Senior Consultant - Leadership Development

William Blair•Chicago, IL

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

William Blair is seeking a Senior Consultant, Leadership Development who is passionate about helping leaders thrive and advance their careers. This role is part of a collaborative HR team that takes a holistic approach to leadership development, integrating formal programs, coaching, and performance systems. The position focuses on owning the training and program aspects, leading the design and delivery of leadership programs for all levels of leaders, from first-time managers to senior executives. The goal is to build and sustain a healthy pipeline for the firm's next generation of leaders. This involves creating and delivering formal programs for new managers, as well as ongoing, targeted development for experienced managers. The role requires a blend of content creation, facilitation, and program management, often involving building initiatives from the ground up. The ideal candidate is experienced in designing and facilitating leadership development content, enjoys creating new initiatives, takes pride in their work, owns their results, and has a strong understanding of effective learning content.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree.
9-12 years of professional experience in learning and development.
5 years of demonstrated experience designing and delivering end-to-end management and/or leadership development programs.
Strong instructional design and facilitation skills; confident and experienced in both designing content and personally delivering it to manager and senior-leader audiences.
Experience building programs in ambiguous, early-stage environments.
Strong consulting mindset with the ability to synthesize strategy, data, and stakeholder input into clear, actionable recommendations.
Strong communication and relationship-building skills; comfortable partnering with senior stakeholders and other Learning & Development team members.
Strong LMS experience required.
Working knowledge of adult learning theory and competency-based learning path design.
Experience managing external vendors.
Ability to work across multiple time zones.
Willingness to come into the office a minimum of two days a week.

Nice To Haves

Building programs from a partial foundation rather than a mature program.
Workday Learning experience preferred.
Prior direct people-management experience.
Financial services or professional services industry background.
Hogan Assessment Certification; experience leveraging assessment tools to support leadership development, coaching, and talent management strategies.
Professional credentials (e.g., CPTM, CPLM, CTDP, SHRM-CP/SCP, or equivalent).

Responsibilities

Design and develop curriculum, materials, and learning experiences for leadership development programs within an established strategic framework.
Design and facilitate structured programming for newly promoted senior leaders.
Design and deliver a skill-building curriculum to prepare high-performing individual contributors for the transition into management.
Deliver targeted programming and coursework for experienced managers to build their capabilities over time.
Own and expand a self-service toolkit for managers to support everyday leadership tasks.
Facilitate readback and development conversations for senior audiences using tools such as Hogan.
Manage external vendor relationships supporting leadership/management content.
Partner with HR Business Partners to understand business-unit-specific leadership development needs and inform program delivery.
Manage programs operationally through the LMS, including scheduling, reporting, and participant engagement tracking.
Perform additional responsibilities as requested.