Description

Lead Instructor
UH Integrative Health and Well-being Coaching Certificate Program

(Part-Time Contractual Appointment; Approximately 15 to 20hrs/month)

Reports To
Director, UH Integrative Health and Well-being Coaching Certificate Program
Primary Role
Curriculum leadership, primary instruction, faculty coordination, mentoring, and assessment
Required Credential
National Board Certified-Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC)
 

Position Summary

The Lead Instructor serves as the principal instructional leader for the UH Integrative Health and Well-being Coaching Certificate (UH IHWC) Program and collaborates closely with the Program Director to develop, maintain, and deliver a high-quality health and well-being coach training curriculum. The Lead Instructor is the program’s primary instructor and provides continuity across modules, faculty, and student learning experiences. The position also serves as the primary liaison between program faculty and the Program Director, supporting clear communication, coordinated instruction, and consistent application of UH IHWC program and National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) expectations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with the Program Director on the planning, development, review, revision, and delivery of the health coach training curriculum.
• Serve as the primary instructor for the program, including leading key synchronous learning experiences, intensive training sessions, and other instructional sessions as assigned.
• Develop and prepare instructional materials, presentations, learning activities, demonstrations, recordings, handouts, and other curriculum resources to support effective asynchronous and synchronous course delivery.
• Support ongoing curriculum review and updates within the learning management system, including alignment of course content, learning activities, assessments, and instructional materials.
• Execute the approved program timeline and help ensure a smooth transition for students from week to week and module to module, with regular communication about expectations, upcoming learning activities, and key milestones.
• Serve as liaison between program faculty and the Program Director by communicating instructional needs, coordinating faculty participation, promoting consistency among instructors, and escalating issues requiring program-level attention.
• Participate in faculty planning, orientation, training, and debriefing meetings and contribute to the preparation and development of faculty for assigned instructional and mentoring roles.
• Model a professional, ethical, inclusive, and student-centered health and well-being coaching practice consistent with the program’s curriculum and NBHWC standards.
• Respond to or help coordinate responses to student questions about curriculum, course expectations, coaching skills practice, and instructional activities.

Mentoring, Skills Practice, and Assessment

• Serve, as assigned, as a Coach Training Assistant (CTA) during synchronous sessions by facilitating small-group discussions and skills practice and by participating in pre-session preparation and post-session debriefing.
• Serve, as assigned, as a Supervisory Mentor by observing student coaching practice, supporting structured practice activities, and providing timely oral feedback to students.
• Provide one-on-one mentoring in which student coaching recordings are reviewed and competency-based feedback is provided to support the development of coaching skills.
• Review and score Practical Skills Assessments (PSAs) and other assigned skills demonstrations using approved program rubrics; provide required documentation and submit results by established deadlines.
• Help promote consistency among faculty in mentoring, feedback, assessment, and the application of program standards.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Current National Board Certified-Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) credential; credential must be maintained throughout the appointment.
• Demonstrated knowledge of health and well-being coaching principles, competencies, professional ethics, scope of practice, and behavior-change approaches.
• Demonstrated ability to teach and facilitate adult learners in an engaging, collaborative learning environment.
• Experience providing coaching feedback, mentoring, supervision, or assessment.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, facilitation, and written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate with the Program Director and a multidisciplinary faculty team and to provide instructional leadership while operating within established program policies and curriculum.
• Ability to meet established deadlines for instruction, grading, assessment, communication, and administration.

Preferred Qualifications
Preference will be given to applicants whose education, professional preparation, and teaching/coaching experience meet several applicable NBHWC faculty qualification requirements. Strong preference will be given to candidates who possess:

• A master’s degree or higher in health, wellness, behavioral health, public health, healthcare, counseling, psychology, social work, nursing, nutrition, exercise science, or another closely related field; OR
• A bachelor’s degree plus a current state license or national registration/credential in a nationally recognized health- or wellness-related profession.
• Prior teaching, faculty, curriculum development, or instructional leadership experience in an NBHWC-approved health and wellness coach training program or a comparable professional training program.
• Experience with curriculum mapping, competency-based education, learning management systems, online instruction, and instructional materials development.
• Experience coordinating or mentoring faculty and ensuring consistency across multiple instructors.
• Experience assessing coaching performance using structured skills rubrics or practical assessments.

Leadership and Collaboration Expectations

• Maintain a collaborative working relationship with the Program Director, recognizing that curriculum development and delivery are conducted under the Program Director's approval and oversight.
• Promote a unified instructional approach across faculty while fostering faculty expertise, professional dialogue, and continuous improvement.
• Communicate concerns, instructional needs, student issues, and recommend curriculum improvements to the Program Director promptly.
• Support the implementation of program policies, timelines, faculty assignments, and quality-assurance processes.
• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries and confidentiality with respect to students, faculty, program operations, and assessment information.

Appointment and Work Expectations

The Lead Instructor position is a part-time contractual appointment with an anticipated workload of approximately 15–20 hours per month. This is not an hourly position, and compensation is not calculated based on the actual number of hours worked in a given week or month. Rather, the Lead Instructor is compensated for fulfilling the responsibilities, services, and expectations of the position as outlined in the applicable Statement of Work (SoW).

The SoW is intended to reflect, as closely as reasonably possible, the anticipated scope of work for each cohort or appointment period, including teaching assignments, synchronous instruction, planning, faculty development, mentoring, assessment, curriculum development, key dates, deliverables, and overall compensation. Because the nature and timing of instructional responsibilities may vary throughout the program, actual time devoted to these activities may fluctuate from month to month.

In addition to specifically identified teaching assignments and deliverables, the Lead Instructor is expected to perform the normal and customary duties reasonably associated with the position and necessary for the effective delivery of the program. Such responsibilities are considered part of the overall contractual appointment and are included within the total compensation specified in the SoW; they do not constitute additional hourly work or automatically result in additional compensation.

The Lead Instructor is expected to complete assigned responsibilities and deliverables within approved timelines and to work collaboratively with the Program Director regarding any significant changes in scope or responsibilities. Work that represents a material expansion of the scope of the appointment or SoW should be discussed with and approved by the Program Director in advance.

The individual selected for this position is expected to begin working with the Program Director on curriculum planning and preparation as early as December 2026, allowing for an intentional transition period, and will formally assume the Lead Instructor role in June 2027.

Additional Responsibilities

•       Maintain active NBC-HWC certification and any other professional license or registration listed as part of the individual’s qualifications.
•       Complete required University and program training and administrative documentation.
•       Submit invoices, time documentation, or other required records accurately and on time, as applicable.
•       Participate in program evaluation and continuous quality-improvement activities.
•       Perform other instructional and faculty-leadership duties reasonably related to the Lead Instructor role as assigned by the Program Director.

Equal Opportunity
The University of Houston is committed to providing an educational and work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect. The University of Houston provides equal treatment and opportunity to all persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender and pregnancy), genetic information, age (over 40), disability, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity or status, gender expression, or any other legally protected status, except where such distinction is required by law.