Leadership & Talent Development Manager

Asda; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary company bonus

Company car allowance

15% colleague discount

Job summary

Asda is seeking an experienced Leadership & Talent Development Manager to lead the Leadership Academy for salaried leaders. You will own the end-to-end pathway from onboarding to progression and shape leadership content with SME collaboration.

You will enable teams to create and deliver impactful learning while ensuring alignment with HR principles and business priorities. A hybrid working model is in place with strong focus on leadership impact.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a Learning and Development Manager, leadership development, talent, academy, or business partnering role.
• Strong understanding of leadership development and what it takes to build practical, scalable pathways for leaders in a large organisation.
• Experience of shaping clear learning pathways from onboarding through to progression.
• Ability to work through squads and enable subject matter experts to create and deliver learning content.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage, influence and align leaders and SMEs at different levels.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Leadership Academy for Asda, owning the end-to-end salaried leadership pathway from onboarding through to progression.
• Make the leadership pathway clear, simple and transparent so leaders know what is expected of them, what support is available and how they can continue to grow.
• Act as the leadership subject matter expert, shaping what great Asda leadership looks like in practice across knowledge, skills, behaviours and day‑to‑day management routines.
• Enable People Team SMEs and business SMEs to create and deliver the right learning content, rather than building everything yourself.
• Lead pathway work through squads, bringing together the right expertise from across the People Team and wider business to solve priority leadership capability gaps.

Skills

Leadership development

Learning & development

Academy leadership

Stakeholder management

Coaching experience

Job description

Job Title

Leadership & Talent Development Manager

Location

Asda House

Employment Type

Full time

Contract Type

Permanent

Hours Per Week

37.5

Salary

Competitive salary plus benefits

Category

Learning and Development

Closing Date

20 September 2026

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Learning and Development Manager to join our team as Leadership Academy Lead for Asda. In this critical role, you will shape and lead the end-to-end leadership pathway for salaried leaders, making it clear, simple and transparent what leaders need to know, do and behave like from onboarding through to progression.

This role is slightly different to other academy lead roles. You will be both the subject matter expert for leadership and the academy lead for all aspects of what it takes to be a great Asda leader. Working closely with the Leadership Capability Team and People Team SMEs, you will enable the right content to be created, connected and delivered, including the people manager capability needed to bring our HR through-the-line principles to life.

About The Role -

You will have responsibility for leading the Leadership Academy pathway across Asda, ensuring our leadership offer is joined up, relevant and easy to access.

• Lead the Leadership Academy for Asda, owning the end-to-end salaried leadership pathway from onboarding through to progression.
• Make the leadership pathway clear, simple and transparent so leaders know what is expected of them, what support is available and how they can continue to grow.
• Act as the leadership subject matter expert, shaping what great Asda leadership looks like in practice across knowledge, skills, behaviours and day‑to‑day management routines.
• Enable People Team SMEs and business SMEs to create and deliver the right learning content, rather than building everything yourself.
• Lead pathway work through squads, bringing together the right expertise from across the People Team and wider business to solve priority leadership capability gaps.
• Use third‑party designers or specialist partners where additional capacity or expertise is needed to create high‑quality learning experiences.
• Ensure leadership learning connects clearly to our HR through‑the‑line principles and helps leaders become great people managers.
• Support a smaller number of targeted coaching or team coaching interventions where they are the right solution, but with less emphasis on direct coaching delivery.
• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders, ensuring the Leadership Academy is aligned to business priorities and leadership expectations.
• Use data, feedback and insight to evaluate impact, improve the pathway and keep the leadership offer relevant.
• Stay close to external trends and best practice in leadership development, learning design and people management capability.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a Learning and Development Manager, leadership development, talent, academy, or business partnering role.
• Strong understanding of leadership development and what it takes to build practical, scalable pathways for leaders in a large organisation.
• Experience of shaping clear learning pathways from onboarding through to progression.
• Ability to work through squads and enable subject matter experts to create and deliver learning content.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage, influence and align leaders and SMEs at different levels.
• Experience of working through a large and complex organisation, balancing business priorities with practical delivery.
• Good understanding of learning methodologies, adult learning principles and practical learning design.
• Experience with evaluation techniques and using data, feedback and insight to improve learning pathways and demonstrate impact.
• Coaching experience would be beneficial, but the emphasis of this role is academy leadership, pathway ownership and enabling others to create great leadership content.
• Relevant certifications in learning and development, leadership development, coaching, or psychometrics would be advantageous.

You will also get an excellent benefits package including;

• £5,700 company car or car allowance plus discretionary company bonus
• Company pension up to 7% matched
• 10% colleague discount, free parking, and many additional rewards.

We want all colleagues to be able to bring their best and true selves to work, every day. Simply put, we want our colleagues to be Proud to be Asda and proud to be themselves.

Everything you'll love

To ensure we balance moments where we know we need to collaborate together and the need for flexibility, Asda has a hybrid way of working with a minimum 3 days a week in one of our Home Offices. Over and above this, each area of Asda may have additional requirements which may require spending more days in the office, visiting suppliers, stores or depots.

You Will Also Get An Excellent Benefits Package Including

• Discretionary company bonus
• Company pension up to 7% matched
• Company Car allowance of £5,700
• 15% colleague discount in store and online
• Free access to wellbeing services such as Stream, 24/7 virtual GP, counselling, health and dental cash plans and a 24/7 employee assistance helpline, alongside discounts across a range of services and activities, from airport parking, enhanced to theme parks and cinemas.
• Asda Allies Inclusion Networks - helping colleagues to make sure everybody is included and that our differences are recognised and celebrated
• Excellent parental leave policies, including maternity & adoption leave, paternity leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave, and support for those doing fertility treatments.

We want all colleagues to be able to bring their best and true selves to work, every day. Simply put, we want our colleagues to be Proud to be Asda and proud to be themselves