Senior Learning and Development Manager

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka. 

We’re proud of our award-winning culture and distilleries. Our Louisville office has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” four times, and our Buffalo Trace Distillery has earned the title of “world’s most award-winning distillery” through the dedication of our craftsmen for well over 200 years. Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, Sazerac provides extraordinary opportunities for growth with competitive salaries and benefits in an exciting, entrepreneurial industry.

The Senior Learning and Development Manager will establish a comprehensive learning strategy and lead a small team of professionals in the design, development, and delivery of professional skills, leadership, and targeted technical training that support business goals. This role oversees the end-to-end corporate learning ecosystem, including L&D strategy creation, team leadership, learning technology management, content design, delivery and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

Learning & Development Strategy

• Develop and execute an enterprise-wide L&D strategy for professional skills, leadership development and targeted technical skills aligned with business objectives, workforce planning, and talent priorities.
• Partner with senior leaders, HR, and business stakeholders to assess capability gaps and define learning priorities.
• Establish learning governance, standards, and frameworks to ensure consistency, quality, and scalability.
• Define and track learning effectiveness metrics (e.g., quality of content/delivery, performance impact, ROI).
• Stay current on learning trends, technologies, and best practices to continuously evolve the learning approach.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of three Learning Specialists in the design, development and delivery of high-quality learning.
• Set clear goals, priorities, and performance expectations aligned with L&D strategy.
• Foster a collaborative, innovative, and continuous-improvement culture within the team.
• Provide ongoing feedback, career development, and skill-building opportunities for team members.

Learning Management System (LMS) Management

• Own the strategy, administration, and optimization of the professional skills Learning Management System (Skillsoft).
• Ensure the LMS effectively supports compliance training and is leveraged for professional skills and leadership development.
• Manage LMS configuration, content architecture, user experience, reporting, and integrations with other HR systems.
• Oversee vendor relationships, upgrades, testing, and troubleshooting.
• Ensure dashboards and reports provide actionable insights on learning participation and outcomes.
• Provide input and collaborate periodically on items related to the manufacturing/technical skills LMS (Alchemy)

Learning Design & Development (Internal and External)

• Lead the design and development of high-quality learning solutions using adult learning principles and instructional design best practices.
• Oversee creation of blended learning experiences (e-learning, virtual, in-person, microlearning).
• Partner with internal subject matter experts to translate business knowledge into effective learning content.
• Manage external vendors and consultants for specialized or large-scale learning initiatives.
• Ensure learning content aligns with internal culture, standards, and global audiences (as applicable).

Management of Learning Delivery

• Oversee planning, coordination, facilitation, and measurement of all corporate-owned learning programs and curricula.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality delivery across all modalities and facilitation.
• Evaluate learning delivery effectiveness and continuously improve facilitator capability and learner experience. Provide personal facilitation (ILT and VLT) where needed across programs.
• Manage learning calendars, resource allocation, and logistics.
• Support change management and communication efforts related to new or evolving learning initiatives.

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Education, Business, or related field (Master’s preferred).
• 7+ years of progressive experience in Learning & Development, Talent Development, or Organizational Development. Manufacturing experience required.
• 3+ years of people management experience.
• Hands-on experience managing and optimizing an LMS.
• Strong instructional design knowledge and experience with modern learning methodologies.
• Deep facilitation capability, especially in virtual led training (VLT).
• Proven ability to influence stakeholders and align learning solutions with business outcomes.

Key Capabilities

• Strategic thinking and business acumen
• Learning technology and data analytics
• Instructional design and content curation
• Program and project management
• Leadership, coaching, and team development
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills

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