LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST

Department Talent Management (People)
Reports To VP of Talent Management
Location Hybrid DFW Area
FLSA Status Exempt
Job Type Full-Time


Position Summary
At Mendocino Farms, we don’t just sell sandwiches – we Sell Happy!
The Learning & Development Specialist is the engine behind how learning comes to life at Mendo. This role sits at the center of our L&D ecosystem—bringing structure, clarity, and momentum to the programs that develop our people. From onboarding to manager training, you make sure every experience is thoughtfully organized, seamlessly executed, and easy to engage with.
You’ll own the systems, logistics, and operations that keep training running across the business—most notably our Learning Management System (LMS) and our Manager-in-Training (MIT) program. While you’ll partner closely with Instructional Design and Field Training teams on content and experience, you are the one who brings it all together and makes it real.
If you’re someone who loves building order out of complexity, takes pride in details, and gets energy from helping others succeed behind the scenes—this role will feel like home.
Key Responsibilities

Training Coordination & Program Operations
• Serve as the operational lead for all training programs, owning scheduling, logistics, and coordination from planning through execution.
• Partner closely with Field Training Partners and the Instructional Designer on program design and content flow, providing operational input and ensuring programs are structured for successful delivery.
• Translate approved training designs into actionable schedules, communications, and logistics plans; own the handoff from design to deployment.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for training logistics including room bookings, equipment setup, virtual platform configuration, and vendor coordination.
• Manage the organization-wide training calendar and communicate schedules proactively to employees, managers, and facilitators.
• Track training attendance, completions, and certification status; follow up with participants and supervisors on outstanding requirements.
• Coordinate new hire onboarding training activities in collaboration with HR, Field Training Partners, and department teams.
• Gather and consolidate post-training feedback and data; share findings with Field Training Partners and the Instructional Designer to support ongoing program evaluation and improvement.
• Owns onboarding experience for all base camp team members, including orientation, needed travel, in-store experience coordination, and ensureing time with relevant subject matter experts is scheduled according to role.

LMS Ownership & Administration
• Own and serve as the sole system administrator for the LMS, holding full accountability for platform integrity, configuration, governance, and performance.
• Make independent decisions regarding LMS architecture, including course structure, learning path design, curriculum organization, and user role configuration.
• Partner with the Instructional Designer on content structure and learner experience flow within the LMS; translate approved designs into published courses and learning paths.
• Lead the evaluation, selection, and implementation of new LMS features, integrations, and third-party content partnerships; present recommendations and drive decisions through to execution.
• Establish and enforce LMS governance standards, naming conventions, content lifecycle policies, and system usage guidelines across the organization.
• Manage all user accounts, roles, groups, and permissions; hold decision-making authority over user access levels and organizational hierarchy within the system.
• Own the course library and make final decisions on content publishing, archiving, updating, and retirement in alignment with Field Training Partners and the Instructional Designer.
• Own all LMS reporting and analytics; design and deliver dashboards, completion reports, and compliance tracking to leadership and stakeholders.
• Manage the LMS vendor relationship, including technical support escalations, roadmap discussions, and system enhancements or contract changes in partnership with leadership.
• Maintain comprehensive LMS documentation including administrative SOPs, user guides, and system change logs.
MIT Training & Travel Program
• Own the end-to-end administration of the MIT (Manager-in-Training) Training & Travel Program, serving as the primary decision-maker for program operations and participant experience.
• Hold full budget accountability for the MIT Training & Travel Program, including annual budget planning, expense tracking, cost forecasting, and variance reporting.
• Exercise independent spending authority within a