Professional Development Manager

Overview

Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP is seeking a Professional Development Manager to join its team in North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia. The Professional Development Manager plays a key role in advancing the firm’s leadership and talent strategy by shaping a cohesive, high impact professional development experience across the firm. This position provides strategic oversight and operational leadership for a portfolio of leadership and management development initiatives that support attorney and business professional growth.

Serving as a trusted partner to firm leadership, practice groups, and internal stakeholders, the Manager ensures programs are thoughtfully designed, consistently delivered, and aligned with firm priorities and regulatory considerations. The role requires a balance of strategic thinking, strong execution, and relationship management, with a focus on creating scalable programs that enhance leadership capability, engagement, and long‑term retention across the firm.

• Support the strategic design through execution, and ongoing management of the firm’s internal leadership and professional development programs, ensuring alignment with firm priorities, compliance requirements, and talent strategy.
• Oversee the end-to-end administration of leadership initiatives, including planning, curriculum, logistics, communications, participant support, and program evaluation.
• Lead and administer the firm’s mentoring program, including program structure, participant experience, communications, and outcomes assessment.
• Coordinate professional development initiatives across U.S. and U.K. offices, including exchange programs and cross-border assignments, ensuring consistency, compliance, and effective execution.
• Oversee and maintain manager learning paths, supporting multiple phases of management development across the firm.
• Provide program-related compliance oversight, including policy development and backup support for immigration-related processes tied to leadership and cross-border programs.
• Serve as the point of contact for the firm’s leadership programs and initiatives (such as secondments), coordinating with practice groups, facilitating requests and approvals, maintaining communications, and overseeing recordkeeping.
• Develop curricula, learning materials, and evaluation frameworks to assess program effectiveness and support continuous improvement.
• Prepare, manage, and monitor program budgets, including expense tracking and vendor coordination.

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or relevant professional certification preferred.
• Minimum of 5 plus years of experience in professional development, leadership development, talent management, or a related field; experience in a professional services or legal environment preferred.
• Demonstrated experience designing and managing leadership or professional development programs from concept through execution and evaluation.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple programs, deadlines, and stakeholders simultaneously.
• Experience developing curricula, learning paths, and evaluation methodologies.
• Experience supporting cross-border or immigration-adjacent processes is a plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with attorneys, firm leadership, and business professionals.
• High attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and a commitment to client service excellence.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within a team environment.