Learning and Development Business Partner Director (Location Flexible)

We are the leading provider of professional services to the middle market globally, our purpose is to instill confidence in a world of change, empowering our clients and people to realize their full potential. Our exceptional people are the key to our unrivaled, culture and talent experience and our ability to be compelling to our clients. You’ll find an environment that inspires and empowers you to thrive both personally and professionally. There’s no one like you and that’s why there’s nowhere like RSM.

The Learning & Development Business Partner Director serves as the senior strategic learning and capability advisor to an assigned line of business and their leaders. The Director translates business, workforce, and talent priorities into an integrated capability strategy that improves business performance, strengthens professional readiness, and advances RSM's First Choice Advisor strategy. The Director is a key leader in the ongoing evolution of the Learning & Development function, helping shape operating models, workforce capability strategies, service delivery approaches, and learning technology adoption to ensure the organization can meet future business needs.

As a member of the L&D leadership team, the Director provides thought leadership, cultivates line of business and enterprise-wide relationships, and leads large, complex initiatives with significant business impact. The role works across L&D and Talent to mobilize the right expertise, scale effective solutions, and create appropriate consistency across the firm while remaining responsive to distinct business needs.

Key Responsibilities

Business and Capability Strategy

Build trusted relationships with senior business and talent leaders and serve as a first-choice advisor on workforce capability, performance, and development priorities.

Translate firm, talent, and business strategies into multi-year capability roadmaps with clear priorities, outcomes, measures, investment requirements, and decision points.

Use performance consulting and systems thinking to distinguish capability needs from process, role clarity, technology, capacity, leadership, or other performance barriers.

Proactively identify emerging capability risks and opportunities based on business plans, workforce trends, client needs, professional standards, and changes in the market.

Influence leaders to make disciplined choices among competing needs and focus resources on the work most likely to improve business and talent outcomes.

Advise on the appropriate mix of education, experience, exposure, environment, performance support, coaching, knowledge resources, communities, and technology-enabled approaches.

Organizational Transformation and Change Leadership

Act as a visible champion of the firm's learning and capability transformation strategy.

Drive adoption of new operating models, workflows, roles, governance structures, and technologies.

Challenge legacy processes and approaches that no longer create sufficient business value.

Influence leaders to embrace scalable, data-informed approaches to capability development.

Balance immediate business demands with long-term organizational capability building.

Lead change efforts that require stakeholder alignment across service lines, Talent, Learning Operations, Talent Technology, and other shared services.

Identify organizational barriers to transformation and proactively develop mitigation strategies.

Build change readiness among stakeholders and teams impacted by evolving learning strategies and operating models.

Portfolio and Investment Leadership

• •Own the strategic portfolio of capability investments for the assigned business, ensuring solutions are connected, sequenced, scalable, and aligned to role and career expectations.
• •Establish priorities and governance for major capability initiatives, including sponsorship, decision rights, measures, dependencies, and escalation paths.
• •Oversee the business partner budget and recommend resource and investment trade-offs using evidence, expected impact, and enterprise priorities.

Identify opportunities to reuse and scale effective solutions across service lines while allowing appropriate flexibility for distinct business needs.

Solution Leadership and Cross-Functional Partnership

Frame the business problem, target audience, desired performance, success measures, and constraints before solution design begins.

• •Mobilize and guide cross-functional teams that may include learning architects, strategic learning advisors, experience delivery, Learning Operations, Talent Technology, communications, change, and external partners.
• •Communicate strategy, progress, decisions, risks, and required actions clearly to stakeholders at all levels.

Measurement, Impact, and Continuous Improvement

Define financial and non-financial measures that connect capability investments to intended business, talent, learner, adoption, and performance outcomes.

Use data and stakeholder evidence to evaluate impact, test assumptions, identify barriers to transfer, and adjust the portfolio.

Provide leaders with a clear view of investment performance, risks, trade-offs, and recommendations for continuation, redesign, expansion, or retirement.

Promote disciplined experimentation and the responsible adoption of new methods and technologies that improve access, speed, quality, personalization, or impact.

Capture, share, and scale leading practices across L&D and the broader Talent function.

Enterprise and L&D Leadership

Act as a critical member of the L&D leadership team, contributing to enterprise strategy, operating priorities, governance, and organizational performance.

Lead or sponsor enterprise initiatives that advance firm, Talent, and L&D strategies and require coordination across businesses, functions, or geographies.

Champion the modernization of learning through clearer roles, integrated workflows, stronger capability consulting, improved measurement, and effective use of technology.

Balance the priorities of the assigned business with enterprise needs and actively challenge siloed approaches.

Lead through ambiguity and change, surface difficult issues, and facilitate timely decisions with senior stakeholders.

Model RSM's 5 C behaviors by being caring, collaborative, courageous, curious, and an exemplary critical thinker.

People Leadership

Build and develop a high-performing, inclusive team of learning professionals with clear expectations, accountability, and connection to business outcomes.

Serve as a performance advisor to Managers and/or Associate Directors, consistent with business need and organizational design.

Delegate meaningful and challenging work, provide timely and direct feedback, address performance gaps, and support career development and succession.

Develop the team's business acumen, consulting capability, learning expertise, change leadership, and data fluency.

Create an environment that encourages thoughtful challenge, collaboration, continuous learning, and responsible innovation.

Required Qualifications

Education and Experience

Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant experience required; advanced degree in learning, organizational development, business, talent management, or a related field preferred.

Typically 12+ years of overall experience, with significant relevant experience in learning and development, capability building, performance consulting, organizational effectiveness, talent, or a related discipline. Role relevance, complexity, scope, and demonstrated impact are more important than tenure alone.

Demonstrated success developing strategies that impact business performance and leading large-scale, global, complex, or enterprise-wide initiatives.

Demonstrated experience influencing senior leaders, maintaining key internal client relationships, and navigating sensitive or high-impact business matte