Executive Director, Talent Management & Development

474 MS Services Group, Inc.; New York; On-site; USD 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

Executive Director, Head of Performance Management at Morgan Stanley in New York leads the strategy, design, and execution of performance management practices across the firm. You will drive goal setting, feedback, calibration, and talent decisions while delivering AI-enabled capabilities to improve manager effectiveness and employee development.

Collaborating with Talent, Technology, Legal, Risk, Compensation, and HR partners, you will shape governance, processes, and tooling to scale

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in Talent, Human Resources, Performance Management, HR strategy, organizational effectiveness, HR transformation, consulting, or related roles, ideally within a complex global organization.
• Deep understanding of performance management practices, talent processes, employee lifecycle moments, HR operating models, and implementing change at scale.
• Proven experience leading complex, enterprise-wide initiatives from strategy through execution, including governance, stakeholders, risk, and adoption.
• Comfort operating at the intersection of HR and Technology, translating business needs into digital solutions, process enhancements, and AI-enabled capabilities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use data, metrics, benchmarking, and feedback to shape recommendations.
• Excellent communication and executive-ready storytelling skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information and influence senior stakeholders.
• Highly collaborative and commercially minded, balancing employee experience, manager effectiveness, operational efficiency, and business outcomes.
• Proven ability to lead in a high-volume, fast-paced environment with attention to detail, urgency, judgment, and execution discipline.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Firmwide performance management strategy, including goal setting, ongoing feedback, mid-year conversations, year-end reviews, calibration, promotion, and related manager enablement practices.
• Design and evolve performance management frameworks, tools, operating models, governance, and communications across regions and businesses.
• Partner across HR, Technology, Legal, Risk, Compensation, Employee Services, and business stakeholders to deliver global performance processes with controls.
• Own the vision, roadmap, and delivery of AI-enabled performance management products and capabilities that improve manager effectiveness, employee development, adoption, and talent decision quality at scale.
• Develop leadership updates, decision materials, and strategic recommendations that clarify trade-offs, risks, dependencies, and business impact.
• Use data, stakeholder feedback, adoption metrics, and process outcomes to assess effectiveness and guide future investment.
• Equip managers and HR partners with practical guidance, training, and resources that improve performance conversations and talent decisions.
• Lead a high-performing team focused on performance management strategy, process excellence, product development, adoption, and continuous improvement.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Talent management

HR strategy

Performance management

Stakeholder management

Data analytics

AI-enabled tools

Executive communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Change management

Job description

Executive Director, Head of Performance Management Location: New York

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, investment management, and wealth management services to clients worldwide. The Firm’s people are critical to its success, and our culture is rooted in integrity, excellence, and strong team ethic.

The Global Head of Performance Management is responsible for leading the strategy, design, and execution of Morgan Stanley’s performance management practices. This role sits at the center of how the Firm defines performance expectations, enables quality manager conversations, supports fair and consistent talent decisions, and evolves the employee and manager experience at scale.

The role requires strong strategic judgment, disciplined execution, commercial problem‑solving, and the ability to operate at the intersection of Talent, HR, Technology, Risk, Legal, and the business. The ideal candidate can translate enterprise talent priorities into practical, scalable processes and tools that strengthen performance culture, improve decision quality, and reduce friction for employees, managers, and HR stakeholders.

In partnership with the Talent team, you will:

• Lead the Firmwide performance management strategy, including goal setting, ongoing feedback, mid‑year conversations, year‑end reviews, calibration, promotion, and related manager enablement practices.
• Design and evolve performance management frameworks, tools, operating models, governance, and communications that improve consistency, usability, and impact across regions and businesses.
• Partner across HR, Technology, Legal, Risk, Compensation, Employee Services, and business stakeholders to deliver global performance processes with strong execution discipline and appropriate controls.
• Own the vision, roadmap, and delivery of AI‑enabled performance management products and capabilities that improve manager effectiveness, employee development, adoption, and talent decision quality at scale.
• Develop leadership updates, decision materials, and strategic recommendations that clarify trade‑offs, risks, dependencies, and business impact.
• Use data, stakeholder feedback, adoption metrics, and process outcomes to assess effectiveness, identify improvement opportunities, and guide future investment.
• Equip managers and HR partners with practical guidance, training, and resources that improve the quality of performance conversations and talent decisions.
• Lead a high‑performing team focused on performance management strategy, process excellence, product development, adoption, and continuous improvement.

What you’ll bring to the role:

• 12+ years of experience in Talent, Human Resources, Performance Management, HR strategy, organizational effectiveness, HR transformation, consulting, or related roles, ideally within a complex global organization.
• Deep understanding of performance management practices, talent processes, employee lifecycle moments, HR operating models, and the practical realities of implementing change at scale.
• Proven experience leading complex, enterprise‑wide initiatives from strategy through execution, including governance, stakeholder alignment, risk management, and adoption.
• Comfort operating at the intersection of HR and Technology, with experience translating business needs into digital solutions, process enhancements, and AI‑enabled capabilities.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to use data, metrics, benchmarking, and feedback to shape recommendations and measure impact.
• Excellent communication and executive‑ready storytelling skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information, influence senior stakeholders, and drive decisions.
• Highly collaborative and commercially minded, with a focus on practical solutions that balance employee experience, manager effectiveness, operational efficiency, and business outcomes.
• Proven ability to lead in a high‑volume, fast‑paced environment with strong attention to detail, urgency, judgment, and execution discipline.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MORGAN STANLEY:

At Morgan Stanley, we raise, manage and allocate capital for our clients – helping them reach their goals. We do it in a way that’s differentiated – and we’ve done that for 90 years. Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you’ll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work‑life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There’s also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work. To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices into your browser.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in experience and background. Our recruiting efforts reflect our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion, where individuals are hired, developed, and advanced based on their skills and talents. Our workforce reflects a broad cross‑section of the global communities in which we operate, bringing a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and experiences. For more information, please visit: https://www.morganstanley.com/people-opportunities/eeo.

At Morgan Stanley, we advise, originate, trade, manage and distribute capital for people, governments and institutions, always with a standard of excellence and guided by our core values. Morgan Stanley is dedicated to providing first‑class service to our clients, in a way that reflects our commitment to creating a more sustainable future and fostering stronger communities around the world. In each line of business, we strive to demonstrate our belief in the power of transformative thinking, innovative strategies and leading‑edge solutions—and in the ability of capital to work for the benefit of all society.