InfoComm International is looking for its first director of training, but officials have ruled out at least one candidate who would be a perfect fit for the job. It seems he’s too busy spending time with lions, monkeys and elephants in Africa these days to think about applying.

When Randal Lemke came to InfoComm 17 years ago from college administration to ramp up the association’s education efforts, he helped to launch their online academy and also was behind the creation of the CTS certification program.

So, now that Lemke is retired from his position as executive director and CEO (although his legacy lives on with the new training room name), maybe he’d be interested in the new position the organization is looking to fill, director of training?

On second thought, maybe not, as Lemke is putting his retirement to good use in the early stages, according to director of public and government relations Betsy Jaffe, on safari in Africa with his wife.

“He knew this position was being created and he had a smile on his face knowing the education team was growing, but I think he’s pretty happy in retirement and he’s not looking to work right now,” Jaffe says with a laugh.

With my totally hypothetical quest to land Lemke a new gig out of the way, InfoComm director of education Amanda Beckner says she hopes to have the organization’s first director of training in place by the end of the first quarter of this year.

The decision to create the position was “driven by need,” says Beckner, pointing to the increased number of courses offered through InfoComm University that make the logistics a bit more time-consuming than they once were.

The director of training will supervises four staff instructors, manage contractors and volunteer instructors of InfoComm curriculum, manage instructor scheduling, contract training and virtual classroom training, provide support for customers using the Learning Management System (LMS), analyze performance metrics and set goals based on student evaluation data, and teach InfoComm courses as needed.

The ideal candidate would have at least 10 years of classroom/virtual classroom teaching experience, at least five years of supervisory experience planning, assigning, and directing work, appraising performance, rewarding and disciplining employees, addressing complaints and resolving problem, and experience managing remote employees, mastery of student-centered instructional techniques, and experience teaching technical or certification prep courses.

Those with CTS-D or CTS-I designations are preferred, as they will be requirements of the job at some point after being hired anyway. Travel from the Fairfax, Va. headquarters is a big part of the job, with up to 40 percent of the time spent on the road.

Let me know who you think would be a good fit for the job. With the focus on training and education at InfoComm these days, this will be a critical hire for them.

About the author

D. Craig MacCormack

Craig MacCormack is a veteran journalist with more than 15 years experience covering local and national news and sports as well as architecture and engineering. He joined Commercial Integrator in January 2011. Follow him on Twitter: @CraigMacCormack.

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