Manufacturing L&D Lead — Build Leaders & Capabilities

Acorn by Synergie; Barnstaple; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and benefits

Job summary

Acorn by Synergie partners with a successful manufacturing business to recruit an experienced Learning & Development Lead in Barnstaple. You will shape the L&D strategy, build capability across operations and drive a culture of continuous learning to improve performance.

This role blends strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, coaching managers, leading onboarding, and using data to measure training impact in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in Learning & Development within manufacturing/industrial environments.
• 5+ years in L&D, Talent Development or Organisational Development roles.
• Designing and delivering engaging training programmes.
• Strong facilitation, coaching and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience supporting leadership and management development.
• Data-driven decision-making approach.
• Experience using learning management systems and digital platforms (Insights, MBTI, DiSC, Hogan).
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Bachelor's degree in HR, Education, OD, Psychology or related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead learning and development initiatives across Operations and HR.
• Develop and deliver the site’s L&D strategy.
• Identify skills gaps and implement development solutions.
• Design and facilitate leadership and management training programmes.
• Support succession planning and talent development initiatives.
• Coach managers to build high-performing teams and strengthen people management.
• Lead onboarding and induction programmes for new employees.
• Manage training compliance, learning records and development pathways.
• Evaluate learning effectiveness and drive continuous improvement with data.
• Build relationships across Operations, Quality, HR and senior leadership.

Skills

Learning & Development

Facilitation

Coaching

Stakeholder management

Data-driven decision making

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or related field

Tools

Learning Management Systems

Insights

MBTI

DiSC

Hogan

Job description

Acorn by Synergie partners with a successful manufacturing business to recruit an experienced Learning & Development Lead in Barnstaple. You will shape the L&D strategy, build capability across operations and drive a culture of continuous learning to improve performance.

This role blends strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, coaching managers, leading onboarding, and using data to measure training impact in a fast-paced environment.