Learning Program Managers (Leadership Development, Contract) - See Eligible HYBRID Locations
The future of learning deserves the right talent. CapeTalent connects AI-forward Learning & Development professionals with Fortune 100 companies driving innovation at scale.
ELIGIBLE HYBRID LOCATIONS
- Atlanta, GA 30308
- Mountain View, CA 94043
- New York, NY 10003
- Plano, TX 75024
- San Diego, CA 92129
- San Francisco, CA 94105
- Tucson, AZ 85706
CONTRACT DETAILS
W2 employment is not available for this engagement.
- 1099/C2C Only
- 6-month contract (strong likelihood of extension)
- Hybrid (3 Days/Week)
- Start date: September 2026
- 40 hours per week @ $55-$65/hour (C2C or 1099), based on experience
- Standard U.S. business hours
- Heavy Slack collaboration + Laptop provided
- Portfolio REQUIRED
THE OPPORUNITY
As a Learning Program Manager supporting leadership development, you’ll design learning for people managers at every level: leaders stepping into their first team, experienced managers taking on broader scope, and senior leaders driving strategy — inside the business and across partner organizations. That work spans immersive learning experiences and leadership summits, structured onboarding for new and newly promoted managers, and the ongoing development that keeps skills sharp in between.
The role asks for range — the strategic instinct to connect a leadership curriculum to what the business is trying to achieve, and the design craft to build it yourself. You’ll bring high energy, take ownership of your scope, stay steady when priorities shift, and advocate for the work that matters most while keeping the learner experience at the forefront. Impact is measured in manager confidence, capability, retention, and business results, so we’re looking for a true partner who asks why the work gets done, whether it worked, and what to change next.
What You’ll Do
Leadership Program Architect
- Build manager onboarding from the ground up: Design structured, multi-tier leadership journeys — frontline people manager, manager of managers, and senior operations leader — each with a tapered curriculum, clear phase gates, and an applied capstone that proves transfer to the job.
- Set one standard across the organization: Define the shared leadership standard, competency model, and craft skills that calibrate what “good” looks like across every business unit and partner org — so leadership development stops being a local dialect.
- Operate where there is no playbook: Thrive in white space. Scope the problem, frame the strategy, sequence the build, and ship a v1 that earns funding for v2 — without waiting for a spec to be handed to you.
Influential Business Partner
- Connect learning to business strategy: Translate operating priorities, workforce plans, and performance gaps into a leadership learning strategy with a defensible business case — and articulate the cost of the status quo in the language executives use.
- Forge partnerships across the enterprise: Build trust-based relationships with senior stakeholders, HR/People partners, business unit leaders, and subject matter experts (SMEs) across internal and partner organizations, influencing without formal authority.
- Advocate for the right work: Run learning needs analyses, identify capability gaps, and make the case for what should be built next — and what shouldn’t.
Learning Experience Innovator (Instructional Design & LXD)
- Design experiences that change behavior: Apply advanced instructional design methodologies (ADDIE, SAM) and learning experience design (LXD) principles, grounded in adult learning theory and learning science — spaced practice, retrieval practice, interleaving, social learning, and transfer.
- Define performance outcomes: Use rigorous needs analysis, design thinking, and rapid prototyping to define measurable, performance-based leadership outcomes that map to on-the-job execution.
- Develop content, curriculum & video: Lead curriculum development, eLearning, coaching guides, simulations, case-based practice, and video production — using authoring and media tools such as Articulate Storyline and Rise, Adobe Creative Suite, Captivate, Camtasia, Vyond, and Synthesia — and weave in microlearning and application to maximize knowledge transfer.
Learning Events & Continuous Learning
- Create learning events managers actually want to attend: Design and produce in-person and virtual leadership summits, immersive orientations, and cohort experiences — owning the agenda architecture, facilitation design, practice activities, and the follow-through that makes the moment stick.
- Sustain learning between the moments: Build the always-on layer — microlearning, spaced reinforcement, coaching cadences, peer cohorts, and mentoring — so skill development continues long after onboarding ends.
