United Kingdom · Learning and development · Principal/Manager (12-16 years)

Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics

Here is the whole job, in plain words. What it is, what you decide, how you're judged, how people get here and where they go next. Then the part no course gives you: twelve AI tutors who learn your work.

Free to start: a plan built for this role, and a Future Fluency module to try first. No card.

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  • Experience bandPrincipal/Manager (12-16 years)
  • Direct reports3-8 reports
  • Reports toDirector, Organisational Performance & Capability
  • UK framework levelUsually a manager, or the deepest specialist in a team

Also advertised as Head of Learning Analytics · Senior L&D Impact Manager · Organisational Effectiveness Lead (Learning) · People Analytics Manager (Learning Focus)

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

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Computing for England Pearson Education Ltd · Level 5 · covers 4 of 10 standards
Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Digital Technologies Pearson Education Ltd · Level 5 · covers 2 of 10 standards
NOCN Level 4 certificate for Data Analysts NOCN · Level 4 · covers 6 of 10 standards
OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Data Science OTHM Qualifications · Level 7 · covers 5 of 10 standards
Pearson BTEC Level 4 Higher National Certificate in Computing for England Pearson Education Ltd · Level 4 · covers 3 of 10 standards
Highfield Level 3 Diploma for Team Leaders and Supervisors (RQF) Highfield Qualifications · Level 3 · covers 2 of 10 standards

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

The units you would start with

Data Analytics Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Computing for England
Data Analytics Primer NOCN Level 4 certificate for Data Analysts
Data Analysis and Visualisation OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Data Science
Data Analysis Highfield Level 3 Diploma for Team Leaders and Supervisors (RQF)

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
Foresight Fluency seeing round the corner
Your Plan Illustration

Built for Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics

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

  1. Data Analytics Pearson Education Ltd · covers 4 of 10 standards Level 5
  2. Data Analytics Primer NOCN · covers 6 of 10 standards Level 4
  3. Data Analysis and Visualisation OTHM Qualifications · covers 5 of 10 standards Level 7
  4. Data Analysis Highfield Qualifications · covers 2 of 10 standards Level 3
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 Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics?

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

  • Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration (for Team Productivity)
  • Advanced Predictive Analytics & Machine Learning (Managerial Oversight)
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 Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics 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.

3What this role really is

Manager of L&D Performance & Analytics, leading a team that measures the impact of learning programmes on business results.

4What you'd actually use

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

Tableau / Power BI Strategic

Governing the BI environment for L&D, making platform decisions, ensuring dashboards align with executive KPIs, and reviewing your team's complex dashboard designs and data models.

Workday HCM / SAP SuccessFactors / Oracle HCM Architect

Influencing HRIS module configuration to better capture performance and skills data, understanding the full data lifecycle across HR systems, and guiding your team on complex data extraction.

Degreed / Cornerstone OnDemand / Docebo / 360Learning Strategic

Leading vendor selection and evaluation based on data and analytics capabilities, defining the enterprise learning data strategy, and ensuring robust data integration from these platforms.

SQL (PostgreSQL) / Excel (Power Query, advanced formulas) Strategic

Designing the data schemas and tables needed for L&D analytics, understanding data warehousing principles, and reviewing complex SQL queries and Excel models built by your team (you won't be executing daily queries, but you can architect the solution).

Qualtrics / Culture Amp / Glint Strategic

Owning the enterprise-wide learning feedback strategy, linking survey data to engagement and business outcomes, and managing vendor relationships for these platforms.

Anaplan / Workday Adaptive Planning Advanced

Partnering with Finance to model the ROI of major learning initiatives, using the platform to forecast future capability needs and budget requirements, and ensuring L&D data inputs are accurate.

