Learning & Development Director

Highgate is a leading real estate investment and hospitality management company with over $15 billion of assets under management and a global portfolio of more than 400 hotels spanning North America, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America. With a 30-year track record as an innovator in the hospitality industry, this forward-thinking company provides expert guidance through all stages of the property cycle, from planning and development through recapitalization or disposition. Highgate continues to demonstrate success in developing a diverse portfolio of bespoke lifestyle hotel brands, legacy brands, and independent hotels and resorts, featuring contemporary programming and digital acumen. The company utilizes industry-leading revenue management tools that efficiently identify and predict evolving market dynamics to drive outperformance and maximize asset value. With an executive team of seasoned hospitality leaders and corporate offices worldwide, Highgate is a trusted partner for top ownership groups and major hotel brands. www.highgate.com

Highgate Corporate Offices Irving, TX

Learning & Development Director - Career Outline

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, HigherUP, 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.

60-Day Objectives

1. Establish Regional Foundation

• • 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

90-Day Objectives

1. 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, HigherUP pairings, and leadership workshops.

1. Strengthen Leadership Capability

• • Conduct leadership capability assessments for all GMs, Directors, and key department heads.
  • Deliver targeted leadership coaching or group workshops addressing communication, accountability, service recovery, and people leadership.
  • Partner with Regional HRDs to support performance management coaching on properties with risk or opportunity.

1. Drive Organizational Consistency

• • Implement "Inspect What We Expect" audits across the region to ensure all locations uphold L&D standards.
  • Evaluate new hire onboarding quality and recommend improvements.
  • Support transitions, new openings, or takeovers with tailored L&D support and culture orientation.

1. Embed People First & Culture Programs

• • Fully deploy Make Your Mark and Opening Doors Together across the region.
  • Introduce recognition programs and cultural activations to strengthen associate engagement.
  • Begin rolling out community engagement touchpoints in collaboration with the Highgate Charitable Foundation.

1. Measure, Report & Adjust

• • Create a regional L&D Scorecard combining:
    • Training completion metrics
    • Guest service impact indicators
    • Leadership capability indicators
    • Talent pipeline health
    • Compliance status
• Present a 90-day business review with insights, impact, challenges, and next-phase recommendations.

• Bachelor's degree in HR, Organizational Development, Education, or related field preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in Learning & Development, Talent Management, Organizational Development, or related fields.
• Familiarity with talent frameworks, competency models, and career architecture methodologies.
• Proven track record of designing, implementing, and scaling enterprise-wide learning strategies.
• Expertise in adult learning theory, instructional design methodologies, and modern learning technologies.
• Experience leading organizational capability initiatives such as leadership development, onboarding, skills academies, and performance enablement
• Demonstrated ability to develop long-term L&D strategies aligned with business goals.
• Strong stakeholder management and consultative skills, including working with senior executives.
• Ability to manage vendors and external partners.
• Experience leading change management initiatives and driving learning culture transformations.
• Ability to coach and develop leaders at all levels.
• Exceptional communication and facilitation skills.
• Strategic thinker with a bias for action and measurable business outcomes.
• Ability to influence without authority across complex, matrixed organizations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.