EMEIA Learning & Development Lead

Overview

Imagine a place where groundbreaking innovation meets a commitment to excellence, where every idea contributes to shaping industries and inspiring the world. Our client is a globally recognized leader known for its dedication to creating exceptional experiences and fostering a culture where diverse perspectives drive unparalleled achievements. They believe in the power of people and ideas to build wonder and redefine what’s possible.

We are seeking a visionary and action-oriented leader to join a pivotal team, focusing on Learning & Development Strategy & Operations within a dynamic international region. This is an incredible opportunity to make a profound impact, shaping the future of capability-building and employee experience across diverse markets. You will be at the forefront of transforming how teams learn, grow, and thrive, directly influencing performance, culture, and strategic expansion in a fast-paced environment.

As a key strategic and operational leader, you will embark on a comprehensive discovery journey to understand the current learning landscape across a significant international region. Collaborating closely with senior leadership, people teams, and operational managers, you will delve into the employee experience, identify opportunities for enhancement, and dismantle barriers to growth. This role demands both strategic foresight and hands-on execution, involving on-the-ground observation, insightful analysis, the development of robust frameworks, and the creation of scalable toolkits and processes for varied markets. You will play a crucial role in supporting strategic market expansions, enhancing readiness for new operational launches, and optimizing leadership development and training alignment across diverse geographies. Your work will directly influence the success and growth of teams, leaving a lasting legacy on how talent develops and excels within the organization.

This is a 12 months contract, with hybrid working pattern. This role is open for a limited time. Next steps will be shared with shortlisted candidates ASAP. Due to the high volume of applicants, we may be unable to reply to each applicant individually.

**Primary Duties:**

* Conduct in-depth investigative work to map the existing learning and development ecosystem across a large international region.
* Develop a comprehensive learning and development strategy and multi-year roadmap for customer-facing operations in this region.
* Introduce streamlined processes, guiding principles, and scalable toolkits to enhance the speed and quality of program delivery.
* Review resource allocation and competence requirements to ensure optimal team performance.
* Collaborate with operational training teams to connect learning outcomes directly to measurable business impact.
* Develop an improved leadership onboarding approach tailored to the international region, partnering with global learning teams and key stakeholders.
* Support the design and implementation of critical training programs through the upcoming fiscal years.
* Partner with regional stakeholders to identify learning and training needs for strategic market expansions.
* Support training observation and readiness assessments in expanding markets.
* Enhance and standardize operational playbooks based on insights from recent launches.
* Capture best practices and build scalable rollout templates for future operational openings.
* Build strong partnerships and facilitate alignment conversations and feedback loops across markets and functions.
* Communicate findings through compelling storytelling and executive-ready materials.
* Ensure coherence between learning initiatives, communications, and expansion efforts throughout the region.

**Must-Have Qualifications:**

* Extensive experience in customer-facing industries or comparable consumer-facing sectors, particularly in fast-growing emerging markets.
* Strong track record in learning & development, capability-building, education, employee engagement, or field leadership.
* Proven experience with new operational launch processes and expansion-readiness workflows.
* Demonstrated ability to navigate and influence effectively within highly matrixed organizational structures.
* Skilled at diagnosing complex organizational challenges and formulating actionable strategies.
* Operationally strong: capable of remaining calm, structured, and effective in fast-moving, high-stakes environments.
* High cultural fluency, with the ability to understand, connect with, and effectively navigate different cultures to design meaningful, locally relevant learning experiences.
* Exceptional communication, facilitation, synthesis, and storytelling capabilities.

**Nice-to-Have Qualifications:**

* Experience working across multiple diverse markets within a large international region.
* Understanding of frontline learning needs and how to scale learning effectively in multi-site and remote environments.
* Experience with design thinking methodologies, capability frameworks, onboarding design, or learning measurement.
* Understanding of dynamic customer-facing culture, leadership behaviors, and operational rhythms.
* A genuine passion for building capability in others and elevating the overall employee experience.