MSC Industrial Direct

Program Manager, Workforce Pathways & Rotational Programs

MSC Industrial Direct$84K — $133K *
Business Services
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, Operations, Organizational Development, or related field.
  • 5+ years of progressive experience in HR, workforce planning, or related roles.
  • 3+ years of experience leading programs or cross-functional initiatives.
  • Ability to design and execute structured programs with governance and performance metrics.
  • Strong understanding of workforce planning and talent pipeline management.
  • Excellent analytical, written, and verbal communication skills.
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel and PowerPoint.

Responsibilities

  • Own the design and implementation of workforce planning and talent mobility programs.
  • Lead an 18-month rotational program for frontline associates.
  • Develop career pathways aligning skills and business needs.
  • Build skills assessment frameworks and define learning objectives.
  • Collaborate across departments to strategize talent and staffing needs.
  • Establish governance for program selection, expectations, and standards.
  • Utilize workforce data to identify talent gaps and program effectiveness.

Benefits

  • Flexible remote work options for candidates beyond 50 miles of MSC locations.
  • Opportunity for professional growth through program leadership and development.
  • Engagement with cross-functional teams for holistic workplace integration.
  • Participation in special projects to diversify work experiences.
Full Job Description
Requisition ID :21441

Employment Type :Full Time

Job Category :Human Resources

Work Location : Davidson, NC (CSC)

*This role can be REMOTE if not within 50 miles of an MSC location

BRIEF POSITION SUMMARY:
The Program Manager, Workforce Pathways and Rotational Programs is an HR leadership role responsible for designing, implementing, and continuously improving enterprise workforce planning and talent mobility programs that prepare frontline associates for future customer-facing, solutions, service, operations, and leadership opportunities. This role owns the structure, governance, and execution of rotational career pathways, including an 18-month progression from frontline associate to Solutions Service Specialist and then to Onsite Associate. The Program Manager partners across Human Resources, Learning and Development, Field Services, Sales, Operations, Finance, and business leaders to align talent pipelines, skills assessments, development plans, and placement decisions with MSC's future workforce needs. This role strengthens associate engagement, improves retention, reduces time-to-productivity, and builds a sustainable internal talent pipeline for critical roles across the enterprise.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• Owns the design, implementation, governance, and continuous improvement of enterprise workforce planning and talent mobility programs.
• Leads the 18-month rotational program for frontline associates, progressing from an initial frontline associate role to Solutions Service Specialist and culminating in an Onsite Associate role.
• Develops additional rotational programs and career pathways that align associate skills, interests, and readiness with future business needs across field, sales, operations, service, and customer-facing functions.
• Builds and maintains skills assessment frameworks, readiness criteria, learning objectives, and milestone reviews for each rotation and talent program.
• Partners with Learning and Development to align curriculum, MSC University resources, mentoring, coaching, and on-the-job experiences to defined program competencies.
• Collaborates with Field Services, Vending, Onsite Services, Sales, Operations, Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, and Finance leaders to define program capacity, cohort size, placement strategy, staffing impacts, and long-term workforce demand.
• Establishes program governance, including cohort selection criteria, participant expectations, manager responsibilities, mentor support, milestone reviews, completion standards, and post-program placement processes.
• Uses workforce data, attrition trends, staffing forecasts, skills inventories, and business growth plans to identify current and future talent gaps.
• Develops dashboards, reporting, and executive updates that measure program effectiveness, associate readiness, retention, internal mobility, time-to-productivity, and business impact.
• Facilitates cross-functional calibration discussions to match associate capability, performance, potential, and interests with future talent opportunities.
• Supports change management and communication plans that promote program adoption, associate understanding, leader engagement, and consistent execution across teams.
• Partners with managers to address participant performance, development gaps, readiness concerns, and transition planning throughout each rotation.
• Ensures program documentation, standard operating procedures, role expectations, assessment tools, and learning plans are maintained and consistently applied.
• Identifies process improvements that reduce talent pipeline friction, improve associate experience, and strengthen MSC's ability to fill critical roles from within.
• Fosters the MSC culture in the department and throughout the company to ensure fulfillment of MSC's vision and unity of purpose.
• Participates in special projects and performs additional duties as required.
QUALIFICATIONS
What You Need:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, Operations, Organizational Development, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience required.
• Minimum of five years of progressive experience in Human Resources, workforce planning, talent development, program management, operations, organizational development, or a related environment required.
• Minimum of three years of experience leading programs, projects, initiatives, or cross-functional workstreams required.
• Demonstrated ability to design and execute structured programs, including governance, milestones, metrics, stakeholder alignment, and continuous improvement.
• Strong understanding of workforce planning, staffing models, skills development, associate readiness, internal mobility, and talent pipeline management.
• Ability to develop skills assessments, learning objectives, readiness criteria, and career pathing frameworks.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret workforce, performance, retention, and program effectiveness data.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present program updates and recommendations to leaders.
• Strong collaboration and influencing skills with the ability to partner across Human Resources, Learning and Development, Talent Acquisition, Field Services, Sales, Finance, Operations, and other business functions.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment while managing multiple priorities.
Bonus Points If You Have:
• Experience designing or managing rotational programs, career pathways, early career programs, mentoring programs, or talent mobility initiatives.
• Experience in Field Services, Vending, Onsite Services, Sales Operations, Human Resources, talent development, workforce planning, or industrial distribution.
• Experience using learning management, workforce management, CRM, HRIS, or talent analytics platforms.
• Background in change management, organizational development, continuous improvement, or process design.
Other Requirements:
• Position may require up to 20% travel to support program rotations, onsite experiences, leader calibration meetings, cohort events, and business partner engagement.
• Ability to work across multiple time zones and support associates and leaders in distributed work environments.

Compensation starting at $84800 - $133320 depending on candidate location and experience.

The salary range represented is based on similar roles in comparable industries, and the cost of labor in respective cities. Actual compensation is based on the candidate's relevant experience, education requirements and peer pay equity. The Company reserves the right to modify the range as market conditions change.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa for this position at this time.

This job posting will remain open for a minimum of 3 business days from the original posting date or longer as needed to fill the position.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. is a leading North American distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services. We help our customers drive greater productivity, profitability, and growth with more than 1.7 million products, inventory management and other supply chain solutions, and deep expertise from over 75 years of working with customers across industries.
Learn more about MSC Industrial Direct
Size
6,571 employees
Market Cap
$4.6 billion
Industry
Net Income
$224.1 million
Founded
1941
5 Year Trend
+5%
Revenue
$3.1 billion
NASDAQ

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