UK

United Kingdom · Learning and development · Director/VP (16-20 years)

Director of Learning & Organisational Development

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  • Experience bandDirector/VP (16-20 years)
  • Direct reports25-100+ reports
  • Reports toChief People Officer (CPO)
  • UK framework levelUsually a director, accountable for a division and its numbers

Also advertised as VP, Talent Development · Head of Learning & Culture · Director, Organisational Capability · Head of People Development

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in qualifications employers recognise

Two short quizzes about you

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

NCFE CACHE Level 5 Diploma in Advanced Playwork (Wales) NCFE · Level 5 · covers 2 of 10 standards
NQual Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management NQual · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
NQual Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management NQual · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
City & Guilds Level 5 Diploma for Leaders and Managers City & Guilds Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 10 standards
SFJ Awards Level 3 Certificate In Learning and Development SFJ Awards · Level 3 · covers 4 of 10 standards
City & Guilds Level 4 Diploma in Learning and Development City & Guilds Limited · Level 4 · covers 4 of 10 standards

Matched from the standards this job is measured against: a suggestion, not an official ruling.

The units you would start with

Provide learning opportunities for colleagues NCFE CACHE Level 5 Diploma in Advanced Playwork (Wales)
Principles of leadership and management NQual Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management
Leading and Managing People NQual Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management
Leading People - Knowledge City & Guilds Level 5 Diploma for Leaders and Managers
Identify individual learning and development needs SFJ Awards Level 3 Certificate In Learning and Development
Identify the learning needs of organisations City & Guilds Level 4 Diploma in Learning and Development

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluency working with AI as a thinking partner
Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
AI Governance Fluency using AI responsibly
Change Fluency taking people through change
Systems Fluency seeing the whole picture
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Your Plan Illustration

Built for Director of Learning & Organisational Development

6 units that map to this job, from the qualifications that cover it.

  1. Provide learning opportunities for colleagues NCFE · covers 2 of 10 standards Level 5
  2. Principles of leadership and management NQual · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
  3. Leading and Managing People NQual · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
  4. Leading People - Knowledge City & Guilds Limited · covers 1 of 10 standards Level 5
  5. Identify individual learning and development needs SFJ Awards · covers 4 of 10 standards Level 3
  6. Identify the learning needs of organisations City & Guilds Limited · covers 4 of 10 standards Level 4
These are the real units behind this job, in the order they rank for it. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

2AI and this work

Will AI change your work as a Director of Learning & Organisational Development?

Nobody can say exactly how. Here is what this job is being asked for next, and where to start.

The new skills this role is being asked for

  • AI Ethics & Governance in Learning
  • Adaptive Learning Ecosystem Design
Why each one is rising

The future skills this job leans on

We'll only ever tell you what we can actually back up. No hype, no scare tactics.

What happens when you start

Next, a free account. We build your Director of Learning & Organisational Development plan as you set up, starting with a Future Fluency module on using AI in your job. No card.

Your first Future Fluency module is free. After that, your AI tutor is £70 a month.

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3What this role really is

This role shapes how an organisation learns, grows and adapts at a business unit level, making sure people have the skills needed for where the business is going.

4What you'd actually use

The tools this job runs on, and how well you'd need to know each one.

Cornerstone OnDemand (or similar enterprise LMS) Strategic/Architect

Overseeing the integration of LMS data with HRIS for talent mobility insights, making strategic decisions on platform upgrades, and ensuring robust governance across the enterprise.

Articulate 360 (Rise & Storyline) Strategic

Setting enterprise-wide content authoring standards, evaluating new tools and technologies, and championing reusable templates for scalability and consistency across all learning teams.

Zoom / MS Teams (Virtual Classroom) Strategic

Consulting on the enterprise VILT strategy, advising on hardware for hybrid training rooms, and ensuring the entire L&D function is trained on advanced features and best practices for virtual engagement.

Watershed LRS / Power BI (Learning Analytics) Architect

Architecting the entire learning data ecosystem, from data capture to reporting, and presenting high-level ROI analysis and strategic insights to the C-suite and Board.

Asana / Trello (Enterprise Project Management) Strategic

Managing the entire L&D project portfolio for a business unit, balancing priorities and resources across multiple large-scale initiatives, and ensuring strategic alignment.

5What you get to decide, and how that grows

Power in a job isn't your title. It's what you're allowed to decide. Here's how it grows as you move up.

