Learning & Development Director

Highgate Hotels Corporate Office TX•Irving, TX

About The Position

Learning & Development Director – Career Outline The L&D Director serves as a strategic, hands-on extension of Highgate’s People & Culture vision—driving learning excellence, supporting property-level capability, and elevating leadership readiness across a defined multi-property region. This role operates at the intersection of culture, operational performance, and talent development, ensuring that our associates are empowered, engaged, and equipped to deliver extraordinary guest experiences. This person will be responsible for building, delivering, and sustaining a high-impact learning culture across all properties in the region. They will partner closely with Regional Human Resources Directors, General Managers, VPs of Operations, and Corporate L&D to: Drive adoption and engagement of Highgate Academy and all learning platforms. Support People First initiatives, including Make Your Mark, Opening Doors Together, and Leadership Development pathways. Build leadership capability at all levels—from frontline to executive. Reinforce operational consistency through training, compliance readiness, and service culture immersion. Serve as an ambassador of Highgate’s culture, values, and standards. This is a highly visible, highly hands-on leadership role that requires agility, communication excellence, facilitation mastery, and the ability to operate at both strategy and ground level.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in HR, Organizational Development, Education, or related field preferred.
7+ years of experience in Learning & Development, Talent Management, Organizational Development, or related fields.
Familiarity with talent frameworks, competency models, and career architecture methodologies.
Proven track record of designing, implementing, and scaling enterprise-wide learning strategies.
Expertise in adult learning theory, instructional design methodologies, and modern learning technologies.
Experience leading organizational capability initiatives such as leadership development, onboarding, skills academies, and performance enablement
Demonstrated ability to develop long-term L&D strategies aligned with business goals.
Strong stakeholder management and consultative skills, including working with senior executives.
Ability to manage vendors and external partners.
Experience leading change management initiatives and driving learning culture transformations.
Ability to coach and develop leaders at all levels.
Exceptional communication and facilitation skills.
Strategic thinker with a bias for action and measurable business outcomes.
Ability to influence without authority across complex, matrixed organizations.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.

Responsibilities

Implement regional learning plans aligned to corporate L&D strategy and property needs.
Facilitate leadership programs, service culture workshops, and compliance-driven training.
Lead deployment of new learning programs including 360 Reviews, HigherUP, Accelerate, and Highgate Academy curriculum migrations.
Partner with Operations to ensure all training supports business performance, guest satisfaction, and brand standards.
Conduct learning audits to ensure alignment with operational expectations (“Inspect what we expect”).
Coach new and existing leaders; assess talent readiness and development gaps.
Design and deliver targeted programs based on succession plans and property performance opportunities.
Reinforce Highgate’s People First culture across all properties.
Lead culture immersion during transitions, new property openings, and leadership onboarding.
Maintain regional L&D dashboards—course completions, audit results, compliance metrics, leadership readiness scores.
Report progress regularly to Regional HRD, VP Ops, and Corporate L&D.