Talent Development Leader

At Vast, our mission is to contribute to a future where billions of people are living and thriving in space. We are building artificial gravity space stations, allowing long-term stays in space without the adverse effects of zero-gravity. Our initial crewed space habitat will be Haven-1, scheduled to be the world’s first commercial space station when it launches into low earth orbit in August 2025. Our team is all-in, committed to executing our mission safely and on time. If you want to work with the most talented people on Earth furthering space exploration for humanity, come join us.

Vast is looking for a Talent Development Leader, reporting to the SVP of People, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations. This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.

In this role, you will be responsible for spearheading the design, development, and implementation of programs, products, tools, and processes related to talent development. These encompass leadership development, training, DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging), performance management, and employee engagement. This leader will demonstrate the ability and initiative to comprehend the business's needs, analyze challenges, and identify talent solutions and outcomes that align with Vast's core values. If you enjoy collaborating with a close-knit and dynamic team, are driven by results, continuous improvement, and seek diverse opportunities for personal and professional growth, this role is an excellent fit for you. The incumbent will play a pivotal role in cultivating a culture of learning, fostering inclusion, equity, and belonging, and strategically expanding the capacity and capabilities of talent at Vast.

Responsibilities: 

• Talent Development Strategy – in support of Vast’s business outcomes, define the talent development (learning & development) strategy and drive the success and overall adoption of identified initiatives and programs through effective partnership with business leaders. 
• Talent Development product management – influence and drive the strategy and execution for applicable talent development products and tools, such as the onboarding program, manager/leadership development programs, trainings (including strategy and administration of the learning management system), performance management, and employee engagement (e.g., onboarding surveys, pulse checks, employee stay surveys, exit survey).
• Design and Execution - design, development, and implementation of the talent development roadmap and programs. Partners with leaders, cross-functional team members, and employees to further embed talent development practices at Vast. Demonstrate intellectual curiosity; bringing insight into the team to inform decisions.  
• Talent coach, advisor, and partner  - partner and coach managers and leaders using a systematic approach to enhancing team organizational effectiveness. Areas of focus may include team performance, employee development, operational efficiency, organizational/employee structure, and productivity. Identify and integrate DEI learning and development into business priorities, principles and operations to drive a culture of inclusiveness and belonging. Partner with cross-functional leaders to evaluate initiatives to ensure that DEI has been considered, including but not limited to People policies, practices, procedures, and internal communications.
• Measuring impact - Analyzes data and draws insights to assess talent development products and solutions, recognize potential issues, diagnose root causes and craft viable solutions. Use data to measure the outcomes of projects, pilots, and process improvement and leverage results to inform business decisions.
• Partner with vendors or external organizations to address Vast’s talent development opportunities. Manage vendor relationships and expectations as appropriate. Examples may include external training content providers, LMS management and administration, coaches, learning programs, etc.
• Work closely with internal stakeholders, including IT and HR, to enhance current products, technology and solutions to simplify processes and enhance end-user experience.
• Drive budget & standards - Manages employee development program budgets and annual forecasting. Create and maintain talent development standards and processes to support consistency across programs and cohesive user experience.
• People manage & Cross-functional collaboration - Manager direct report(s) as the team grows, influence across teams, partner with internal subject matter experts on driving talent development standards and content creation as appropria