Learning & Talent Director

Cohesity; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 191,000 - 212,000; Full time

Job summary

Cohesity in Santa Clara, CA seeks a senior talent development leader who designs and scales enterprise learning across the organization, combining people strategy with AI-enabled technology. You’ll build leadership pipelines, align talent programs with business goals, and partner with executives to drive measurable capability improvements.

You’ll own the learning strategy and journey design, orchestrating the learning stack (Docebo, Udemy, MS365) while ensuring AI-enabled enablement becomes a

Qualifications

• Progressive experience in Learning & Development, Organizational Development, or Talent Management
• Deep grounding in adult learning theory and instructional design
• Executive presence and ability to influence senior leaders
• Strong facilitation across in-person and virtual formats
• Analytical fluency with learning analytics and ROI
• Experience managing budgets, vendors, and learning tech platforms

Responsibilities

• Develop leadership pipelines and succession-aligned development pathways for leaders
• Partner with People team on performance mgmt, goal setting, and calibration
• Own enterprise AI enablement strategy and capability transformations
• Lead high-stakes team effectiveness engagements and culture initiatives
• Translate complex business challenges into targeted learning interventions
• Direct strategy and orchestration of learning tech stack (Docebo, Udemy, MS365)

Job description

We strongly prefer candidates who are currently located in or near the designated job location. Candidates outside the area should apply only if they are committed to relocating prior to their start date and have the legal right to work in the job location.

Cohesity is a leader in AI-powered data security and management. Aided by an extensive ecosystem of partners, Cohesity makes it easy to secure, protect, manage, and get value from data — across the data center, edge, and cloud. Cohesity helps organizations defend against cybersecurity threats with comprehensive data security and management capabilities, including immutable backup snapshots, AI-based threat detection, monitoring for malicious behavior, and rapid recovery at scale.

We’ve been named a Leader by multiple analyst firms and have been globally recognized for Innovation, Product Strength, and Simplicity in Design.

Join us on our mission to shape the future of our industry.

You are a senior talent, learning and organizational development practitioner who builds and directs high-performing teams while operating at the intersection of human capability, business strategy, and emerging technology. You don't just design programs — you set strategy, develop talent, and build the right intervention for the moment, whether that’s a learning experience, a team effectiveness engagement, a capability framework, or something that doesn't yet have a name. At Cohesity, you'll shape how we build the human and organizational capability needed to compete and win in an AI-powered world.

HOW YOU'LL SPEND YOUR TIME HERE:

Leadership and Manager Effectiveness:

• Develop leadership pipelines and succession-aligned development pathways for emerging, mid-level, and senior leaders
• Partner with the broader People team on talent management processes including performance management, goal setting, and calibration ensuring manager capability programs equip leaders to run these processes well
• Use employee engagement data and QBR feedback to continuously improve program design and demonstrate impact

AI Enablement Strategy:

• Own and continuously evolve an enterprise-wide AI enablement strategy, drawing on deep experience leading large-scale capability transformations across complex, global organizations
• Architect capability frameworks, role-based learning journeys, and adoption campaigns that move the workforce from awareness to sustained, measurable productivity with tools including Microsoft Copilot and Claude
• Forge executive partnerships with IT, Operations, and business unit leaders to integrate learning strategy with tool rollout, governance, and adoption metrics ensuring enablement is treated as a business imperative, not a training afterthought

Organizational Effectiveness and Integration:

• Lead high-stakes team effectiveness engagements (e.g., Insights Discovery), culture initiatives, and integration experiences at the executive and senior-leader level, building shared identity and ways of working across newly combined organizations
• Serve as a trusted diagnostician to senior leaders bringing pattern recognition earned over a career of organizational work to assess root causes and recommend the right intervention, whether developmental, facilitative, or structural
• Own and evolve "One Team" culture programming as a strategic asset, ensuring it matures alongside the organization rather than merely persisting

Strategic Business Partnerships:

