Senior Learning & Development Specialist - Professional Development

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Senior Learning & Development Specialist - Professional Development Focused

We are looking for a Senior Learning & Development Specialist - Professional Development to build William Blair's firmwide professional skills curriculum. You'll design, develop, and facilitate structured learning paths and courses, shaping how colleagues across the firm grow their core skills. With the curriculum strategy set, you'll spend year one developing engaging materials and facilitating sessions that land with diverse audiences. In addition, you'll partner closely with learning management system technical experts to shape how content is organized and housed within the system. A third, and smaller, portion of your role will include occasionally building custom content for teams and departments in corporate functions that include IT, Finance, Legal & Compliance, Workplace & Real Estate Management, Human Resources, Brand, Marketing & Communications, and Philanthropy & Sustainability.

Successful candidates will bring significant experience as instructional designers who have built comparable curricula before. You'll be energized by the challenge of creating something new rather than maintaining something established. We value colleagues who take pride in the quality of their work, take strong ownership over results, and bring strong instincts for what makes learning content work. This role reports to the Manager of Learning & Development.

Responsibilities include but may not be limited to:

• Design and build a firmwide professional-skills curriculum and learning paths, covering core skills.
• Deliver instructor-led training sessions; prioritize instructor-led and blended delivery over stand-alone eLearning.
• Provide input into Workday Learning system configuration and reporting; partner with the HRIS team, which owns technical administration and analytics.
• Advise the L&D team on how courses, learning paths, and completions are organized and housed within the LMS.
• Partner with the Manager, Learning & Development to prioritize which competencies and functions to build first, sequencing work in manageable waves.
• Lead weekly orientation for firmwide new hires globally.
• Maintain and evolve curriculum based on participant feedback and evolving business needs.
• Occasionally build custom content to address team- or function-specific needs.
• Track participation, completion, and effectiveness data to demonstrate program impact.
• Additional responsibilities, as requested.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree.
• 3-5 years of professional experience in instructional design, learning and development, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated, hands-on experience building a professional skills or core-competency curriculum from scratch; candidates should be prepared to share examples of their work.
• Strong facilitation skills; demonstrated comfort delivering instructor-led training to cross-functional audiences.
• Strong LMS experience required; Workday Learning experience preferred, with willingness and aptitude to become the L&D team's Workday Learning subject-matter expert.
• Working knowledge of adult learning theory and competency-based learning path design.
• Comfort using instructional design tools (e.g. Elucidat, Articulate).
• Comfort using generative AI tools to accelerate content development and course authoring.
• Ability to work independently and move quickly in a build-from-scratch environment with limited existing materials.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; skilled at establishing credibility with senior leaders across diverse functions.
• Experience working within a regulated environment; preference for experience administering company-wide campaigns (e.g. preventing workplace harassment).
• Experience in a financial services or professional services environment is preferred.
• Ability to work across multiple time zones.
• Willingness to come into the office a minimum of two days a week; more as learning programs may require.

A reasonable estimate of the current base salary range at time of posting is below. Base salary does not include other forms of compensation or benefits. Actual base salary within the specified range is based on several factors, including but not limited to applicant's skills, prior relevant experience, specific degrees and certifications, job responsibilities, market considerations and, if applicable, the location of the position.

This role is eligible for either a discretionary annual bonus (based on company, business unit and individual performance) and/or commission-based incentives.

Our featured benefit offerings include medical, dental and vision coverage, employer paid short & long-term disability and life insurance, 401(k), profit sharing, paid time off, Maven family & fertility benefit, parental leave (including adoption, surrogacy, and foster placement), as well as other voluntary benefits.  

Salary Range

$90,000—$100,000 USD

About Our Firm

William Blair strives to attract qualified candidates who specialize in investment banking, investment management, private wealth management, and other strategic resource groups. We are committed to empowering our colleagues to deliver client success and engage in our communities. Our firm has delivered trusted advice for nine decades, continuing to deepen our expertise and relationships across asset classes and markets throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet clients’ evolving needs amid dynamic market conditions and varying industries. What sets us apart is that we are an independent partnership, with colleagues who have unique experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. We empower our people to bring their best thinking so we can deliver the tailored, thoughtful work and problem-solving abilities that our clients expect. We invite you to learn more about us by visiting williamblair.com.

William Blair is an equal opportunity employer. It complies with all laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in employment practice because of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, marital status, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation, unfavorable discharge from the military service or on the basis of a physical or mental disability that is unrelated to the employee's ability to perform the duties of the job applied for. EOE m/f/d/v

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