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
Project Prioritisation for L&D Analytics Team No independent decision. Executes tasks assigned by Manager. Proposes project priorities for their own work, subject to Manager approval. Recommends project priorities for their workstream, consults Manager on cross-functional impact.
L&D Analytics Tool Selection/Vendor Management Uses existing tools as instructed. Provides feedback on tool usability and suggests minor improvements. Researches and recommends specific features or minor tool upgrades within existing platforms.
Hiring & Performance Management for Team No involvement. Participates in interviews for junior roles, provides feedback. Interviews for junior and mid-level roles, provides structured feedback.
Methodology for Impact Studies Follows established methodology for data extraction and basic reporting. Applies standard methodologies for individual programme evaluation. Escalates complex methodological questions. Designs and implements complex evaluation methodologies for specific programmes. Consults Manager on novel approaches.

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.

L&D Budget Shift Influenced
The amount of L&D budget reallocated or newly approved based on your team's demonstrated ROI or impact analysis.
Target · Influence a >£500,000 shift in L&D budget towards evidence-based programmes annually.

After your team's analysis showed a £750,000 ROI from the sales enablement programme, the board approved an additional £600,000 for its expansion next year.

Reduction in 'Scrap Learning' Rate
The percentage decrease in learning content or programmes that show no measurable impact on behaviour or business results.
Target · Improve the organisation's overall 'scrap learning' rate by 10% year-on-year.

Your team identifies two major programmes with zero transfer to job performance, leading to their redesign or discontinuation, reducing overall scrap learning by 12%.

Capability Model Adoption Rate
The percentage of relevant departments or functions that formally adopt the capability frameworks and skills models designed by your team.
Target · Achieve 75% adoption of newly developed capability models across target business units within 18 months of launch.

The new leadership capability model your team championed is now formally integrated into performance reviews and promotion criteria for 4 out of 5 target departments.

Team Productivity & Project Delivery
The on-time delivery rate and quality of strategic analytics projects undertaken by your team.
Target · 90% of strategic analytics projects delivered on time and to agreed quality standards.

Your team successfully completed 10 out of 11 planned impact studies for the quarter, with all stakeholders confirming the quality and usefulness of the insights.

Team's Analytical Rigour & Credibility
The perception of your team's work as consistently accurate, methodologically sound, and trustworthy across the business.
  • Business leaders proactively seek your team's input on performance issues
  • your team's analyses are rarely challenged on methodology
  • your Director relies on your team's data for executive presentations
  • the team is seen as the 'go-to' for performance questions.
Strategic Influence on L&D Strategy
Your ability to guide L&D's strategic direction based on performance data, moving beyond reactive reporting.
  • Your team's findings directly lead to changes in L&D programme priorities
  • you're regularly invited to L&D leadership strategy sessions
  • your recommendations are frequently adopted by the Head of L&D
  • you influence the design of new learning interventions from the outset.
Effectiveness of Team Leadership & Mentorship
How well you develop, support, and get the best out of your direct reports, fostering a high-performing and engaged team.
  • High retention rate within your team
  • positive feedback in 360-degree reviews from your direct reports
  • at least one team member promoted or taking on significantly expanded responsibilities annually
  • your team consistently meets or exceeds performance expectations.
Quality of Executive Storytelling
Your ability to translate complex data and statistical findings into clear, concise, and actionable narratives for senior leadership.
  • Senior leaders consistently understand and act on your team's presentations
  • your executive summaries are praised for clarity and impact
  • you're asked to present directly to C-suite or board-level committees on L&D performance.

7Would you like it

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

What people enjoy
Driving Tangible Business Impact

You'll get a real kick out of seeing your team's analysis directly lead to a business decision – whether it's reallocating budget, redesigning a programme, or changing a process. You're not content with just producing reports; you want them to be used.

Your team's work directly informs the decision to invest an additional £1M into a specific sales training programme because you've proven its ROI.

Building & Developing a High-Performing Team

You genuinely enjoy mentoring and coaching analysts, helping them grow their skills, tackle complex problems, and present their findings with confidence. You'll spend time unblocking them, reviewing their work, and celebrating their successes.

You successfully mentor a junior analyst to take on a lead role in a complex impact study, seeing them grow in confidence and capability.

