Senior Manager, Talent Development

It's a new day with a new opportunity at 8am! 

About the role:

We’re seeking a strategic and forward-thinking Senior Manager, Talent Development to lead our company’s learning and growth agenda in a rapidly scaling, AI-driven SaaS environment. Reporting to the SVP, People, this role will architect the strategy and execution of our talent development, leadership programs, and career pathing initiatives to enable business success through people.

As a senior member of the People Team, you will partner closely with executives and department leaders to define our learning ecosystem, integrate AI-enabled tools, and build a culture of development and performance excellence. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in instructional design, leadership development, and organizational growth, as well as a proven ability to build scalable learning programs that blend human and digital experiences.

About us:

At 8am, our vision is to power a world where professionals thrive. We start every day on a mission to empower professionals with the most trusted, innovative technology to deliver world-class outcomes for their clients and exceptional financial results for their business. They count on our purpose-built solutions to simplify operations, ensure compliance, and fuel profitable growth, so they can focus on their clients and do more of the work that matters.

Founded in 2005, 8am™ (formerly AffiniPay) is the professional business platform built to help legal, accounting, and other client-focused professionals run stronger, more profitable businesses. Today, more than 250,000 professionals across the U.S. trust 8am to help them work smarter, serve clients better, and unlock their full potential. We have been recognized as one of Inc 5000’s fastest growing companies in the U.S. for 13 years in a row, and as a result, our teams continue to grow as well!

What you'll do:

• Lead the company’s talent and learning strategy. Develop scalable global learning solutions and align development programs with business priorities, advancing AI literacy, and using data to identify skill gaps and drive workforce planning.
• Design and deliver leadership development and succession initiatives. Build manager-as-coach capabilities, creating scalable leadership programs and maintaining a strong, diverse leadership pipeline.
• Build and maintain career paths. Create the foundation for career pathing, competency models, and internal mobility programs, including an internal talent marketplace that expands equitable growth opportunities across the organization.
• Keep our teams on the cutting edge of learning. Oversee the design and delivery of 8am.edu programs, manage the learning technology stack, and ensure all learning experiences are inclusive, accessible, and driven by meaningful analytics.
• Ensure we stay compliant. Own required training programs by partnering with Legal, Security, and Operations to meet audit requirements and maintain strong completion rates across the company.
• Guide us on our AI learning journey. Lead AI enablement and up-skilling initiatives by creating certification programs, accelerating adoption of digital tools, and integrating emerging technologies into the learning ecosystem.
• Fuel a culture of continuous growth. Enable managers to foster feedback-rich, psychologically safe environments by elevating our leadership coaching program.

About you:

• 10+ years of progressive experience in Learning & Development, Talent Management, or Organizational Effectiveness roles, with demonstrated impact on retention and engagement metrics.
• Proven success building scalable learning ecosystems, leadership programs, and skills-based career development frameworks in a high-growth SaaS or technology organization.
• Strong expertise in instructional design and digital learning tools, including hands-on experience with AI or adaptive learning technologies.
• Demonstrated capability in succession planning, leadership development, compliance training oversight, and internal mobility program design.
• Experience building and implementing skills taxonomies and skills-based talent strategies.
• Proven ability to leverage learning analytics and predictive data to measure business impact, forecast capability gaps, and inform talent strategy.
• Excellent stakeholder management, facilitation, and executive communication skills, including experience presenting learning strategy and outcomes to senior leadership.
  
• Demonstrated ex