Learning & Development Director

Compensation Type Yearly Highgate Hotels Highgate is a leading real estate investment and hospitality management company with over $15 billion of assets under management and a global portfolio of more than 400 hotels spanning North America, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America. With a 30-year track record as an innovator in the hospitality industry, this forward-thinking company provides expert guidance through all stages of the property cycle, from planning and development through recapitalization or disposition.

Highgate continues to demonstrate success in developing a diverse portfolio of bespoke lifestyle hotel brands, legacy brands, and independent hotels and resorts, featuring contemporary programming and digital acumen. The company utilizes industry-leading revenue management tools that efficiently identify and predict evolving market dynamics to drive out performance and maximize asset value. With an executive team of seasoned hospitality leaders and corporate offices worldwide, Highgate is a trusted partner for top ownership groups and major hotel brands.  

Location Highgate Corporate Offices Irving, TX Overview 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. 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, Higher

UP, 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. 60-Day Objectives Establish Regional Foundation *

Conduct a listening tour with GMs, HRDs, Regional Ops Leaders, and key department heads.
* Map each property's L&D landscape: strengths, gaps, critical needs, service culture risks, training cadence, and People First integration.
* Understand unique nuances of each portfolio segment (Luxury/Lifestyle, Select Service, Full Service, Independent).
* Build a property-by-property L&D assessment summary. Integrate with Core Systems & Programs *

• Achieve proficiency in…