Simulation Specialist

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.

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Employment Type:

Job Profile:

Job Summary:

The SimLab in the Wisconsin Center for Education allows individuals to learn and develop skills in simulated environments. Simulating scenarios is an innovative approach to providing professionals and pre-professionals with the opportunity to practice learned skills in real-life scenarios. We are seeking a Simulation Specialist to puppeteer digital avatars while performing scenarios in fields such as education, nursing, medicine, and law.

Simulation Specialists are professional actors who use digital avatars to deliver a wide range of simulation scenarios to provide individual learners with opportunities to practice and master complex interpersonal skills. Simulation Specialists will have a high level of emotional intelligence, strong active listening skills, effective communication skills, the ability to portray a wide range of personality profiles, and the ability to provide a positive and impactful experience for learners.

The ideal candidate will have a background in acting and improvisation performance. This person should also be comfortable with ever-evolving technology. This role may portray avatars across various age ranges (from childhood to adult) and industries (from education to healthcare to corporate). This person will also contribute to creating and writing prompts for the AI-driven simulations.

Key Responsibilities

• Consistently deliver scenarios in an accurate, reliable, and professional manner in alignment with stated learning objectives

•  Portray a variety of perspectives using Mursion's Proprietary technology

• Facilitate reflection and debrief with diverse learner populations in alignment with stated learning objectives

• Promote and provide excellent customer service when interacting with learners, including welcoming learners, answering questions, providing information in a courteous manner across diverse learner populations

• Proactively and effectively organize and manage simulation schedule

• Collaborate in the writing of prompts for AI-driven simulations

• Attend mandatory trainings and meetings with the SimLab Director and/or team

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Develops creative ideas and/or new methods for making art within designated field

• Displays work at shows, galleries, concerts, museums, and/or online, and communicates work broadly with diverse audiences

Deliver scenarios in an accurate, reliable, and professional manner in alignment with stated learning objectives

• Pursues grants to obtain financial support for projects

• Experiments with and uses different materials (e.g., paint, film, instruments, ceramics, glass, textiles, wood, metal, and paper) and/or techniques (e.g., composition, color, space, and/or perspective) to produce desired artistic effects

• Develops portfolios highlighting artistic styles and creative processes

Support development of materials for human-in-the-loop and AI-driven simulations

Department:

School of Education / Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) Simulation Lab (SimLab)

Compensation:

Minimum: $30/HR

Commensurate with qualifications and experience. This position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax-advantaged savings accounts, and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund.

Required Qualifications:

• Strong verbal communication skills and clear diction, substantial acting or improvisational experience, mastery of an actor’s instrument: voice, body, imagination

• Experience using the Mursion platform or similar simulation technologies

• Demonstrated organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple assignments, schedules, and priorities

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team environment

• Ability to provide excellent customer service while creating a welcoming and supportive learning environment

• Ability to maintain confidentiality and professionalism while working with learners, faculty, staff, and external partners

Preferred Qualifications:

• Applicants must have room for the equipment provided for the position

• Applicants must have a quiet environment within their home to deliver simulations or be willing to work on-site

• Applicants must have the ability to connect equipment to an internet router with an ethernet cord

• Applicants must have high-speed internet

Education:

Required: H.S. Diploma

Preferred: Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Drama, Communications, or related field.

How to Apply:

Please go to the “Apply Now” area and select your current UW Employment Status.

Upload a copy of:

• Cover Letter

• Current Resume/CV

Note:

• There is one upload area in Workday, but you can upload multiple documents to your application. Incomplete application packages that do not include all of the requested documentation will not be considered.

Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e., a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment. UW-Madison is not an E-Verify employer, and therefore, is not eligible to employ F1 STEM OPT Extension participants.

Contact Information:

Jessica Tierney

SimLab Operations Manager

jtierney5@wisc.edu

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer. 

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment. 
 
The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7). 
 
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