Senior Learning Program Manager

Location: San Antonio, TX

Reports To: Director of Talent Development

Salary Range: $150,000-$180,000

Position Summary:

We are seeking a Senior Learning Program Manager to join IEM's Talent Development team, supporting the launch and workforce ramp-up of a new manufacturing facility. This is a build-from-scratch role owning end-to-end workforce capability – onboarding, internal training, and community workforce development – including leading and growing a team of Manufacturing Training Specialists and standing up switchgear-specific technical training capability.

The Senior Learning Program Manager partners with business stakeholders to identify capability needs, design effective learning solutions, and manage program execution from start to finish, ensuring learning initiatives are well-designed, operationally sound, and aligned to the populations and functions they support. A key part of the role is building external partnerships with local workforce development boards, community organizations, and junior/community colleges to create talent pipelines that support hiring for the new facility.

The ideal candidate brings solid experience in learning program management, strong project coordination skills, and the ability to translate business needs into practical learning solutions. They are comfortable managing multiple workstreams, collaborating with subject matter experts, facilitating learning experiences for a defined audience, and building relationships with external workforce partners. Experience launching training functions in a new or growing manufacturing site is highly valued, along with the interpersonal skill to build trust and credibility with audiences ranging from frontline production employees to senior leadership.

Key Responsibilities:

Manufacturing Development

• Design, implement, and manage training programs that build technical and operational skills for production employees, ensuring workers are equipped to perform safely, accurately, and efficiently.
• Ensure all training programs meet applicable regulatory, safety, and compliance requirements, and maintain accurate records of completed training in the LMS.
• Partner with site leadership, operations managers, and SMEs to develop job-specific learning pathways and performance support tools for frontline and production employees.
• Design and manage new hire onboarding and ramp-up programs tailored to production roles, including scalable models that support high volume, rapid hiring for a new facility launch, enabling employees to reach proficiency quickly.
• Continuously assess the effectiveness of manufacturing training and drive improvements based on performance data, audit findings, and operational feedback.
• Establish competency verification and certification standards for safety- and quality-critical production tasks, requiring demonstrated proficiency — not just course completion — with authority to withhold certification until competency is met.
• Maintain skill/cross-training matrices tracking employee competency by role.

Team Leadership

• Build, lead, and develop a team of Manufacturing Training Specialists including hiring, coaching, performance management, and career development.
• Plan team structure, staffing, and capacity (trainer-to-learner ratios, shift coverage) to keep pace with a hiring ramp of 3,000+ employees over the next two years.
• Build trust and credibility across the organization, from frontline production employees to site and senior leadership, serving as a key connector between Talent Development, Operations, Safety, Quality, and HR.

Workforce Pipeline & Community Partnerships

• Build and manage relationships with local workforce development commissions/boards, economic development organizations, and junior/community colleges to establish talent pipelines for the new facility.
• Design and implement community-based training and pre-employment programs (e.g., pre-apprenticeships, bootcamps, certificate pathways) with external institutions to prepare candidates for production roles.
• Track and report pipeline outcomes (candidate flow, hire rates, retention) with Talent Acquisition and the site HR Manager to guide continued investment in community partnerships.
• Serve as IEM’s primary contact for San Antonio-area workforce partners funding and supporting this ramp-up and manage related reporting to the State of Texas and City of San Antonio.

Organizational Development & Learning Support

• Partner with business stakeholders within assigned functions to identify capability gaps and development needs.
• Support organizational initiatives by designing learning content that aligns with business goals and reinforces new behaviors, processes, and ways of working.
• Collaborate with business partners and function leads to ensure programs align with team and business priorities.

Program Management & Execution

• Lead end-to-end management of concurrent learning programs aligned with talent development priorities.
• Manage program roadmaps, timelines, logistics, and cross-functional coordination to ensure successful delivery.
• Execute within established enterprise learning frameworks and standards.
• Continuously refine programs based on learner feedback, business needs, and performance outcomes.

Needs Assessment & Solution Design

• Conduct stakeholder interviews, needs assessments, and performance analyses to identify skill gaps within assigned populations.
• Translate business challenges into targeted learning solutions using adult learning principles and instructional design methodologies.
• Partner with subject matter experts to develop learning journeys for IC and manager-level employees.
• Develop learning assets including digital learning, instructor-led programs, and blended learning formats.

Facilitation & Delivery

• Deliver and facilitate select learning programs, workshops, and training sessions for defined employee populations, including bilingual (English/Spanish) delivery where needed, to support a diverse production workforce.
• Leverage multiple learning modalities including virtual, classroom, digital, and blended formats.
• Ensure learning experiences are engaging, practical, and aligned with adult learning best practices.

Measurement & Continuous Improvement

• Define and track success metrics for learning programs using learner feedback and business data.
• Track workforce-ramp KPIs, including time-to-competency/time-to-productivity, certification pass rates, retraining rates, retention, and internal promotion rate.
• Use insights to refine program design and improve learning effectiveness over time.
• Support reporting on learning activity and program outcomes within assigned functions.

Learning Technology

• Leverage the LMS and learning technologies to manage program enrollment, content delivery, and reporting.
• Partner with HR and technology teams to optimize platform usage and digital learning delivery.

Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in learning and development, talent development, organizational development, or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience directly managing, coaching, and developing a team of trainers or training specialists required.
• Experience directly managing, coaching, and developing a team of trainers or training specialists required.
• Demonstrated experience designing and managing learning programs within a defined function or employee population, ideally within a manufacturing or industrial environment.
• Experience building and managing partnerships with local workforce development commissions/boards, community organizations, and/or junior/community colleges to create hiring and training pipelines.
• Experience supporting a new facility launch, plant startup, or large-scale/rapid hiring initiative strongly preferred.
• Experience in the power distribution or switchgear manufacturing industry strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of shopfloor processes and operational requirements.
• Strong project and program management skills; able to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously with attention to detail.
• Solid stakeholder management and communication skills; comfortable partnering with managers, senior-level business leaders, and external community / workforce partners.
• Experience conducting needs assessments and translating business needs into learning solutions.
• Familiarity with instructional design methodologies (e.g., ADDIE, Action Mapping, or similar).
• Experience with LMS platforms; familiarity with e-learning tools such as Articulate 360 is a plus.
• Experience facilitating workshops or training sessions preferred.
• Bilingual proficiency in Spanish preferred.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Organizational Development, Human Resources, Instructional Design, Education, Business, or related field required.