Audit Stream Learning & Development - Business Partnering Senior Manager

BDO UK; England; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading accountancy and advisory firm in the UK seeks a Senior Manager in Learning and Development to drive training initiatives. Responsibilities include identifying learning needs, coordinating with stakeholders, and supporting programme delivery. Ideal candidates should have a strong understanding of the Audit sector and possess excellent project management and communication skills. This role is essential for enhancing organisational training and development strategies.

Qualifications

• Experienced Senior Manager (or equivalent) in Learning and Development.
• Strong understanding of regulatory environment within Audit.
• Previous experience in facilitation of learning programmes is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Identify learning needs and develop responses to these needs.
• Coordinate with stakeholders and implement tailored learning solutions.
• Support programme delivery and conduct learning needs analysis.

Skills

Strong understanding of Audit

Project management skills

Stakeholder engagement

Analytical skills

Excellent communication skills

Job description

Ideas People Trust

We're BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today's changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain's economic engine - ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited and high growth businesses that fuel the economy - and directly advise the owners and management teams leading them.

We'll broaden your horizons

Learning and Development (L&D) is a key enabler of our strategy as an Audit Stream and critical to our success. It supports our ability to attract, develop and retain talented people who take pride in their work and successfully deliver for our business. Effective L&D underpins quality and productivity by supporting our people to develop the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their work, helping them reach their personal and professional potential.

Effective L&D does not happen by chance. It requires specialist resources who partner with the Audit Stream to identify training needs and appropriately respond to them. Careful planning and project management are necessary, as are a critical-thinking and commercial mindset, and an understanding of regulatory requirements. Effective L&D needs consideration of the latest innovation, tools and technology to lead the development of personal and professional learning that is tailored, relevant and timely for our people.

Key responsibilities

The BP team works with the Audit Stream to identify learning needs and develop an appropriate response to these needs, drives the L&D agenda and coordinates with the business on various people-related activities. It also supports the analysis of learning data / evaluation of our programmes. Acting as the business voice within L&D, the team provides oversight and challenge internally as the wider L&D team works to develop and implement solutions that met the needs scoped. Similar, the team is the face of L&D in the Stream providing useful guidance and insight as the business explores how to best support our people's ongoing learning and development.

The Business Partnering Senior Manager will work directly with stakeholders in the business to identify specific needs applicable to their areas of responsibility; these are expected to include our Audit Connect programme, the main component of our Post-qualified curriculum.

Using their understanding of business priorities, developed through active engagement with the Stream, they will join up activities across our L&D offering and wider centralised programmes, ensuring our response to the Stream is aligned and meets ongoing needs. They will coordinate with other stakeholder groups as needed and work collaboratively with the other BP team members to ensure that the learning needs analysis is coordinated and complete, and to share best practice.

As a member of the BP team, they work with the Learning Development team to ensure that the business objectives for any particular learning need are understood and translated into key learning objectives and oversee that design learning interventions meet these needs effectively. They will support the Learning Implementation team as needed to ensure that developed content is implemented as planned and work with the Monitoring, Reporting & Compliance team to ensure appropriate review of learning effectiveness is performed. It is also expected that the BP team will support programme delivery through onsite programme management and facilitation where appropriate.

• Supports the scoping, development, implementation and evaluation of learning, ensuring this directly addresses business needs and provides relevant, timely and tailored learning
• Advocate and supports business needs within L&D ensuring responses are focused on business objectives and support achievement of wider organisational goals whilst remaining commercially productive and effective
• Act as a subject matter expert on all aspects of L&D, able to advise and consult with business leaders to help them find lasting solutions to issues as they arise
• Responsible for reporting back to the business on progress against agreed plans
• Provide objective challenge to the business on learning needs and act as a sounding board in respect of planned responses - to help the business determine the right course of action
• Advocate L&D activities in the business as appropriate to support effective learning culture in the stream
• Support the delivery of an effective Audit L&D curriculum across the Audit Stream
• Develop successful, long-term, strategic relationships with the Audit Stream and wider business to support the L&D agenda, respond effectively to business needs and align with overall strategy and wider organisational goals (helping to bring together the activities of the various central support teams in respect to key projects)
• Participate in the coordination and conduct of the learning needs analysis with stakeholders and oversee the development of the curriculum plan to respond to the agreed needs - working in collaboration with the wider L&D team
• Support onsite delivery of programmes where appropriate - onsite operational support and facilitation (as agreed as part of the wider programme / curriculum plan)
• Provide insights into the latest thinking, innovation and best practice in L&D, using this to make sensible recommendations to the business around L&D strategy

Required skills and experience

• Experienced Senior Manager (or equivalent)
• Strong understanding of Audit including the regulatory environment
• Previous L&D experience is preferred
• Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships with senior stakeholders
• Proven ability to influence stakeholders, build consensus and drive forward strategic projects in partnership with the Audit Stream
• Strong project management skills including a demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and deliver these to time and expected quality standards
• Previous experience in facilitation of programmes would be beneficial but is not essential
• Focus on generating commercially viable solutions - proven ability in problem‑solving balancing the various demands of stakeholders to generate an effective response
• Strong teamworking and collaboration skills alongside an ability to coach, develop and inspire people to reach their potential
• Excellent analytical, interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal
• Understanding of business strategy and goals and a focus on delivering effectively against these
• Focus on operational excellence, quality and outputs

We're in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO's core values and we're proud of our distinctive, people‑centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we'll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs.

Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you'll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value and satisfying experiences at work, so we've invested in state‑of‑the‑art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO's people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we'll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you'll never stop learning at BDO.

We're looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy.

Our success is powered by our people, which is why we're always finding new ways to invest in you. Across the UK thousands of unique minds continue to come together to help companies we work with to achieve their ambitions.

We've got a clear purpose, and we're confident in our future, because we're adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.