Leadership Development Specialist

GKN Aerospace; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

GKN Aerospace, a leader in the industry, seeks a Leadership Development Specialist for a 12-month fixed-term role. This position focuses on creating impactful leadership training programs while collaborating with stakeholders. Join us to shape future leaders in a diverse and innovative environment.

Benefits

Competitive salary dependent on experience

Industry Leading Pension Scheme

Life Assurance 8 x salary

25 days holiday + bank holidays

Flexible working hours

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Experience designing and delivering leadership programs.
• Global delivery experience to diverse audiences.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop leadership training programs.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to align with business needs.
• Facilitate interactive training sessions for global teams.

Skills

Leadership Development

Facilitation

Coaching

Analytical Skills

Stakeholder Management

Cultural Awareness

Education

Professional Coaching Qualification

Tools

Learning Experience Platforms

Virtual Facilitation Tools

Job description

Fantastic challenges. Amazing opportunities.

GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster and greener! Fuelled by great people whose expertise and creativity sets the standards in our industry, we’re inspired by the opportunities to innovate and break boundaries. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies. And we’re committed to putting sustainability at the centre of everything we do, opening up and protecting our planet. With over 16,000 employees across 33 manufacturing sites in 12 countries we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.35 bn.in 2023. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced and passionate Leadership Development Specialist to join our team on a 12-month fixed-term contract or internal secondment. In this exciting opportunity, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of leadership at GKN Aerospace by designing, delivering, and evaluating a new, high-impact leadership development programme.

Your focus will be on building core leadership capabilities across all levels of the organization, aligning with our business goals and cultural values. This role requires a proactive and collaborative approach, working closely with key stakeholders to ensure the programme is engaging, scalable, and drives measurable outcomes in leadership performance

How You'll Contribute

• Programme design and development – focused on foundational leadership skills (e.g., communication, coaching, decision-making, emotional intelligence)
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders and subject matter experts to ensure content relevance and alignment with business needs
• Develop blended learning solutions (e.g., workshops, e-learning, coaching, simulations)
• Facilitate engaging and interactive leadership training sessions across global teams (virtually and in-person)
• Train and support internal facilitators and HR teams to deliver consistent programmes experiences
• Adapt delivery style to suit diverse audiences and cultural context
• Evaluate and continuously improve the programme

What You'll Bring

To help us make a difference, you’ll bring your passion and expertise/ talent for what you do along with the following skills, experience, qualifications and attributes:

Essential:

• Expertise in Leadership Development:
  Proven experience in designing and delivering leadership development programmes, grounded in contemporary learning theory and best practices.
• Facilitation and Coaching Skills:
  Strong facilitation and coaching capabilities, with a track record of engaging and developing leaders at multiple levels.
• Global Delivery Experience:
  Experience delivering learning interventions to international audiences across diverse cultural and geographical contexts.
• Analytical and Commercial Mindset:
  Ability to evaluate the impact of learning initiatives using qualitative and quantitative data and translate insights into actionable improvements.
• Stakeholder Management:
  Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and influence a wide range of stakeholders.
• Cultural Awareness:
  Demonstrated sensitivity to cultural differences and the ability to work effectively across multiple time zones and international teams.

Desirable:

• Professional Coaching Qualification:
  Accreditation or certification in coaching (e.g., ICF, EMCC, ILM).
• Experience in Aerospace or Manufacturing Sector:
  Familiarity with leadership development within a technical, engineering, or manufacturing environment.
• Digital Learning Tools Knowledge:
  Proficiency with modern learning platforms and tools (e.g., Learning Experience Platforms, virtual facilitation tools).
• Change Management Experience:
  Experience supporting or leading change and transformation initiatives through learning and development strategies.
• Advanced Data Analytics Skills:
  Experience with learning analytics platforms or tools to derive deep insights from learning data.

What We'll Offer

Once you’re on board you’ll get the following perks and benefits:

• Competitive salary dependent on experience
• Industry Leading Pension Scheme = we’ll match your contributions up to 8% on a 1 : 1.5 basis
• Life Assurance 8 x salary
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays
• Flexible working hours
• Income protection
• Shopping discounts
• Cycle To Work Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Virtual GP Clinic for you and immediate family
• A collaborative, dynamic working environment

As well as a competitive package we’ll offer you a world of opportunity. We want to see your career fly! We’ll support your career progression by providing you with learning and development opportunities. That’s the beauty of being part of a global business, once you’re on board you never know where you career journey may take you!

We’ll offer you fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities. This is your chance to be part of an organisation that has proven itself to be at the cutting edge of our industry; and is committed to pushing the boundaries even further. And with some of the best training on offer in the industry, who knows how far you can go?

A Great Place to work needs a Great Way of Working

Everyone is welcome to apply to GKN. We believe that we can only achieve our ambitions through a coming together of diverse minds who enjoy collaborating in an inspirational environment. Through our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging and by living our five powerful principles we’ve created a culture where everyone feels welcome to contribute. It’s a culture that won us ‘The Best Workplace Culture Award’. By embracing and celebrating what makes us unique we encourage everyone to bring their full self to work.

We’re also committed to providing an accessible recruitment process, so if you require reasonable adjustments at any stage during our recruitment process please get in touch and let us know.

We arethe place where human dreams, plus humanendeavour, shape the future of aerospace innovation and technology.

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