Learning Business Partner

Mars•Chicago, IL

2d•$134,400 - $184,800

About The Position

The Learning Business Partner acts as a strategic co-pilot and advisor to senior business leaders, translating business strategies into sustainable capability architectures that support organizational performance, business growth, and Associate skill building. The role owns the end-to-end learning value chain, including strategic business relationship management, performance consulting, learning needs analysis, high-level learning solution design, and evaluation. It defines the strategic learning agenda and learner experience while partnering with Instructional Designers and vendors to guide execution rather than producing raw training content. Operating with a high degree of autonomy and executive presence in a fast-paced, highly matrixed global environment, the Learning Business Partner navigates stakeholders across segments, cultures, and time zones and influences without authority. The role supports US and European time zones and may require travel up to 10% for stakeholder alignment meetings and learning forums.

Requirements

At least 8 years of progressive experience in Learning & Development.
Demonstrated ability to operate effectively across diverse geographical regions and cultures, with regular availability to support US and European time zones.
Ability to conduct performance diagnostics, build trusted-advisor relationships, manage expectation mismatches, and influence VP- and Director-level stakeholders.
Deep understanding of corporate structures and business value chains, such as Sales, Supply, R&D, Finance, and P&O, and ability to communicate in business terms.
Experience defining data collection methodologies, reading dashboards, interpreting learner analytics, and synthesizing findings into executive-level narratives.
Expert-level knowledge of adult learning theories, cognitive design principles, behavioral economics and change management, and operationalizing 70/20/10 learning.
Ability to work autonomously, demonstrate executive presence, navigate complex stakeholder environments, and influence without authority.

Nice To Haves

Savviness with modern learning technology stacks, including LMS, LXP, and social learning environments.
Familiarity with emerging AI capabilities for automated curation, skills taxonomy tagging, and personalized learning journeys.
Advanced capability in performance consulting and business advising, capability and skills architecture, end-to-end learning strategy and experience design, data-driven measurement and impact assessment, and digital fluency and curation.

Responsibilities

Act as the primary interface and trusted advisor to stakeholders, manage senior stakeholder relationships, influence decision-making, and champion the enterprise learning agenda.
Diagnose organizational performance challenges using performance consulting methods and root-cause analysis to distinguish training needs from organizational, process, or talent-related interventions.
Manage and prioritize learning requests, aligning proposed solutions with business priorities and long-term talent strategies.
Use quantitative and qualitative research—including surveys, data benchmarks, focus groups, and interviews—to map skills, identify gaps, and define future capabilities.
Design and maintain skills matrices and capability frameworks aligned with business strategies, define current and desired performance states, and create scalable learning pathways.
Collaborate across functional domains to identify shared capability trends, scale successful learning models, and prevent fragmented or redundant initiatives.
Map learner journeys and establish instructional design frameworks for learning ecosystems that integrate formal, social, and experiential learning components.
Evaluate and select delivery formats and technologies to maximize engagement and behavioral change.
Define and document high-level design specifications and standards for internal and external Instructional Design partners, collaborating during development and maintaining design integrity, context alignment, and deployment success.
Define KPIs and business impact measures with business sponsors at the outset of initiatives.
Apply evaluation frameworks such as LTEM and Kirkpatrick to monitor engagement, behavior change, and business return on investment.
Analyze data, communicate the strategic value of learning to executive leadership, and continuously optimize the learning portfolio.
Operate across global segments, cultures, and time zones, with regular availability to support US and European time zones.
Travel up to 10% for key stakeholder alignment meetings and learning forums.