• Translate ambiguous, complex business challenges into sharply targeted interventions, drawing on a track record of doing so across multiple business cycles, organizations, and industries
• Direct end-to-end engagement lifecycles stakeholder discovery, program architecture, delivery, and outcome measurement while holding a high bar for rigor and business relevance
• Influence at the VP and C-suite level, shaping how leaders think about capability, culture, and organizational health, not just responding to requests

Learning Technology and Ecosystem:

• Direct the strategy and orchestration of the learning stack Docebo, Udemy, Franklin Covey, MS365, and enterprise AI tools to deliver scalable, modern learning experiences for a distributed global workforce
• Bring an informed, forward-looking point of view on where learning technology is headed, making build/buy/sunset decisions that keep the ecosystem lean and effective
• Define and uphold the function's quality bar, elevating the craft of the entire team and setting the standard for what great looks like at Cohesity

WE'D LOVE TO TALK TO YOU IF YOU HAVE MANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

Rather than years-of-service requirements, here is what readiness looks like for this role:

• Progressive experience in Learning & Development, Organizational Development, or Talent Management
• Demonstrated success designing and scaling enterprise learning strategies in a fast-growing, complex, or post-acquisition environment
• Deep grounding in adult learning theory, instructional design, OD methodologies, and change management
• Strong understanding of talent management processes especially performance management and how development programs connect to goal setting, reviews, calibration, and succession planning
• Executive presence and proven ability to influence and advise senior leaders across functions
• Strong facilitation skills across in-person and virtual formats, from intact teams to large audiences
• Analytical fluency: comfort with engagement data, learning analytics, and building the ROI case for learning investments
• Experience managing budgets, vendors, and learning technology platforms (LMS/LXP)
• Familiarity with generative AI tools and a point of view on how AI reshapes workforce capability
• Bachelor's degree in HR, Organizational Development, Education, or related field; Master's degree or certifications (e.g., CPTD, SHRM-SCP, coaching credentials) a plus

A Note on the Nature of This Role

We operate in a fast-moving industry where technology, tools, and priorities can shift quickly. The responsibilities listed here reflect where we are today — but this role will evolve. We're looking for someone who sees that as an opportunity, not an obstacle. Adaptability, curiosity, and a willingness to grow alongside the business are just as important as any specific skill listed above.

How We Work

• We operate as a small, senior team which means high ownership, direct access to the partnerships that matter, and real accountability for outcomes
• We expect you to bring a point of view and set direction, not just execute; the best ideas here come from practitioners who are close to the work
• We use AI tools actively and practically across the team not as a novelty, but as a genuine part of how we design, research, and deliver
• We hold ourselves to a high-quality bar and believe that measurable business impact and positive employee experience are key indicators of success in this function
• We collaborate across the People team and with business stakeholders constantly; this is not a role for someone who prefers to work in isolation

Disclosure Pursuant to Applicable State Equal Pay Transparency Laws - This position has a starting pay range as listed below. Actual salary depends upon many factors, including a candidate’s skills, qualifications and experience, location, and salary expectations, and therefore a starting salary at the low end, high end, or even above the stated range may be offered. This position may also be eligible for bonus compensation, commission (if in a sales function), and/or equity grants. Additionally, full-time employees are eligible to participate in our comprehensive benefits framework, including health and wellness benefits, vacation, paid holidays and refresh days, 401(k) retirement plan, life and disability insurance coverages, and other benefits the Company may offer from time to time.

Pay Range :

$190,800.00-$212,000.00

The compensation noted above is based on an annualized hourly rate assuming normal full-time employment.

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Equal Employment Opportunity Employer (EEOE)

Cohesity is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or nationality, ancestry, age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, veteran status or any other category protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, or are limited in the ability or unable to access or use this online application process and need an alternative method for applying, you may contact us at 1-855-9COHESITY or [e-mail] for assistance.

In-Office Expectations: Cohesity employees who are within a reasonable commute (e.g. within a forty‑five (45) minute average travel time) work out of our core offices 2-3 days a week of their choosing.

Interested candidates based outside of the designated areas are welcome to apply, provided they have the right to work in the job location.