Director, Learning & Development

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title : Director, Learning & Development

Braven Team : People & Culture

Location : In person in Chicago (IL)

Employment Type : Full-time

Ideal Start Date : ASAP

About Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students followed by support that lasts through graduation.

Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Jobs Report.

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director, Learning & Development who, in partnership with the Head of People, will chart the learning and development strategy to support the general development of staff in Braven’s org-wide strategy, co-define goals, and execute programming aimed at helping Braven achieve it yearly org-wide priorities toward the 2032 ambition of reaching 25,000 fellows. The Director, Learning and Development will have a major impact creating learning experiences for staff that span a range of needs such as developing the people management and leadership skills for groups of staff, helping staff upskill their application of evolving AI and tech tools, and supporting change initiatives by providing solutions to close learning gaps. In collaboration with other members of the People and Culture team and subject matter experts across Braven (such as Systems, Regional Success, etc), you will recommend and execute strategy. As a member of the People & Culture Team, you will have a significant impact on all staff at Braven through the capacity building of people managers. Your work will have an impact on staff reporting positive experiences and support from their manager. Your ability to develop manager capacity in coaching and developing their teams will result in staff members' time at Braven being an accelerator to their professional growth.

This role is on the People & Culture Team and reports directly to the Head of People.

What You’ll Do

Program Design and Delivery (40%)

• Plan and implement the design, development, and delivery of learning programs, including asynchronous sessions staff can access in an LMS, along with in-person and virtual instructor-led training, workshops, and blended learning solutions aimed at upskilling Braven’s extraordinary staff.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive project documentation, including detailed project plans, task lists, timelines, and progress reports, to ensure transparency, accountability, and efficient project tracking across the lifecycle.
• Define critical project paths, set clear milestones, and establish delivery dates, ensuring that stakeholder deliverables meet the need.
• Support organizational development efforts by designing programs and tools that promote performance management, culture change, leadership development, and staff member engagement via people managers.
• Conduct and facilitate learning experiences, presentations, workshops, and training.
• In partnership with the Head of People and the rest of the L&D team, determine sources to meet L&D needs in alignment with Braven’s L&D philosophy which includes a build, borrow, buy, bot strategy.
• Ensure that training programs are engaging, effective, and tailored to meet the diverse needs of staff, with a focus on people managers and staff interested in developing people management experience, in all regions.
• Develop standards for quality, innovative adult learning. Support subject matter experts, such as the Regional Success team, in ensuring trainings align with standards for quality adult learning.
• Incorporate the latest learning technologies and methodologies to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of training programs.
• Serve department leaders across the organization by helping them meet functional L&D needs.
• Manage and oversee the work of contractors, ensuring products and services meet the Braven standard of learning & development.

Learning and Development Strategy (30%)

Change Management Support (20%)

Assessment and Evaluation (5%)

Budget and Resource Management (5%)

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

Preferred Qualifications :

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

Additional Requirements

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be :

Benefits

Compensation and Benefits

Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking.

New hires can expect a starting salary at the beginning of the range to allow room for growth with performance and so that Braven maintains internal equity. The salary ranges, by geographic market, for this role are set forth $92,000-$114,900 in Chicago. This is a full-time, exempt, and benefits eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity.

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include :

Please note that Braven is firm in its compensation philosophy; therefore, only candidates who believe that our total rewards package matches what they are looking for in their next opportunity are encouraged to apply.

Location

We gather in the office at least 3 days per week (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and often work remotely 2 days per week (although certain commitments might adjust that from time to time). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance from our office in Chicago (IL). We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor. We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.