Location: Santa Clara, CA (4 days onsite Monday-Thursday)
Compensation: $200,000-$220,000 OTE
Role Summary We are seeking a hands-on, strategic Director of Learning & Development to architect and lead our company's first comprehensive learning program. This is a foundational role for an experienced L&D professional who is just as comfortable designing curricula and managing LMS data as they are setting strategic vision with the Executive team.
You will be responsible for defining our learning culture, building out scalable development paths, and ensuring our talent grows in alignment with our business goals. As the leader of this function, you will manage one direct report initially, with the potential to scale the team as the program matures.
Key Responsibilities Strategic Leadership & Partnership - Executive Alignment: Partner closely with Executive Staff to identify organizational skill gaps and align L&D initiatives with company strategy and growth objectives.
- Program Vision: Develop the roadmap for the company's L&D function, establishing the tools, processes, and philosophies that will define how our employees learn and grow.
- Advocacy: Champion a culture of continuous learning across the organization, ensuring buy-in from leadership and active participation from employees.
Program Design & Execution - Content Creation: Design and develop engaging training content, learning paths, and curriculum for various levels-from onboarding to leadership development.
- Hands-on Delivery: Facilitate training sessions (in-person or virtual) and serve as a subject matter expert for key developmental programs.
- Learning Infrastructure: Select, implement, and manage the Learning Management System (LMS) or learning platforms to deliver content and track progress.
Analytics & Optimization - Data-Driven Reporting: Establish KPIs to measure the effectiveness of training programs. Track completion rates, engagement, and ROI.
- Executive Reporting: Regularly present data-backed insights, impact reports, and future recommendations to the Executive team to demonstrate the value of L&D initiatives.
- Continuous Improvement: Collect employee feedback to iterate on existing content and ensure learning materials remain relevant and impactful.
Team Leadership - Mentorship: Provide guidance and career development to your direct report.
- Scalability: Develop processes that allow the L&D function to scale efficiently as the company grows, preparing for future team expansion.
Qualifications - Experience: 7+ years of experience in Learning & Development, Organizational Development, or Talent Management, with at least 2 years in a leadership or senior managerial capacity.
- Hands-on Proficiency: Proven ability to build content from scratch (e.g., using Articulate, Captivate, Canva, or similar tools) and manage technical learning platforms (LMS/LXP).
- Strategic Agility: Experience working directly with C-suite or senior executives to turn business problems into learning solutions.
- Communication: Exceptional interpersonal and presentation skills; ability to influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
- Analytical Mindset: Demonstrated experience using data to measure training impact and present clear, actionable findings to leadership.
- Growth Mindset: An "executor" mentality-someone who is comfortable getting their hands dirty, building infrastructure from the ground up, and navigating ambiguity.