Solving Complex Organisational Puzzles

You thrive on dissecting tricky performance problems, figuring out the root causes, and designing robust measurement strategies. The messier the data or the more ambiguous the problem, the more engaged you usually are.

You're presented with a high employee turnover rate in a specific department and lead your team to uncover that it's not training, but poor management communication, using data to back it up.

What frustrates people
  • The 'Butts in Seats' Obsession: Constantly battling stakeholders who believe success is measured by how many people completed a course, rather than what they can now do differently.
  • Data Janitor Work: Your team will spend 50% of their time cleaning, merging, and validating data from an LMS that doesn't talk to the HRIS, which doesn't talk to the CRM. You'll be managing their frustration and trying to find long-term solutions.
  • The Silver Bullet Request: Being asked to develop a training programme to fix a deep-seated cultural issue, a flawed business process, or simply bad management – and having to explain why training isn't the answer.
  • The Attribution Nightmare: A sales team's performance improves 10% after your training, but it was the same quarter a new competitor went bankrupt. Proving your team's exact contribution is a constant, uphill battle.
  • Political Pressure for 'Good News': Being implicitly or explicitly encouraged to find a positive correlation, even when the data is inconclusive, to justify the L&D department's budget.
  • Death by Pilot Program: Getting stuck in an endless loop of small-scale pilot programmes because stakeholders are too risk-averse to commit to a full rollout, even with positive data.
What this role does not give you
  • A perfectly clean, integrated data environment from day one.
  • A guarantee that every analysis your team produces will lead to immediate, large-scale change.
  • A quiet, solitary role focused purely on individual analysis; you'll be leading, managing, and influencing constantly.
  • A role where you can avoid difficult conversations about programme effectiveness or resource allocation.

8Who you work with

This role directly shapes how the organisation understands and measures the effectiveness of its talent investments. Your team's work influences budget allocation, programme design, and ultimately, the capability of our workforce to meet strategic objectives. You're essentially the 'truth-teller' for L&D, ensuring we're investing in what truly works and providing the evidence that underpins our talent strategy.

Inside the business
  • Director, Organisational Performance & Capability
  • Head of L&D and other L&D Managers
  • HR Business Partners and other HR Leaders
  • Finance Business Partners and Finance Leadership
  • Senior Business Leaders (e.g., Sales Directors, Operations VPs, Product Heads)
  • Internal Communications team
  • IT and Data Engineering teams
Outside the business
  • Learning platform (LMS/LXP) vendors
  • HRIS system providers
  • Analytics tool providers (e.g., Tableau, Power BI)
  • External consultants for specific projects

9What you need before you start

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

  • Proven experience (typically 8-12 years) in a senior analytics role within L&D, HR, or a related business function, with at least 3-5 years in a lead or informal leadership capacity.
  • A deep understanding of statistical analysis techniques and their appropriate application to people and learning data.
  • Demonstrable experience in designing and executing complex programme evaluations (Kirkpatrick Level 3/4 or ROI studies).
  • Strong track record of presenting complex data to senior non-technical audiences and influencing strategic decisions.
  • Experience in managing data from multiple HR and learning systems, including data cleaning and integration challenges.
  • A solid grasp of business financials and how L&D contributes to key organisational KPIs.

10What to practise next

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

Data Governance & Architecture (L&D Specific)

As L&D data becomes more critical and integrated, ensuring its quality, security, and ethical use becomes paramount. You'll be responsible for the architecture of L&D data pipelines and governance within your domain.

Data Lineage & Metadata Management · Data Quality Frameworks · Cloud Data Warehousing (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery)

  • This quarter: Partner closely with IT and Data Engineering to understand the company's overall data governance framework and how L&D data fits in.
  • Next 6 months: Develop a specific data governance plan for L&D data, including roles, responsibilities, and quality checks for your team.
  • Month 7-12: Lead a project to integrate a new L&D data source into a central data warehouse, ensuring data quality and accessibility.
  • Ongoing: Regularly audit your team's data practices against internal and external standards.

Quick win: Start by documenting the current state of all L&D data sources, their owners, and known quality issues. This foundational work is crucial.