The choiceComing in Where you are nowThe step above
Strategic Learning Programme Design Follows pre-defined programme structures and content. Adapts existing programmes to specific audience needs, proposes minor content improvements. Designs and leads the development of new, complex programmes for specific audiences (e.g., leadership development).
Budget Allocation & Spend No budget authority; tracks personal expenses. Manages small project budgets (£1K-£5K) with manager approval. Manages programme budgets up to £50K, with Director oversight.
Organisational Design & Talent Strategy No involvement. Provides feedback on team structures within their immediate area. Contributes insights to talent reviews and succession planning discussions for their workstreams.

6How you'll be judged

The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.

Internal Promotion Rate for Senior Roles
The percentage of senior management and leadership positions within your business unit filled by internal candidates who've come through our development programmes.
Target · 70% of senior roles filled internally within 18 months of programme completion.

If we had 20 senior manager openings this year, you'd aim for 14 of those to be filled by people we've developed internally, showing our leadership pipeline is robust.

Voluntary Attrition Reduction in Key Departments
A measurable decrease in the number of people leaving critical departments where your development programmes have been focused.
Target · A 5% reduction in voluntary attrition in targeted departments year-over-year.

If the Sales team's attrition was 15% last year, your programmes should help bring that down to 10% or less, proving that development keeps people engaged and here.

Learning Culture Index Improvement
An increase in employee perception of our learning culture, as measured by specific questions in our annual engagement survey.
Target · A 10-point improvement in the 'Learning Culture' index score year-over-year.

If our 'I feel I have opportunities to learn and grow' score was 60 last year, we'd expect it to be 70 or higher this year, showing people genuinely feel supported in their development.

P&L Impact of Learning Initiatives
The demonstrable financial return or cost savings directly attributable to specific learning and organisational development programmes.
Target · Identify and report on £2M+ in P&L impact (revenue increase or cost savings) from learning programmes annually.

A new sales enablement programme leads to a 10% increase in average deal size, or a process improvement training reduces operational errors by 15%, saving £2.5M.

C-Suite Confidence & Strategic Influence
The extent to which the C-suite and Board actively seek your input on strategic talent and organisational design decisions, and trust your recommendations.
  • You're regularly invited to executive strategy meetings, your opinion is sought on major organisational changes, and your proposals for talent investment are approved without significant pushback. They'll ask 'What does [Your Name] think about this?'
Organisational Agility & Adaptability
The perceived ability of the business unit to quickly adapt to market shifts, new technologies, or organisational changes, with learning programmes playing a key role.
  • When a new market trend emerges, your business unit can rapidly reskill or upskill teams. Feedback from business leaders highlights that 'we adapted much faster this time because of the development work we've done.' You'll hear comments like, 'Our people are much more comfortable with change now.'
Talent Brand & Reputation
Our reputation as an employer that genuinely invests in its people's growth and development, both internally and externally.
  • We're recognised externally for our development programmes (e.g., industry awards, LinkedIn 'best places to work' lists). Internally, employees talk positively about their growth opportunities, and it's a key reason people stay and recommend us.

7Would you like it

Both sides. What people enjoy, and what grinds them down.

What people enjoy
Shaping Organisational Culture

You'll spend time thinking about how our values translate into daily behaviours, and then design experiences that reinforce those behaviours. This means working on everything from leadership programmes to how we onboard new hires, making sure it all aligns with the culture we want.

You'll lead the initiative to embed a 'growth mindset' across the business unit, designing programmes and communications that encourage experimentation and learning from mistakes, rather than just punishing failure.

Driving Business Transformation

Your work will be directly linked to major business initiatives – a new product launch, entering a new market, or a digital transformation. You'll be asking, 'What capabilities do we need to make this happen?' and then building the plan to develop them.

When the company decides to expand into a new international market, you'll be responsible for designing the cultural awareness training, new product knowledge, and leadership development programmes needed for success in that region.

Building High-Performing Teams & Leaders

You'll get a real kick out of seeing people grow and succeed. This means investing in leadership development, creating clear career paths, and building a team around you that's capable of delivering top-tier learning experiences.

You'll personally mentor several high-potential managers, helping them navigate complex challenges and preparing them for their next leadership role, seeing them promoted within 12-18 months.

