Head of L&D

Head of Learning & Development - Antrim - Exciting company growth phase.

MCS Group is delighted to be exclusively partnering with one of Northern Ireland's most ambitious organisations in the appointment of a Head of L&D.

The role:

The Head of L&D will bring together Learning & Development, Early Careers, Management Development and Performance Management into one cohesive talent strategy.

This is not a role focused on simply delivering a training calendar. The successful candidate will assess the capabilities the organisation needs now and in the future, identify genuine gaps and implement practical, measurable solutions across a fast-paced operational workforce.

The main responsibilities:

• Developing an evidence-based talent and capability strategy aligned with the organisation's three-to-five-year growth plan.
• Creating capability frameworks, career pathways, succession plans and clear progression criteria.
• Designing and implementing leadership and management development from first-line supervisor through to senior leadership.
• Improving the quality and consistency of performance conversations, objective setting, feedback, coaching and development planning.
• Owning and continuously improving the organisation's performance management framework.
• Leading the Learning & Development strategy, budget, supplier base and learning governance.
• Measuring learning through behaviour change and business impact rather than attendance figures alone.
• Developing the Early Careers strategy across apprenticeships, graduates, placements, internships and school engagement.
• Overseeing apprenticeship providers, funding, compliance, mentoring, progression and completion.
• Building sustainable pipelines into technical, engineering and leadership careers.
• Establishing talent reviews and succession planning for critical and hard-to-fill roles.
• Leading and developing a specialist team.
• Creating a scalable talent operating model capable of supporting future international growth.

The successful candidate:

• Experience assessing organisational capability and implementing solutions that measurably closed identified gaps.
• Ownership or significant improvement of a performance management framework.
• A strong track record in leadership and management development.
• Experience improving manager behaviour and the quality of performance conversations.
• Involvement in apprenticeship, graduate or wider Early Careers programmes.
• Experience leading and developing a specialist team.
• Strong commercial awareness and the ability to connect talent activity with business performance.
• Credibility when influencing senior leaders and executive stakeholders.
• Excellent facilitation, coaching and programme-design capability.

What's on offer:

• Highly competitive salary (based on salary).
• Bonus.
• Hybrid working.
• Flexible hours.
• Enhanced wider benefits.

MCS Group - Proud CIPD NI HR Awards Headline Sponsor 2026

MCS Group is committed to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion for all, being the first recruitment agency in NI to achieve Bronze Diversity Mark accreditation, if you have a disability which means you require a reasonable adjustment to be considered at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact us and we will endeavour to facilitate the request.