Director, Corporate Learning & Development

Gardner White Furniture•Bloomfield Hills, MI

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Corporate Learning & Development leads the organization’s learning strategy and capability-building initiatives, primarily to drive sales performance. The role designs, implements, and measures training programs intended to improve business outcomes such as close rate, average ticket, productivity, and new-hire ramp-up. It oversees the field coaching function to support adoption of training on the sales floor and leads learning initiatives in leadership development, compliance, HR, Legal, and enterprise-wide training. The Director develops learning pathways and multi-year curricula, leads onboarding and certification programs, and manages post-onboarding support through employees’ first 180 days. The role creates scalable, field-ready training content and leads the field coaching model, including standards, methods, tools, and expectations for Sales Performance Coaches. It also equips leaders to coach employees and sustain training outcomes. The position oversees compliance and enterprise training, partners with business stakeholders on launches and operational changes, and establishes analytics to measure learning effectiveness and business impact. It oversees learning systems and technology, vendor relationships, and the Learning & Development budget. The role supervises Sales Performance Coaches and may add positions as the function grows. It operates in an office environment and regularly travels to stores across Michigan markets. The schedule is based on business needs.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
10+ years of experience in retail sales leadership, learning and development, or sales enablement.
5+ years leading a training or enablement function with direct reports.
A record of training programs tied to measurable sales results, not completion counts alone.
Hands-on instructional design skills, including adult learning, microlearning, and blended programs.
LMS administration experience.
Comfort selling, observing, and coaching associates on the sales floor.
Strong data skills, including building scorecards, reading POS data, and isolating training impact.
Clear executive communication skills and the ability to drive adoption across store operations without direct authority.
Ability to regularly travel to stores across Michigan markets.

Nice To Haves

ATD or similar certification.
Experience in retail, home furnishings, or commissioned in-store sales is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the organization’s learning and development strategy, primarily focused on Sales and aligned with business goals and growth objectives.
Design and maintain learning pathways and multi-year curricula for seller development, leadership development, and enterprise-wide training.
Assess organizational learning needs and implement development solutions that improve employee capability, engagement, and business performance.
Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of new-hire onboarding, including certifications, skill assessments, and readiness milestones.
Manage post-onboarding hypercare through employees’ first 180 days, including scheduled coaching, performance reviews, and retention-focused interventions.
Create, curate, and deploy scalable training content, including videos, facilitator guides, leader toolkits, role-play exercises, job aids, and performance support resources.
Develop modular, field-ready training programs and keep training materials current and aligned with business priorities and operational requirements.
Design and lead the field coaching model, including standards, methodologies, tools, performance expectations, coaching cadence, observation frameworks, and meeting structures.
Monitor coaching effectiveness and partner with field leaders on skill development, performance improvement, and best-practice adoption.
Develop leadership programs and resources focused on coaching, communication, accountability, performance management, and talent development.
Oversee development, delivery, tracking, and reporting of compliance and enterprise training, partnering with Human Resources and Legal.
Manage training on harassment prevention, wage and hour compliance, workplace safety, policy updates, and other mandatory topics; maintain completion reporting and compliance documentation.
Collaborate with Merchandising, Marketing, Operations, Human Resources, and other stakeholders on training and communication for organizational initiatives.
Develop and deliver training for new products, collections, promotions, financing offers, and operational process changes, ensuring readiness before launch.
Establish learning and performance metrics, baseline measures, and reporting to assess program effectiveness and impact on productivity, retention, compliance, and sales performance.
Present reports and recommendations to senior leadership on training effectiveness, return on investment, and future opportunities; design and evaluate pilot programs.
Oversee learning technologies and systems, including the LMS, content libraries, certification tracking tools, and digital learning platforms.
Manage relationships with external vendors, training partners, and technology providers.
Develop and administer the Learning & Development budget and identify technology and process improvements.
Supervise Sales Performance Coaches and additional positions as the function grows.