Corporate Learning & Development Director

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.

• 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.

• 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 Highgate Academy, Cornerstone LMS, and Dayforce learning modules.
• Review all current L&D programs, People First tools, and leadership frameworks.
• Audit all open compliance items: harassment prevention, safety, new hire onboarding, and required certifications.
• Build Immediate Impact Plans
• Partner with Regional HRDs to define the top 3–5 priority properties needing immediate intervention.
• Deliver your first round of facilitated sessions:
  Service Culture Immersion, Leadership Foundations, Make Your Mark, or Opening Doors Together.
• Establish relationships with property HR/Training leads and set expectations for cadence, reporting, and communication.
• Communication & Reporting
• Deliver a 60‑day “State of L&D in the Region” summary to the VP Ops and CPO.
• Provide a plan outlining immediate actions and phases for the next 90 days.

• Execute Regional L&D Strategy
• Launch a quarterly L&D roadmap for the region tied to operational priorities (guest scores, turnover, onboarding quality, audit findings).
• Build and roll out learning calendars for each property.
• Begin integration of leadership pathways—including Accelerate, Higher
  
  UP pairings, and leadership workshops.
• Strengthen Leadership Capability
• Conduct leadership capability assessments for all GMs, Directors,…