What frustrates people
  • Being seen as an 'order taker' for training requests, rather than a strategic partner.
  • The constant battle to prove the ROI of learning beyond simple satisfaction scores.
  • Dealing with executive-level resistance to change or a lack of commitment to long-term talent development.
  • Bureaucracy and slow decision-making processes when trying to implement large-scale programmes.
  • The inevitable budget cuts during tough economic times, even when learning is more critical than ever.
What this role does not give you
  • A purely operational, hands-on facilitation role – you'll be leading, not just doing.
  • A predictable, stable environment where plans never change – expect constant pivots.
  • A role where you can avoid organisational politics – it's part of the landscape at this level.
  • An easy win – driving real organisational change is hard work, requiring persistence and resilience.

8Who you work with

You'll be directly shaping the talent strategy and capability of a major business unit, impacting its P&L, market competitiveness, and long-term growth. Your decisions will influence how we attract, develop, and retain critical talent, ultimately driving our ability to execute on strategic objectives and adapt to market changes.

Inside the business
  • C-Suite (CEO, CFO, COO, CTO)
  • Business Unit VPs and Directors
  • Heads of Product, Sales, Marketing, and Engineering
  • HR Business Partners
  • Finance leadership
Outside the business
  • Learning Technology Vendors
  • Executive Coaching Partners
  • Industry Bodies and Associations
  • Consulting Firms for Organisational Design

9What you need before you start

Not a wish list. The things you would be expected to already have.

  • Proven track record of leading large L&D or OD teams (20+ people) for at least 5 years.
  • Demonstrable experience owning and managing a significant P&L (£2M+) for a functional area.
  • Experience presenting strategic recommendations and results to C-suite executives and/or Board members.
  • Successfully designed and implemented at least two major organisational change or talent transformation programmes.
  • A deep understanding of the business model and financial drivers of a technology or SaaS company (or similar fast-paced industry).
  • Significant experience in talent management, succession planning, and leadership development.

10What to practise next

Where the job is going, and what to do about it starting this week.

Generative AI for Content & Design

The speed at which generative AI can produce learning content, scenarios, and assessments means your team will need to use it. You need to understand its capabilities and limitations to set realistic expectations, ensure quality, and guide ethical use.

Prompt engineering for instructional design. · AI-driven content quality assurance and factual ve · Personalised content generation at scale. · Automated assessment and feedback mechanisms. · Legal and copyright implications of AI-generated c

  • This month: Experiment with ChatGPT/Claude to generate a basic training module outline or quiz questions.
  • Next 3 months: Task your team to pilot AI tools for specific content creation tasks and report on efficiency gains and quality challenges.
  • Next 6 months: Develop internal best practices and guidelines for using generative AI in content development.
  • Ongoing: Evaluate new AI tools and features as they emerge, assessing their potential impact on your team's workflow.

Quick win: Ask your team to share their current AI experiments and learnings. Encourage a 'safe space' for sharing successes and failures.

XR (Extended Reality) for Experiential Learning

VR and AR are moving beyond niche applications, offering immersive, high-impact experiential learning for complex skills (e.g., surgical training, complex machinery operation, leadership simulations). You'll need to assess when and how to invest in these technologies.

VR/AR hardware and software capabilities. · Designing immersive learning scenarios. · Measuring learning transfer and engagement in XR e · Cost-benefit analysis of XR investments. · Scalability and accessibility considerations for X

  • This quarter: Research case studies of XR in corporate learning; identify potential high-impact use cases for your business unit.
  • Next 6 months: Attend a virtual conference or webinar on XR in L&D; consider a small pilot project with a vendor.
  • Next 12 months: Develop a long-term strategy for integrating immersive technologies into your learning portfolio.
  • Ongoing: Stay informed on hardware advancements and content creation platforms for XR.

Quick win: Identify one 'high-risk' or 'high-cost' training area where a virtual simulation could offer significant benefits (e.g., safety training, complex system operation).

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly attend industry conferences (e.g., Learning Technologies, World of Learning) to stay abreast of trends and network with peers.
  • Actively participate in executive L&D/OD forums or peer groups to share best practices and discuss strategic challenges.
  • Pursue ongoing executive education in areas like business strategy, finance for non-financial managers, or digital transformation.
  • Seek out opportunities to mentor emerging leaders, both within your team and across the wider organisation.
  • Contribute thought leadership through articles, webinars, or speaking engagements to build your personal and our company's brand.

