Senior Manager, Retail Learning & Development

Crate and Barrel; Northbrook (IL); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Crate and Barrel is seeking a Senior Manager, Retail Learning & Development to lead talent development across Crate and Barrel, CB2, and Outlet stores. You will own the end-to-end learning process, from intake to sustainment, covering product, selling, design, customer service, digital adoption, and leadership development.

The role is an on-site leadership position based in Northbrook, IL with the option to work remotely on Fridays.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of training development experience.
• 3+ years in supervisory/leadership roles.
• Retail experience preferred.
• Willingness to travel to store locations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.

Responsibilities

• Align store training strategies with business goals.
• Plan and execute long-term initiatives and urgent priorities.
• Conduct needs analyses with retail leaders and partners.
• Design blended instructional programs and leadership training.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure relevant content.
• Establish evaluation metrics and report training impact.
• Stay current on learning modalities and technologies.
• Direct rollout strategies and Train-the-Trainer programs.
• Lead the store training team and engage stakeholders.

Skills

Training design

Leadership development

Strategic partnerships

Change management

Facilitation & delivery

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

This role is responsible for the talent development, training, education, and promoting engagement across Retail stores including Crate and Barrel, CB2, and Outlet stores. This position owns the end-to-end learning process from intake to sustainment to continued innovation while managing a diverse scope of topics—product, selling, design, customer service, digital adoption, and leadership development aligning channel-specific needs with organizational priorities.

• This is an on-site position (Monday through Thursday) based out of our Northbrook, IL offices with the flexibility to work remotely on Fridays.
• This role is an People Leader position

A day in the life of a Senior Manager, Retail Learning & Development…

• Strategic Alignment & Leadership: Partner with Senior Leadership (EVP Stores, Regional Directors, Senior Director of Store Operations, and Retail HR Director) to identify priority initiatives and define store training strategies aligned with business goals to drive performance in sales, service, product, leadership, and operations.
• Strategic Planning & Execution: Demonstrate both long-term strategic vision and urgency in responding to immediate business priorities to continuously improve store performance.
• Needs Analysis & Solution Design: Conduct comprehensive training needs analyses with retail leaders, HR, and cross-functional partners to diagnose talent gaps and provide strategic, scalable learning solutions across stores.
• Curriculum & Program Development: Oversee learning professionals and subject matter experts in designing and building high-impact, blended instructional programs and store leadership training.
• Cross-Functional Partnerships: Work closely with all cross functional and cross branded teams including Store Operations, Merchandising, Customer Care to ensure relevant and accurate content is delivered to stores.
• Evaluation & Impact Reporting: Establish evaluation metrics to assess training effectiveness, refine learning resources, and provide ad-hoc talent reporting and insights to leadership.
• Innovation & Best Practices: Stay current on modern learning modalities, emerging technologies, and retail industry trends to simplify and continually elevate store training programs.
• Rollout & Change Management: Direct rollout strategies, including communication plans and Train-the-Trainer programs, ensuring proactive communication and effective execution in stores.
• Team Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement: Direct performance and development for the store training team while building strong collaborative relationships with store leaders and corporate partners.

What you’ll bring to the table…

• Outstanding reading and written language skills (English)
• Excellent communication and training facilitation skills; strong virtual presence
• Excellent interpersonal and management skills
• Strong knowledge of technology used in training
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
• Strong ability to prioritize and delegate workload effectively
• Proven record of creating and executing training programs
• Ability to influence across several levels of leadership and the associate population

We’d love to hear from you if you have…

• 7+ years training development experience
• 3+ years supervisory/leadership experience
• Retail experience preferred
• Ability to travel to store locations as needed