of belonging, where we value the experiences, perspectives, and talents of each individual. If you share in our devotion to faith and to excellence, we have a place for you here at BYU!