12The rising capability

The rising capability

Zavmo analysis

What's rising in its place

This is where the work is heading, and the higher pay with it. Get fluent here and the shift stops being a threat and starts being your edge.

AI Ethics & Governance in Learning

As we lean more on AI for content generation, personalised learning paths, and talent analytics, understanding the ethical implications—bias, privacy, data security—becomes paramount. Get this wrong, and you risk legal issues, reputational damage, and losing employee trust.

  • Algorithmic bias detection and mitigation in learn
  • Data privacy frameworks for AI-driven talent analy
  • Transparency and explainability in AI-generated co
  • Ethical guidelines for using AI in performance fee
  • Compliance with emerging AI regulations (e.g., EU

Adaptive Learning Ecosystem Design

One-size-fits-all learning is dead. Employees expect hyper-personalised, 'Netflix-like' learning experiences that adapt to their individual needs, roles, and career goals. Your role will shift to designing dynamic, responsive ecosystems, not just static programmes.

  • Learning Experience Platforms (LXP) integration an
  • Skills taxonomies and competency frameworks for pe
  • AI-powered recommendation engines for learning con
  • Microlearning and spaced repetition strategies.
  • Measuring engagement and impact in a non-linear le

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Organisational Development & Design
  • Talent Management Strategy
  • Learning Ecosystem Architecture
  • Advanced Learning Analytics & ROI
  • Executive Coaching & Mentoring

14The pathway

The pathway

How you actually get there, here

How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.

  1. 1

    Head of Learning & Development (from a smaller/mid-sized company)

    3-5 years in a similar leadership role.

    Skills to master

    • Scaling L&D operations, managing larger budgets, navigating complex organisational politics, and building a strategic relationship with the C-suite.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully grew an L&D function to support a rapidly expanding workforce.
    • Demonstrated clear ROI from learning programmes to executive leadership.
    • Managed a team of 10+ L&D professionals.
    • Experience with M&A integration (people & culture aspects).
  2. 2

    Senior L&D Manager / Principal Organisational Development Consultant (from a larger enterprise)

    5-8 years in a senior individual contributor or manager role, often within a larger, more complex organisation.

    Skills to master

    • Transitioning from leading specific programmes or workstreams to defining and owning a broader business unit strategy, managing managers, and influencing at the highest levels.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Owned a significant portfolio of learning programmes with measurable impact.
    • Led cross-functional projects with senior stakeholder involvement.
    • Mentored or informally led a team of 5+ professionals.
    • Developed and presented strategic recommendations to senior leadership.
  3. 3

    HR Business Partner (Senior/Lead level)

    5-7 years as an HRBP, with a strong focus on talent and organisational effectiveness.

    Skills to master

    • Deepening expertise in learning methodologies, designing scalable programmes, and shifting from advising on people issues to directly owning the development strategy.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully partnered with business leaders to address talent challenges.
    • Led talent reviews and succession planning for a business unit.
    • Demonstrated strong understanding of business strategy and its people implications.
    • Experience in driving culture change initiatives.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This role can lead to a senior executive path, a specialist track as an individual contributor, or independent consulting work.

The ten Future Fluencies

Zavmo analysis

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

A qualification proves you can do the job as it's defined today. These ten are what decide whether you're still the obvious person for it in five years. They're the capabilities employers are now writing into senior roles faster than people are learning them. Zavmo weaves them through whatever you study, so you come out with both: the credential and the fluency.

The highlighted ones are the Fluencies your role leans on hardest, from how Director of Learning & Organisational Development is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

The record names a next step, but the catalogue has no page for it yet:

  • Chief People Officer (CPO) / VP of People
  • VP, Talent & Organisational Effectiveness (Enterprise-wide)

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Provide learning opportunities for colleagues, worked against Director of Learning & Organisational Development.

Provide learning opportunities for colleagues Level 5

Applied to your work in Director of Learning & Organisational Development

This unit aims to equip learners with the skills to encourage learning and development in colleagues. Learners will be able to help colleagues identify learning needs, plan and implement learning opportunities, and review and update their development plans.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time.

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See Your Progress Grow Illustration
Director of Learning & Organisational Development
  • Organisational Development & Design
  • Talent Management Strategy
  • Learning Ecosystem Architecture
  • Advanced Learning Analytics & ROI
  • Executive Coaching & Mentoring
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

16The detail, folded away

Everything else the record holds

The career branches in full, how AI is already showing up in the day-to-day, and the questions people ask about this job. Here when you want them, out of the way while you decide.

