Head of L&D; Franchise & Retail

Location

This hybrid role requires 3 days on-site at our Burnaby, BC office and 2 days remote per week.

– where we’re not just about eyecare and eyewear, but changing lives through better sight. Ranked the 5th Best Workplace™ in Canada and 12th globally by Great Place to Work®, we’re proud of our optometrist-owned model that makes high‑quality, eyecare and eyewear accessible to all Canadians.

Founded 40 years ago in the UK by visionary husband and wife optometry duo Doug and Mary Perkins, Specsavers has remained privately owned since day one. Today, we are a $7.8 billion global business with over 45,000 colleagues across more than 2,700 retail optical locations.

In Canada, our support office is based in Burnaby, BC. Since entering the market in 2021, we’ve been scaling rapidly, now with over 270 locations nationwide. With advanced clinical equipment and a wide range of affordable, high‑quality eyewear, we’re transforming the way Canadians experience eyecare.

If you’re passionate about making a difference and want to be part of a values‑driven organization, join us as we continue to grow. Together, we can change lives through better sight.

The Head of Learning is responsible for defining and leading the Learning & Development strategy, curriculum, and delivery model for Specsavers Canada.

This role ensures learning across store teams and current and future franchise partners is relevant, widely adopted, and drives measurable improvements in capability, engagement, and readiness, including ownership of compliance and mandatory training.

This is a strategically focused leadership role, centred on curriculum design, prioritisation, global alignment, and business impact—rather than delivery volume or attendance.

• Define and own Canada’s L&D strategy, building a clear, scalable curriculum that supports store team capability, franchise partner readiness, and development across all career stages, while continuously evolving to meet business growth and changing needs.

• Own the end-to-end curriculum architecture, ensuring learning content addresses current operational and commercial needs, closes identified capability gaps, and builds the skills required for sustainable, high‑performing Partnerships
• Adopt a global‑first approach — leverage and adapt existing global content wherever possible, avoiding unnecessary local duplication, and develop Canadian‑specific content where global solutions do not meet local needs

• Design and embed a blended learning model (in‑person, virtual, on‑demand) that drives strong engagement and integrates learning into day‑to‑day operations in partnership with cross‑functional leaders in Retail, Clinical, Partner Development and Operations.

• Provide strategic leadership across L&D, Pathway, and Partner Development, influencing priorities and investment decisions, while representing Canada globally and collaborating across markets to drive alignment and best practice.

• Senior leadership experience in Learning & Development, capability, or talent functions within complex or high‑growth organisations
• Experience in a franchise model or highly customer‑focused retail environment is strongly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to design and lead end‑to‑end learning systems and curriculum—beyond individual programs
• Strong strategic judgement with the ability to prioritise effectively and make clear, confident decisions
• Experience working with global frameworks and collaborating across international markets
• Proven ability to build trust and credibility with senior leaders, Partners, and operational teams

$147,000 - $161,000 base salary, plus quarterly bonus, profit sharing, and benefits. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience

• 5 weeks of vacation and 1 paid volunteer day per year
• 1 extra paid day off plus an eyecare voucher to celebrate your birthday.
• Health and dental benefits, RRSP matching and a Healthcare Spending Account active from your first day.
• Mental…