Manager, FPRS Learning & Development (Hybrid)

Guardian Life; Pittsfield (MA); Hybrid; USD 88,000 - 144,000; Full time

Job summary

Guardian Life is seeking an experienced Learning and Development leader to guide the L&D team supporting the Financial Protection and Retirement Solutions Contact Center and Operations. You will design and deliver targeted curricula, modernize learning with new tools, including AI, and align programs with business goals and compliance.

You will partner with leaders to diagnose performance gaps, develop solutions, and measure impact on speed to competency, service quality, and customer

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in a related field.
• 5+ years managing a training team for operations, service and support across multiple media.
• Experience designing and delivering professional development curricula.
• Knowledge of L&D methodologies and adult learning best practices.
• Familiarity with training tech and external content partners.

Responsibilities

• Own the L&D agenda for FPRS Contact Center and Operations, and modernize learning.
• Lead and grow a team of learning professionals.
• Partner with operations and HR to diagnose needs and deliver measurable results.
• Embed Guardian CARE principles into learning and ensure regulatory compliance.

Skills

L&D leadership

Consultative

Forward-thinking

Adult learning

Analytical

Change management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Organizational Development, Human Resources, Instructional Design, Instructional Technology

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Articulate

Adobe Creative Cloud

Job description

Hybrid - In office 3 days per week

Bethlehem

Pittsfield

Full time

R000110586

We are seeking a strategic, experienced, and forward-thinking L&D leader to lead the Learning and Development (L&D) team supporting the Financial Protection and Retirement Solutions (FPRS) Contact Center and Operations teams. Reporting to the Head of Operational Solutions, you will lead the team to design, develop, and deliver engaging, highly targeted curricula and programs, using a range of delivery methods, that build the capabilities of our Contact Center and Operations business partners. You will modernize our approach to L&D, bringing new tools, including AI, to how we design and deliver learning while staying firmly grounded in adult learning best practices. You will anticipate how our workforce and the skills we need are evolving, and grow the L&D team's capabilities to meet them. You will deliver solutions that improve colleague fungibility across operations and service, building consistency and resilience; foster a culture of continuous learning; and drive the upskilling our future workforce will need. Throughout, you will keep the customer at the center and reinforce the service that makes Guardian's service teams award-winning.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the L&D team to design, develop, and deliver highly targeted curricula, programs, and services for business partners, including technical and professional training, using various methods of delivery and ensuring they are timely, accurate, and effective.
• Partner with business leaders to assess learning needs, diagnose performance gaps, and translate them into learning solutions that deliver measurable results.
• Modernize how the team designs and delivers learning; research and apply new tools and approaches, including AI, and build the team's skills and confidence to use them well, increasing the engagement, speed, quality, and effectiveness of L&D while applying sound instructional judgment.
• Keep the team grounded in adult learning best practices and sound instructional design, ensuring programs are engaging and measurably improve performance.
• Deliver learning solutions that improve colleague fungibility across Operations and Service, enabling cross-training and multi-skilling so the organization can quickly and readily flex to where demand is greatest and build consistency and resilience.
• Build learning around transferable skills, not just role- or process-specific steps, so colleagues develop the common capabilities that make cross-training and movement across functions seamless.
• Lead onboarding and ongoing development programs that accelerate speed to proficiency and prepare colleagues for how roles will shift as automation and AI reshape the work, building the higher-judgment skills these emerging roles will demand so colleagues are ready to grow with evolving career paths.
• Embed Guardian's CARE principles and consumer-engagement best practices into learning, so programs build the service mindset and relationship skills that strengthen the customer experience, not only technical and process knowledge.
• Ensure training meets regulatory and compliance requirements, including timely completion and documentation of mandatory training to maintain audit readiness, and reinforces the service excellence behind Guardian's award-winning service team.
• Manage the team's learning technology and external learning vendors and content partners, keeping content current, accurate, and compliant as products, systems, and processes change.
• Establish measures of learning effectiveness, and leverage data and analytics to demonstrate impact against measurable business outcomes such as speed to competency, service quality, cost-to-serve, customer satisfaction, and internal performance measures.
• Remain informed of external and industry trends, and translate those insights into actionable programs that keep colleague skills aligned to changing demands.
• Set clear objectives and performance goals for the team; manage performance, coaching, and development in partnership with HR; assess talent, identify development needs, and act on employee engagement survey results.
• Lead the team through change, foster a culture of continuous learning, and champion new tools, processes, and ways of working, bringing colleagues along with confidence.