Where it leads next, rung by rung

Where it leads

The career path, and where it branches

Director of Learning & Organisational Development is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. Chief People Officer (CPO) / VP of People

    3-5 years in the Director role, demonstrating consistent, high-level impact.

    This is a significant step up, moving to enterprise-wide responsibility for all aspects of HR, including talent acquisition, compensation & benefits, HR operations, and employee relations, in addition to L&D.

    • Total Rewards Strategy (Compensation & Benefits)
    • Global HR Compliance & Legal
    • M&A Due Diligence & Integration (full HR scope)
    • Workforce Planning & Analytics (enterprise-level)

  2. VP, Talent & Organisational Effectiveness (Enterprise-wide)

    2-4 years in the Director role, with a focus on broader talent strategy.

    This role expands your scope from a specific business unit to the entire organisation, focusing on building enterprise-wide talent capabilities and organisational health.

    • Global Learning & Development Strategy
    • Executive Assessment & Development
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategy (integrated into talent)
    • Workforce Analytics & Predictive Modelling
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, as a Director, your time is precious. You're juggling strategic planning, team leadership, executive reporting, and driving major organisational change. AI isn't here to replace you; it's here to give you back hours you didn't know you had, so you can focus on the truly impactful, human-centric work.

Imagine cutting down the grunt work of data analysis, report drafting, and even initial strategy brainstorming. AI can be your co-pilot, handling the tedious bits of information synthesis and content generation, freeing you up to focus on the nuanced discussions, the political navigation, and the creative solutions that only a human leader can provide. We're talking about optimising your strategic output, not just your daily tasks.

Strategic Talent Analytics

Feed AI anonymised HR and performance data (with proper governance, of course) to quickly identify emerging skill gaps, flight risks, and high-potential talent pools. Get insights on where to focus your development investments, rather than spending days crunching numbers manually.

Executive Communication Drafting

Use AI to generate first drafts of board presentations, C-suite memos, or strategic proposals. Input your key messages and data points, and let the AI structure the argument, suggest compelling language, and even tailor the tone for different executive audiences. You'll then refine, not create from scratch.

Organisational Design Scenarios

Explore various organisational structures or team configurations by prompting AI with different business objectives, constraints, and talent pools. Get rapid insights into potential pros and cons of each model, helping you make more informed decisions faster.

Leadership Development Content Augmentation

Brief AI on specific leadership challenges or competencies you want to develop. It can then suggest relevant case studies, research articles, discussion questions, and even role-play scenarios, significantly accelerating your programme design process for executive-level learning.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Director of Learning & Organisational Development?

Common routes in include Head of Learning & Development (from a smaller/mid-sized company) (3-5 years in a similar leadership role.), Senior L&D Manager / Principal Organisational Development Consultant (from a larger enterprise) (5-8 years in a senior individual contributor or manager role, often within a larger, more complex organisation.) and HR Business Partner (Senior/Lead level) (5-7 years as an HRBP, with a strong focus on talent and organisational effectiveness.). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Director of Learning & Organisational Development progress to?

This role can lead on to Chief People Officer (CPO) / VP of People (3-5 years in the Director role, demonstrating consistent, high-level impact.) and VP, Talent & Organisational Effectiveness (Enterprise-wide) (2-4 years in the Director role, with a focus on broader talent strategy.), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Director of Learning & Organisational Development?

Increasingly, AI Ethics & Governance in Learning and Adaptive Learning Ecosystem Design. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

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17Where to go from here

Other roles at Level 7

Same depth of qualification, different job. Useful if the work appeals but this particular role does not.

 More jobs in learning and development

Stay in the field you know and move sideways rather than up.
If you leave this industry

Skills in strategic talent development, organisational design and executive influence carry across sectors. This can lead to similar director or VP roles in FinTech, e-commerce or large consulting firms, or into broader HR leadership.

This role profile is © 2026 Growth Engineering Technologies Ltd. Built from UK occupational standards and regulated qualification data, and written for Zavmo.

You're not behind. You're right on time. The shift is only just beginning. Your role won't look the same in two years. Be the one who leads the change, not the one it happens to. Start my plan, free What happens next: a free account, then we build your plan as you set up. No card. Build your plan, see your roadmap and meet the twelve tutors matched to you. All free. When you're ready to start learning, it's £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.