- Enable the people who deliver: Partner with facilitators, coaches, and leaders to calibrate delivery and keep the experience consistent across every audience and location.
Data & Technology Strategist
- Measure with KPIs & ROI: Define and track KPIs, learning analytics, and ROI across confidence, capability, retention, and business impact, using frameworks such as Kirkpatrick evaluation and Phillips ROI to prove the program moved the business.
- Tell the story with data: Communicate complex insights through compelling narratives, dashboards, visualizations, and polished executive presentations tailored to senior stakeholders.
- Explore emerging tech: Stay curious about AI, adaptive practice, learning-in-the-flow-of-work, and emerging learning technologies, bringing them to bear where they elevate the learner experience and program efficiency.
Program Execution & Delivery
- Drive flawless execution: Apply program and project management discipline — roadmaps, timelines, task tracking (e.g., Jira, Confluence), and operational checklists — to launch programs on schedule and on quality across a multi-program portfolio.
- Run the learning platforms: Administer Learning Management Systems (LMS) and learning platforms (e.g., Docebo, Cornerstone, Skilljar, or similar) and maintain accurate learner records, reporting, and program documentation.
- Coordinate the ecosystem: Partner with curriculum developers, instructional designers, learning experience designers, SMEs, and external vendors/agencies to deliver cohesive, well-coordinated learning solutions — and keep content accurate through an always-on maintenance cycle.
What We’re Looking For
- 5+ years in learning program management, instructional design, or learning experience design within a complex, matrixed organization.
- Strong background in corporate leadership development — designing management, supervisory, or executive development curricula for people managers at multiple levels.
- Proven success building programs from the ground up, in undefined spaces where the strategy, standard, and curriculum did not exist yet.
- High business acumen — you can read operating metrics, connect learning to business strategy, and defend a program’s value to senior leaders.
- Deep expertise in instructional design methodologies (ADDIE, SAM), adult learning theory, learning science, and learning strategy.
- Hands-on learning design, development, and video production skills, including eLearning authoring and media tools (e.g., Articulate Storyline, Rise, Adobe Creative Suite, Captivate, Camtasia, Vyond, Synthesia).
- Experience designing and producing learning events — summits, immersive onboarding, cohort programs, and facilitated workshops, in person and virtual.
- Familiarity with coaching frameworks, competency models, and manager effectiveness practices, plus continuous-learning and reinforcement design.
- Strong command of learning KPIs, analytics, and ROI, with a track record of data-driven decisions tied to learning effectiveness, behavior change, retention, and business outcomes (e.g., Kirkpatrick evaluation).
- Experience administering Learning Management Systems (LMS) and managing the full learning program lifecycle, including vendor/agency and SME coordination.
- A partner’s mindset — you think about whether the program is doing the right work and can articulate why and whether it worked, not just that it shipped.
- Highly flexible and high-energy — comfortable rolling with constant change in a fast-moving, evolving role — and assertive in building stakeholder relationships and taking program ownership.
- Outstanding written, verbal, facilitation, and presentation skills, with program/project management experience and Agile ways of working (e.g., Jira, Confluence).
- Experience developing leaders of expert, professional, or domain-specialist teams is highly desired; experience extending programs to partner or outsourced organizations is a plus.
- Familiarity with SaaS, fintech, or the broader financial services industry is a plus.
- Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s in Instructional Design, Learning Design, Organizational Development, Education, or Business preferred.
Why This Role?
- You want to build something that doesn’t exist yet — a leadership standard and a manager development ecosystem, not another course in someone else’s catalog.
- You want your impact measured by confidence, capability, retention, and ROI — not course completions.
- You’d rather partner with the business to shape the right strategy than wait for a spec to hand off.
- You’re energized by ambiguity, fast cycles, AI-assisted ways of working, and a role that will keep evolving.
- You take ownership early and lead with confidence, even while you’re still coming up to speed.
Job Type: Contract
Pay: $55.00 - $65.00 per hour
Work Location: Hybrid remote in San Diego, CA 92129