Experimentation Design & Causal Inference

Moving beyond correlation to causation is the holy grail. As L&D matures, the expectation will be to rigorously prove the causal impact of interventions, requiring more sophisticated experimental designs.

A/B Testing & Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) · Quasi-Experimental Designs · Statistical Power & Sample Size Calculation

  • This quarter: Review existing L&D programmes and identify 1-2 where a robust A/B test or quasi-experimental design could be implemented.
  • Next 6 months: Provide training for your team on advanced experimental design principles and the statistical methods required.
  • Month 7-12: Oversee the implementation and analysis of at least one rigorous A/B test for a key learning intervention.
  • Ongoing: Advocate for and embed experimental design principles into the standard L&D programme development lifecycle.

Quick win: For any new small-scale pilot programme, ensure your team designs a simple control group to compare outcomes, even if it's not a full RCT.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly attending industry conferences and webinars on People Analytics, L&D Measurement, and Organisational Performance.
  • Engaging with professional communities and forums (e.g., People Analytics & Future of Work, LinkedIn groups) to stay abreast of trends and best practices.
  • Pursuing advanced courses or certifications in statistical modelling, machine learning, or data governance.
  • Reading key industry publications and academic research in organisational psychology, behavioural economics, and learning science.
  • Mentoring junior analysts or students, as teaching often solidifies your own understanding.

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.

Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration (for Team Productivity)

Competitors are already using Large Language Models (LLMs) to draft reports, summarise findings, and even generate initial code for analysis in minutes, not hours. Analysts who master this will outproduce peers significantly. As a manager, you'll need to guide your team on effective and ethical use.

  • Advanced Prompting Strategies
  • LLM API Integration
  • Output Validation & Hallucination Detection
  • Ethical AI Use in People Data

Advanced Predictive Analytics & Machine Learning (Managerial Oversight)

Moving beyond just explaining 'what happened' to predicting 'what will happen' is the next frontier. This includes forecasting capability gaps, predicting talent flight risk, or identifying which learning interventions are most likely to succeed for specific employee segments. As a manager, you'll need to understand the potential and limitations to guide your team.

  • Regression & Classification Models
  • Time Series Forecasting
  • Model Interpretability (XAI)
  • Ethical AI in Prediction

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Kirkpatrick/Phillips Models of Evaluation (Strategic Application)
  • Performance Consulting (Gilbert's BEM - Leadership)
  • Learning Transfer Analysis (Strategic Design)
  • Capability Framework Design & Auditing (Implementation Leadership)
  • Quantitative Impact Analysis (Methodology Governance)
  • Business Acumen & KPI Decomposition (Strategic Translation)

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

    Lead Organisational Performance Consultant (L4)

    3-5 years in previous role

    Skills to master

    • Architecting holistic performance solutions, leading complex impact studies end-to-end, mentoring junior team members, and influencing senior stakeholders with data-driven insights. You'd be ready to step up and own the team's strategic direction.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Consistently delivering high-impact, statistically rigorous analyses that lead to actionable business decisions.
    • Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop junior analysts, seeing them grow in capability and confidence.
    • Proactively identifying new areas for L&D analytics to add value to the business.
    • Building strong relationships with key business leaders outside of L&D.
  2. 2

    Senior People Analytics Specialist (from broader HR Analytics)

    3-5 years in previous role

    Skills to master

    • While you might have broader HR analytics experience, you'd need to deepen your expertise in learning evaluation models (Kirkpatrick/Phillips), learning transfer, and capability framework design. You'd also need to demonstrate a strong ability to translate general people data into specific L&D implications.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Experience leading complex analytical projects within a people context, even if not exclusively L&D.
    • A clear passion for learning and development, and a desire to specialise in this area.
    • Strong statistical and data manipulation skills applicable to diverse HR datasets.
    • Ability to quickly learn and apply L&D-specific evaluation methodologies.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This role can lead to Head of People Analytics, overseeing data across the whole employee lifecycle, or Chief People Officer, leading HR strategy and operations.

