Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Learning and Development Program Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Learning and Development (L&D) Program Manager designs, implements, and scales learning initiatives that accelerate employee development, close skill gaps, and drive business results. This role owns program strategy, curriculum design, vendor relationships, learning technology administration, measurement and continuous improvement across instructor-led, virtual, and eLearning channels. The ideal candidate blends instructional design expertise with program and stakeholder management experience to deliver measurable learning outcomes and a world-class learner experience.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Learning & Development Specialist / Training Specialist
Instructional Designer / eLearning Designer
HR Generalist with training responsibilities

Advancement To:

Senior L&D Manager / Learning & Development Lead
Director of Learning & Development / Head of Talent Development
VP of People / Chief Learning Officer (CLO)

Lateral Moves:

Talent Management / Succession Planning
Organizational Development (OD)
People Operations / HR Business Partner with L&D focus

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the end-to-end design, development, and delivery of leadership development programs, technical upskilling, onboarding curricula, and role-based learning paths that align to organizational strategy and competency frameworks.
Develop and execute a multi-year L&D strategy and roadmap that prioritizes high-impact programs, defines success metrics, and sequences initiatives for scalable global roll-out.
Partner with business leaders and HR stakeholders to conduct needs analysis, identify skill gaps, and translate talent priorities into measurable learning objectives and curricula.
Own program management for large-scale learning initiatives, including timelines, cross-functional resources, budget forecasting, risk mitigation, and executive communication.
Lead instructional design efforts using adult learning principles (ADDIE, Bloom’s taxonomy) to create blended learning solutions—combining ILT, VILT, microlearning, and interactive eLearning.
Build and manage relationships with external vendors, executive coaches, and content providers; negotiate contracts, oversee vendor SLAs, and ensure consistent delivery quality.
Administer and optimize the Learning Management System (LMS) and learning technologies (SCORM/xAPI, LMS reporting, single sign-on, integrations) to ensure smooth learner experience and data integrity.
Design and implement evaluation frameworks (Kirkpatrick/Phillips) and learning analytics to measure program effectiveness, assess ROI, and inform continuous improvement.
Create learning journeys and competency models that link training outcomes to performance metrics, promotion readiness, and career-pathing.
Deliver high-quality facilitation and train-the-trainer programs; coach internal trainers and subject matter experts to scale delivery while maintaining instructional rigor.
Manage program budgets, track spend against outcomes, and optimize resource allocation to maximize impact and cost-efficiency.
Develop and implement onboarding and new hire training strategies that accelerate time-to-productivity and improve first 90/120 day outcomes.
Drive inclusion of DE&I principles into learning design and content; ensure programs are accessible, culturally relevant, and equitable for global audiences.
Lead pilot programs, test new modalities (AR/VR, simulations, gamification), gather feedback, and scale successful approaches across the organization.
Maintain content governance, version control, and compliance training alignment with legal, regulatory, and organizational standards.
Create executive-level reporting and dashboards to inform stakeholders about participation, engagement, completion rates, competency growth, and business impact.
Coordinate cross-functional working groups with People Analytics, Talent Acquisition, HRBP, and Product/Engineering to integrate learning into talent processes.
Oversee certification, credentialing, and internal accreditation programs tied to role proficiency and career advancement.
Champion a continuous learning culture by designing campaigns, communication plans, and incentive programs that drive adoption and learner engagement.
Provide coaching and mentorship to junior L&D staff, instructional designers, and program coordinators; establish professional development plans and succession for the L&D function.
Monitor industry trends, emerging learning technologies, and best practices to keep programs innovative and competitive.
Ensure data privacy, accessibility standards (WCAG) and security compliance in all digital learning assets and vendor agreements.
Manage the operational lifecycle of learning content—scheduling, enrollment management, feedback loops, and content retirement.
Facilitate cross-functional change management efforts tied to learning initiatives to ensure adoption and sustained behavior change.
Lead continual content refresh cycles to keep training aligned with product changes, policy updates, and evolving skill requirements.

Secondary Functions

Conduct ad-hoc learning analytics and exploratory data analysis to answer business questions on skill gaps, engagement, and program effectiveness.
Support integration projects between LMS, HRIS, and performance management systems to ensure seamless data flows and single source of truth for talent metrics.
Coordinate with IT and security teams to manage learning platform upgrades, single sign-on, and role-based access controls.
Serve as a subject matter resource for compliance and mandatory training, ensuring accurate reporting, audit-readiness, and certification tracking.
Contribute to the L&D team’s strategic planning and annual operating plan, including sprint planning for agile content development cycles.
Assist in designing learning marketing and internal communications to improve enrollment and completion rates.
Maintain an inventory of learning assets, track usage trends, and recommend consolidation or retirement of obsolete courses.
Support pilot deployments of new learning technology and collect qualitative and quantitative feedback for product selection.
Act as a liaison to external academic partners for credentialing, tuition assistance, and co-branded programs.
Provide escalation support for learner issues, accessibility inquiries, and resolution of training logistics.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Learning Management Systems (LMS) administration and configuration (e.g., Cornerstone, Workday Learning, SuccessFactors, Docebo, Moodle).
Instructional design methodologies (ADDIE, SAM) and adult learning theory application.
eLearning authoring tools (Articulate Storyline, Rise, Adobe Captivate, Lectora).
Learning analytics and measurement (Kirkpatrick Levels, xAPI, SCORM, data visualization in Tableau/Power BI).
Program and project management (MS Project, Asana, Jira, Agile/Scrum fundamentals).
Virtual instructor-led training (VILT) design and platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex) with best practices for engagement.
Content localization and multi-language program delivery for global audiences.
Budgeting and financial management for training initiatives, vendor contracting and procurement.
Change management frameworks and experience aligning learning to organizational transformation (Prosci desirable).
Performance management integration and competency modeling.
Familiarity with HRIS integrations (Workday, SAP SuccessFactors) and single sign-on (SSO) setup.
Experience deploying microlearning, mobile learning, and blended learning modalities.

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills with senior leaders and cross-functional teams.
Exceptional written and verbal communication; ability to craft clear learning objectives and executive summaries.
Strategic thinking and ability to translate business goals into learning solutions that produce measurable impact.
Facilitation and presentation skills with confidence delivering to small groups and executive audiences.
Coaching and mentoring mindset to develop internal trainers and learners.
Empathy and learner-centric design approach to create engaging and accessible experiences.
Problem-solving orientation and ability to prioritize competing initiatives with agility.
Collaboration and relationship-building across HR, business units, and external vendors.
Attention to detail with high standards for content quality and governance.
Adaptability and comfort working in fast-paced, matrixed, and remote/hybrid environments.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Education, Instructional Design, Business Administration, Psychology, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Organizational Development, Adult Education, Human Resources, Instructional Design, or MBA.
Professional certifications such as CPLP (ATD), SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP, Prosci, PMP, or related L&D credentials.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Human Resources / Talent Development
Instructional Design / Adult Learning
Organizational Psychology / Organizational Development
Business Administration / Leadership Development

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10 years in learning & development, instructional design, or training program management with increasing responsibility.

Preferred: 7+ years of experience managing enterprise learning programs, demonstrable success in leadership development or technical skilling at scale, proven LMS administration experience, and experience managing vendors and program budgets.