Learning & Development Specialist

Final date to receive applications: 23 October 2026

Department: Operations

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Compensation: £50,000 - £60,000 / year

We are Cintra. Known for our award-winning software that delivers payroll solutions to over 1000 clients. If you're passionate about payroll and are eager to join a dynamic team of seasoned professionals, this is the opportunity for you.

As the proud recipient of the Payroll Service Provider of the Year 2026 award at the CIPP Annual Excellence Awards, we offer exciting opportunities for professional development, competitive bonus structures, and a collaborative work environment.

Our modern offices are located in Hoults Yard, nestled on the outskirts of the vibrant Ouseburn Valley. This area boasts a thriving creative community, rich local heritage, and a lively social scene.

If you are someone who finds real satisfaction in watching a colleague grow in confidence, who takes as much pride in a well-designed competency framework as in the session itself, this role was built for you.

As Learning and Development Specialist at Cintra, you will own the full learning journey for colleagues across the business, from a new starter's first day to a line manager's first difficult conversation. You will design and deliver technical payroll training, run our Aspiring Managers programme, coordinate our Apprenticeship Programme and keep the skills, knowledge and confidence of our people growing.

This is a role for someone who genuinely invests in people and has the breadth and rigour to make that investment count.

• Design and deliver engaging learning programmes across technical, behavioural and management subjects, selecting the most appropriate method for each audience — face-to-face, virtual, coaching, workshops or self-directed learning.
• Own the new starter learning experience, with structured induction and role-specific programmes that take colleagues from their first day to sign-off as competent.
• Evaluate learning effectiveness using colleague, manager and performance feedback, and continuously improve content and delivery as a result.
• Maintain an annual learning and development calendar that balances business priorities with operational requirements and peak periods.

• Design and deliver technical learning for Outsourced Payroll, Payroll Support and Payroll Onboarding colleagues, including new starter, refresher and legislative update training.
• Coach new payroll colleagues through their initial development, raising concerns constructively and early where further development is required.
• Own the payroll competency framework and career pathway, and the payroll training matrix, ensuring colleagues have a clear picture of what good looks like at each level.

• Design, coordinate and deliver Cintra's Aspiring Managers programme, giving colleagues preparing for their first management role the practical skills and confidence to manage people effectively.
• Own and coordinate Cintra's Apprenticeship Programme, acting as the principal point of contact with providers and working with managers to monitor progress and support completion.

You are genuinely interested in developing people, not as a job function but as something you find rewarding. You bring patience and adaptability to every audience, the coaching instinct to build confidence as well as competence, and the credibility to work effectively with both new starters and experienced payroll professionals. You are also organised enough to hold multiple programmes together without dropping the quality of any of them.

• Demonstrable experience designing and delivering effective learning programmes across technical, behavioural and management subjects to a range of audiences.
• Strong coaching and mentoring skills, with the ability to build confidence as well as competence and encourage individuals to own their development.
• Sufficient payroll knowledge to credibly support technical payroll learning, including a good working understanding of key payroll legislation, statutory payments, pensions and automatic enrolment.
• Experience delivering management or leadership development, with a good understanding of the core skills line managers need.
• The ability to give honest, constructive feedback early, including where development is not…