Learning and Development Manager

At Heifer International, to deliver on our mission to end hunger and poverty by partnering with entrepreneurs around the world, we must have the right teams in place to support the communities in which we work alongside. To do that, we must bring in people from all backgrounds that align and add to our values and bring in the skills necessary to achieve our ambitious goals.   We are seeking a hands-on and equity-focused Learning and Development Manager (LDM) who will be responsible for the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs that facilitate the continuous learning of Heifer International staff across our global organization of approximately 900 staff.

Learning and growth has been named as of the top areas our staff desires more opportunity and resources, and you will play the key role to help Heifer unlock the potential and expertise of our people and continue to shift our organization culture to possess a learning mindset.  Our organization has many layers, and as LDM, you will be responsible for managing global training by partnering with subject-matter experts, managers and executive management and identifying appropriate methodologies to deliver training. You will design and implement a wide range of professional development and training topics and determine the best delivery based on adult learning principles and accessibility.  You will also ensure that our staff are aware of our full range of development opportunities through deliberate communication strategies. To ensure our learning effectiveness, you will also be leading the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of training programs to continue to iterate and innovate.

As LDM, in partnership with your colleagues in the wider the People department you will also support and inform new staff onboarding, DEI training/programming, collaborate on workforce planning initiatives and skills gap analyses, and the creation of our employee value proposition. You will be instrumental in creating a leadership development program which will tie to a robust performance evaluation process and engagement of Heifer staff.

You will sit on the Talent Management team, a subteam of the larger People department that encompasses Talent Acquisition, Talent Development, and Learning and Development, and report to the Global Director, Talent Management.  As a member of the People department, you will help ensure all Heifer International staff have equitable access to learning and training opportunities, along with the tools and resources needed to perform their roles productively and efficiently.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

Training and Curriculum Development

• Lead Heifer’s curriculum development strategy to support the current and future needs for professional development of global staff
• Work closely with subject matter experts to understand the specialized training needs
• Define curriculum development projects and strategies that balance short and long-term goals
• Design and develop self-paced, online training, including on-demand videos and webinars; Liaise with external vendors to enhance the learning curriculum – determining offerings and methods of delivery.
• Publish courses and classes (in house and third party), register students and communicate to staff globally about new course offerings
• Deploy a “train the trainer” strategy to create a larger cohort of staff to onboard/train colleagues
• Work with subject matter experts, voiceover talent, video production, and graphic sources to produce draft and final versions of each course
• Design engaging training materials for a variety of inclusive delivery methods, including instructor-led, computer-based, web-based, and mobile training with accessibility in mind
• Assist in production of graphics, animations, audio importing & editing
• Partner with internal communications team to create and deploy communications strategies to ensure knowledge of learning opportunities and compliance efforts
• Manage external consultant and coach pool and connect with internal leaders and staff

Learning Management System

• Manage all of Heifer’s learning technology platforms (currently Peoplefluent)
• Partner with HR systems team to manage all system configurations ensuring compliance with all internal and external requirements
• Creates and manages user structures including the creation of learning programs and user groups
• Create and maintain the Knowledge Base articles and video postings
• Document all system processes for administration of the systems, user maintenance and content management
• Train and support learners on how to use the technology for professional development
• Troubleshoot learning platform and/or course issues
• Run data analytic reports for all learning platforms

Learning, Performance Consulting and Coaching

• Continuous learning and understanding of adult learning strategies and training techniques.

• Facilitates sessions to drive change, learning, and organization effectiveness solutions

• Conduct research on best practices and performs analysis to recommend solutions that impact the business

• Serve as a coach for both individuals and teams to support learning and growth

• Through regular check-ins and the annual performance evaluation cycle, collaborate with other members of the People/HR team to uncover skills gaps and create short- and long-term solutions to address the gaps.

• Ensure staff understands opportunities available within the organization for professional advancement.

Project Management

• Manage all system upgrades and changes across Heifer’s learning platforms
• Manages complex learning-related initiatives as a business partner with internal customers
• Lead, monitor and report on the progress of projects, ensuring the accuracy of status reports and associated metrics.
• Balances workload in a dynamic environment, while working on multiple projects simultaneously.

WHO YOU ARE:

You are someone who is a life-long learner simply energized by this work.  As someone who will consistently be working across different teams, you LOVE collaborating and bouncing ideas off of teammates to be creative and consider a diverse set of needs, hopes, and desires while leading with your expertise.  You are also a strong project planner and able to set a strong and clear course forward, but you’re also agile and can change course in response to changing needs as well.  You’re comfortable leading and facilitating small and large groups, both via Zoom or MS Teams or at an in-person retreat.

In addition you have many of the following:

• Proven experience creating curricular content based on adult learning principles and instructional design

• Roughly 5-7 years of experience of coordination and direct provision of staff learning/training; training experience within the INGO/nonprofit sector a plus

• Prior experience managing LMS systems and contributing to functionality improvement

• Project management skills, including demonstrated ability to coordinate multiple and/or multi-phased initiatives and to operate at both strategic and tactical levels

• Relationship building skills and proven ability to collaborate with staff who are not direct reports

• Engaging approach to public speaking, including facilitation and role-playing skills, with ability to communicate using accessible language

• Verbal and written communication skills, including visual presentation skills (i.e., use of PowerPoint or other programs to create and present content)

• Topical knowledge of the following topics strongly preferred: inclusive management principles, active listening, remote working, team collaboration, conflict resolution; practices and techniques within INGO or economic development setting;

• English language fluency; Spanish speaking ability a plus

• Ability to travel domestically and globally for team retreats

Good to know:

• You’ll be entering into a role that has not existed for some time at Heifer, and as a result you will need to play a big part in defining your work and how the work is understood by the organization
• You’d be a team of one dedicated solely to L&D – you will have the support of your Talent Management and People team colleagues, but you will hold the majority of this work.

WHAT WE OFFER: 
 
The salary range for this position is $80,000 - $100,000.

Heifer International offers a variety of benefits for U.S. based employees working 30 or more hours per week.

• Health and wellness benefits including Flexible Spending Account and/or Health Saving Account
• Employee assistance program
• 403(b) retirement plan (match 1% employee to 2% employer up to a maximum of 4% match + 3% employer discretionary contribution regardless of employee contribution)
• 22 vacation days in addition to 12 statutory and discretionary holidays, and 10 sick days per year
• Employer-paid life insurance and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D)
• Professional development and annual merit increase opportunities
• Optional critical illness insurance, legal assistance plan and pet protection