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 Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics is actually changing.

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 Data Analytics, worked against Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics.

Data Analytics Level 5

Applied to your work in Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics

The objective of this unit is to enable learners to understand and apply data analytics techniques for decision-making. Learners will be able to apply descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytic methods, utilising statistical methods, to convert raw data into actionable insights and determine the best course of action.

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.

See Your Progress Grow Illustration
Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics
  • Kirkpatrick/Phillips Models of Evaluation (Strategic Application)
  • Performance Consulting (Gilbert's BEM - Leadership)
  • Learning Transfer Analysis (Strategic Design)
  • Capability Framework Design & Auditing (Implementation Leadership)
  • Quantitative Impact Analysis (Methodology Governance)
  • Business Acumen & KPI Decomposition (Strategic Translation)
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

Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. This is a significant step up, moving from managing a team to owning the enterprise-wide strategy for measuring learning impact and building organisational capability. You'll influence C-suite and L&D investment decisions at a much higher level.

    • Defining and governing the enterprise-wide learning data architecture and strategy.
    • Leading major L&D technology investments and vendor negotiations at a strategic level.
    • Developing and implementing company-wide capability frameworks that integrate with talent acquisition, performance, and succession planning.
    • Driving the integration of performance analytics across all HR functions (e.g., linking learning to talent acquisition ROI, diversity & inclusion impact).
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be honest, a big chunk of your team's time probably goes into tasks that could be automated. Imagine if your analysts could spend less time wrestling with messy data and more time delivering strategic insights. That's where AI comes in. We're building an AI Productivity Hub to help you and your team work smarter, not just harder.

As a Manager, you're not just doing the work; you're overseeing it. AI tools can dramatically boost your team's output and free you up to focus on strategy, mentorship, and high-level influencing. Think about taking the grunt work out of data cleaning, report drafting, and even initial research, so your team can focus on the 'so what?' and 'now what?'

Automated Data Harmonizer

Use AI-powered ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tools to automatically pull, clean, and merge data from your LMS, HRIS, and CRM into a single, analytics-ready database. This means your team spends less time on manual CSV exports and VLOOKUPs, and more time on actual analysis. You'll oversee the architecture, not the manual labour.

Qualitative Insights Engine

Feed thousands of open-ended comments from surveys (like post-training feedback or manager observations) and performance reviews into an NLP (Natural Language Processing) model. Instantly identify recurring themes, sentiment trends, and specific skill gaps across the organisation without anyone manually reading each entry. Your team can then validate and interpret, rather than just summarise.

Instant Lit Review & Benchmarking

Use a research-focused AI to synthesise the latest academic studies and industry reports on learning effectiveness for a specific topic (e.g., 'best practices for sales coaching'). Generate an evidence-based summary of best practices in minutes, providing your team with a solid foundation for their recommendations without weeks of manual research.

Executive Narrative Generator

Provide a generative AI with your team's key data points and findings (e.g., 'Programme X correlated with a 10% increase in Y and reduced costs by £Z'). Ask it to draft a compelling, business-focused executive summary and talking points for a non-technical audience. You'll then refine and add your strategic insights, saving hours on initial drafting.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics?

Common routes in include Lead Organisational Performance Consultant (3-5 years in previous role) and Senior People Analytics Specialist (from broader HR Analytics) (3-5 years in previous role). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics progress to?

This role can lead on to Director, Organisational Performance & Capability (3-5 years in Manager role), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics?

Increasingly, Prompt Engineering & LLM Integration (for Team Productivity) and Advanced Predictive Analytics & Machine Learning (Managerial Oversight). These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

Free tools

Want a read on where you stand?

Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.

17Where to go from here

Other roles at Level 5

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

Leading data driven performance improvement, managing analytics teams, and using evidence to influence decisions are skills used across industries. They can carry into People Analytics roles, Organisational Development leadership, or business operations and strategy roles in consulting, finance or other sectors.

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 Manager, L&D Performance & Analytics 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.