Director of Learning & Development - Full-Time 1st Shift

Summary/Objective:

The Director of Learning & Development will lead the design and execution of a system-wide training strategy that supports the growth and development of employees across North Shore Health’s 70 senior living centers. This role will build structured development pathways, manage a standing training calendar, and coordinate with internal and external experts to ensure consistent, effective training at all levels.

Rather than being the subject matter expert, this individual will define what’s needed, ensure delivery, and hold others accountable. From frontline staff to senior leaders, the Director will help every employee see a clear path to grow their skills and careers while supporting North Shore’s mission of excellence in care.

Essential Functions:

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Develop and implement a learning and development strategy aligned with organizational goals and workforce needs.
• Collaborate with executive leadership including but not limited to clinical, compliance, operations, human resources, as well as senior leaders to assess organizational training needs, design training pathways that support career growth, succession planning, and organizational performance.
• Serve as the central point of accountability for education strategy, ensuring all programs are aligned, coordinated, and resourced effectively.
  
  
  

Needs Assessment & Gap Analysis

• Proactively identify skill gaps, training needs, and performance improvement opportunities
• Conduct regular learning needs assessments through performance data, surveys, leadership feedback, audits, and compliance reviews.
• Collaborate with department leaders to ensure training initiatives are aligned with operational objectives and regulatory standards.
  
  
  

Training Infrastructure & Calendar

• Establish and manage a standardized, published training calendar with ongoing live and virtual sessions across clinical, operational, and soft-skill domains.
• Coordinate the delivery of educational content through internal experts, external vendors, and strategic partners.
• Implement a Learning Management System (LMS) structure to track participation, progress, and outcomes.
• Champion development in communication, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, team building, and leadership presence.
• Design and implement structured soft skills and leadership development programs specifically for current senior leaders, including Executive Directors, Directors of Nursing, and department heads, to enhance strategic thinking, change management, coaching, and organizational leadership capabilities.
  
  
  

Subject Matter Expert (SME) Identification & Engagement

• Identify and engage internal and external subject matter experts across relevant departments—including clinical, compliance, HR, and operations—to support targeted training initiatives.
• Partner with department leads to identify learning gaps and assign SME ownership for training delivery.
• Facilitate collaboration between SMEs and instructional designers to develop accurate, effective, and relevant learning content.
• Oversee SME-led training delivery, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and adult learning best practices.
  
  
  

Program Development

• Establish and share structured growth and development pathways for various roles, including department heads, nursing staff, and support teams.
• Partner with HR and department leaders to ensure employees understand growth opportunities and development milestones tied to advancement.
• Incorporate these career paths into recruitment, onboarding, and training initiatives to enhance retention, engagement, and internal mobility.
• Collaborate with Marketing & Communications to develop engaging, tech-enabled training tools and content that are visually compelling, accessible, and aligned with our brand and culture.
  
  
  

Leadership Pathways and Talent Development

• Build structured development and career tracks for key roles including:
• Administrator-in-Training (AIT) Director of Nursing-In-Training program with formal learning milestones
• Executive Directors (EDs) and Directors of Nursing (DONs) development plans for advancing operational and clinical leadership
• Sr. Executive Director (Sr. ED) and Sr. Director of Nursing (Sr. DON)
• Role-based skill-building for department heads and emerging leaders
• Provide ongoing development opportunities for current leadership focused on executive soft skills, strategic communication, leadership, emotional intelligence, and team motivation.
• Leverage mentoring and coaching to strengthen leadership capability across the organization.
  
  
  

Performance Monitoring & Reporting

• Track progress of employees through defined learning tracks and provide quarterly report-outs to executive leadership.
• Use feedback and performance data to refine training approaches and improve impact.
• Solicit continuous feedback from the field - training participants, supervisors, and SMEs - to ensure content relevance, delivery quality, and applicability to real-world, regulatory, and industry challenges.
  
  
  

Additional Responsibilities

• Resident Rights
• Knows Resident Rights
• Helps the residents/patients exercise and/or protect their rights
• Maintains confidentiality of resident/patient and employee information
• HIPAA
• Follows and adheres to North Shore Health’s policies and procedures implementing HIPAA requirements for the privacy and security of protected health information
• Uses and/or discloses only minimum amount of Protected Health Information necessary to complete assigned tasks
  
  
  

Work Environment/Physical Requirements

The responsibilities of this position may involve travel and physical activities including standing, occasional lifting (up to 50 pounds unassisted), bending, stooping, pushing, pulling and twisting. All employees when visiting nursing homes may be required to provide lifting and transfer assistance to residents. Lifting and/or transferring some residents will require use of a lifting device and /or assistance of other staff.

Required Education And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• Demonstrated success in designing and implementing training, engagement, or leadership development programs at scale.
• Strong knowledge of adult learning principles and instructional design
• Demonstrated ability to build consensus, manage multiple stakeholders, and drive initiatives to completion
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and presentation skills