You are:

• An experienced L&D leader: You bring strong business knowledge and a track record of leading teams that design, develop, and deliver effective training.
• Consultative: You partner with business leaders to diagnose performance gaps and design learning that solves them.
• Forward-thinking: You bring fresh thinking to how learning is designed and delivered, applying new tools, including AI, where they add value.
• Grounded in adult learning: You are disciplined in instructional design and adult learning best practices, with the judgment to apply them well.
• Business- and outcome-focused: You assess processes to drive efficiencies, connect learning to performance and the customer experience, and measure its impact.
• Analytical: You leverage data and analytics to improve customer satisfaction and internal performance measures.
• A talent builder: You assess talent, identify areas to further develop, and grow the capability of the team and the broader workforce.
• A change leader: You lead and manage through change, bringing colleagues along with positivity and confidence.
• Collaborative: You work effectively with and influence leaders and partners at all levels across the organization.

You have:

• A Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Organizational Development, Human Resources, Instructional Design, Instructional Technology, or a related field, and/or equivalent experience; Master's degree preferred.
• 5+ years successfully managing a training team responsible for the design, development, and delivery of training to operations, service, and support areas, across multiple mediums (instructor-led, virtual, e-learning, and audio/video).
• Demonstrated success managing the design, development, and delivery of professional development curricula using various methods of delivery.
• Strong knowledge of learning and development methodologies, formal design and development approaches, and adult learning best practices.
• Experience assessing learning needs and measuring and evaluating learning effectiveness and business impact.
• Familiarity with training technology and authoring tools (e.g., Articulate, Adobe Creative Cloud, etc.), video and audio production, and learning management systems; experience managing external training vendors or content partners is a plus.
• Awareness of how AI and emerging tools can modernize learning design, delivery, and content maintenance.
• Working knowledge of consumer-engagement and service-excellence best practices, including Guardian's CARE principles, and the ability to embed them into learning.
• An understanding of what drives a valued customer experience, and the ability to work collaboratively with leaders at all levels across the organization.
• The ability to embrace change and adapt to changing business priorities and environments, with experience leading change.
• Knowledge of the protection industry and the organizational structures and processes of a service and operations environment; experience in a regulated financial services or insurance environment is a plus.

You will:

• Own the L&D agenda for FPRS Contact Center and Operations, setting direction for the team and how we modernize learning
• Lead, develop, and grow a team of learning professionals
• Partner closely with operations and contact center leadership, business partners, Quality, Workforce Management, and HR
• Be supported by the Head of Operational Solutions while leading with autonomy to challenge the status quo and grow the impact of the L&D function

Salary Range:

$87,930.00 - $144,465.00

The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.

Our Promise

At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals. Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.

Inspire Well-Being

As part of Guardian’s Purpose – to inspire well-being – we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues. Explore our company benefits at www.guardianlife.com/careers/corporate/benefits . Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Guardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.

Accommodations

Guardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [e-mail] . Please note: this resource is for accommodation requests only. For all other inquires related to your application and careers at Guardian, refer to the Guardian Careers site.

Visa Sponsorship

Guardian Life is not currently or in the foreseeable future sponsoring employment-based visas (e.g., such as an H-1B). In order to be a successful applicant, you must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship/support now or at any time in the future.

Notice Regarding Guardian’s Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment

As part of Guardian’s job application process, Guardian may use artificial intelligence tools (“AI Tools