Strategic Talent & Development Leader

Oak View Group; Manchester; On-site; GBP 41,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Co-op Live is hiring a Talent & Development Manager to lead the development and delivery of the talent and learning strategy, ensuring we attract, develop, retain and grow the talent needed to deliver business success.

The role combines strategic talent management with hands‑on delivery, working closely with operational leaders to understand business needs and translate these into effective people development solutions. Salary Up to £45,000 per annum.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a Talent Management, Learning & Development or Organisational Development role.
• Experience of managing successful end-to-end volume recruitment campaigns.
• Experience working with community partnership groups and demonstrate positive impacts.
• Experience driving diversity & inclusion in the recruitment process.
• Be familiar using an ATS system and confident in navigating your way around.
• Management of data, identifying trends to drive improved recruitment processes.
• Experience designing and implementing talent and development strategies.
• Strong understanding of leadership development and succession planning.
• Experience delivering learning programmes within a leisure, venue or sports environment.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Strong coaching, facilitation and communication skills.
• Ability to interpret people data and translate insight into practical action.
• Commercially minded, with the ability to demonstrate the impact of development initiatives.
• Experience of managing successful end-to-end volume recruitment campaigns.
• Experience working with community partnership groups and demonstrate positive impacts.
• Experience driving diversity & inclusion in the recruitment process.
• Management of data, identifying trends to drive improved recruitment processes

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a talent management strategy aligned to business objectives.
• Identify high‑potential colleagues and critical talent across the team.
• Establish robust succession plans for key leadership and operational positions.
• Develop career pathways and progression opportunities across the team.
• Introduce talent reviews and performance calibration processes.
• Support internal mobility and promotion, strengthening the organisation’s internal talent pipeline.
• Design and deliver an annual learning and development strategy.
• Identify organisational learning needs through engagement with operational teams and business leaders.
• Develop engaging learning programmes for all levels of the organisation.
• Oversee management and leadership development programmes.
• Create structured onboarding and induction experiences.
• Ensure mandatory, compliance and role‑specific training is delivered effectively.
• Evaluate the impact and return on investment of learning interventions.
• Build leadership capability at every level, from emerging managers through to senior leadership.
• Develop programmes covering people management, performance, communication, engagement and operational leadership.
• Coach and support managers to become confident, effective people leaders.
• Establish consistent management standards and expectations across all sites.
• Develop a leadership development framework linked to Co-op Live’s values and behaviours.
• Create a leadership development pathway for casual and frontline colleagues to progress into team leader, supervisor and management positions.
• Develop strategies to attract and retain emerging talent.
• Establish apprenticeship, graduate and early careers pathways where appropriate.
• Build relationships with education providers and external talent partners.
• Create opportunities for colleagues to gain new skills and experience.
• Lead the development of the organisation’s performance management framework.
• Embed meaningful performance conversations, objective setting and personal development plans.
• Support managers in identifying development needs and addressing performance gaps.
• Drive a culture of feedback, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Support initiatives that strengthen employee engagement, inclusion and organisational culture.
• Use employee feedback and engagement data to identify development priorities.
• Champion recognition, career development and internal progression.
• Work collaboratively with the wider People team to improve the employee experience.

Skills

Talent Management

Learning & Development

Organisational Development

Stakeholder Management

Coaching & Facilitation

Communication Skills

ATS Experience

Data Analytics

Recruitment Campaigns

Diversity & Inclusion

Education

CIPD or equivalent

Tools

ATS System

Job description

Co-op Live is hiring a Talent & Development Manager to lead the development and delivery of the talent and learning strategy, ensuring we attract, develop, retain and grow the talent needed to deliver business success.

The role combines strategic talent management with hands‑on delivery, working closely with operational leaders to understand business needs and translate these into effective people development solutions. Salary Up to £45,000 per annum.