Director Agent Training & Development

Farm Bureau Financial Services; West Des Moines (IA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with match

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Life and disability insurance

Paid time off & holidays

Volunteer time

Hybrid work arrangement

Job summary

Farm Bureau Financial Services seeks a Director of Agent Training & Development to lead strategy, execution, and measurement of training programs for Agents, Agency Managers, and staff. You will guide classroom, field, virtual, and coaching experiences to drive productivity and sales effectiveness.

The role focuses on partnering with senior leaders to close skill gaps, scale development programs, and improve performance across insurance products and distribution models.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required.
• Approximately 10+ years of experience in insurance, financial services, training, education, sales leadership, or a related field.
• Proven success leading training, development, learning, or performance improvement initiatives.
• Deep understanding of insurance products, sales processes, agency operations, and field distribution models.
• Expertise in instructional design, adult learning principles, and modern learning technologies.
• Strong leadership experience with a track record of developing teams and influencing organizational outcomes.
• Industry designation such as ChFC, CIC, CLU, CPCU, or a comparable professional credential.
• Ability to obtain and maintain applicable insurance licenses.
• Willingness to travel up to 25%, including overnight travel.

Responsibilities

• Lead and evolve a comprehensive training and development strategy that supports agency growth and business objectives.
• Direct and develop Regional Field Trainers and centralized training teams, ensuring impactful learning experiences across multiple delivery channels.
• Collaborate with business leaders to design and implement training solutions focused on sales effectiveness, product knowledge, compliance, systems utilization, and operational excellence.
• Drive adoption and effectiveness of agency sales and administration tools through coaching, classroom instruction, virtual learning, and field support.
• Establish meaningful performance metrics and measurement strategies to evaluate training effectiveness and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Manage programs designed to increase productivity and business growth through agent support and development initiatives.
• Build strong partnerships across the organization to align learning objectives with strategic priorities.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team while overseeing departmental budgets, resources, and priorities.
• Ensure training programs remain innovative, scalable, and aligned with evolving business needs and industry requirements.

Skills

Leadership

Instructional design

Adult learning

Strategic planning

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Learning technologies

Job description

Director Agent Training & Development

Are you passionate about developing people, building high-impact training strategies, and helping sales professionals reach their full potential? We're looking for a Director, Agent Training & Development to lead the vision, strategy, and execution of training programs that empower Agents, Agency Managers, and agency support staff to succeed.

In this influential leadership role, you'll oversee a team of training professionals responsible for delivering innovative learning experiences across classroom, field, virtual, and coaching environments. You'll partner with senior leaders to identify skill gaps, enhance performance, and create scalable development programs that strengthen productivity, sales effectiveness, operational excellence, and business results.

With Farm Bureau Financial Services, our client/members can feel confident knowing their family, home, cars and other property are protected. We value a culture where integrity, teamwork, passion, service, leadership and accountability are at the heart of every decision we make and every action we take. We’re proud of our more than 80-year commitment to protecting the livelihoods and futures of our client/members and creating an atmosphere where our employees thrive.

What You'll Do

• Lead and evolve a comprehensive training and development strategy that supports agency growth and business objectives.
• Direct and develop Regional Field Trainers and centralized training teams, ensuring impactful learning experiences across multiple delivery channels.
• Collaborate with business leaders to design and implement training solutions focused on sales effectiveness, product knowledge, compliance, systems utilization, and operational excellence.
• Drive adoption and effectiveness of agency sales and administration tools through coaching, classroom instruction, virtual learning, and field support.
• Establish meaningful performance metrics and measurement strategies to evaluate training effectiveness and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Manage programs designed to increase productivity and business growth through agent support and development initiatives.
• Build strong partnerships across the organization to align learning objectives with strategic priorities.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team while overseeing departmental budgets, resources, and priorities.
• Ensure training programs remain innovative, scalable, and aligned with evolving business needs and industry requirements.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required.
• Approximately 10+ years of experience in insurance, financial services, training, education, sales leadership, or a related field.
• Proven success leading training, development, learning, or performance improvement initiatives.
• Deep understanding of insurance products, sales processes, agency operations, and field distribution models.
• Expertise in instructional design, adult learning principles, and modern learning technologies.
• Strong leadership experience with a track record of developing teams and influencing organizational outcomes.
• Exceptional communication, relationship-building, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Industry designation such as ChFC, CIC, CLU, CPCU, or a comparable professional credential.
• Ability to obtain and maintain applicable insurance licenses.
• Willingness to travel up to 25%, including overnight travel.

What We Offer You:

When you’re on our team, you get more than a great paycheck. You’ll hear about career development and educational opportunities. We offer an enhanced 401K with a match, low-cost health, dental, and vision benefits, and life and disability insurance options. We also offer paid time off, including holidays and volunteer time, and teams who know how to have fun. Add to that an onsite wellness facility with fitness classes and programs, a daycare center, a cafeteria, and for many positions, even consideration for a hybrid work arrangement.Farm Bureau....where the grass really IS greener!

Work Authorization/Sponsorship:

At this time, we are not considering candidates that need any type of immigration sponsorship now or in the future, such as additional or permanent work authorization. Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time, permanent basis. We are not able to sponsor now or in the future, or take over sponsorship of, an employment visa or work authorization for this role. For example, we are not considering candidates with OPT status.