Senior Manager, Learning & Development – EMEA

At White & Case our longstanding dedication to fairness belonging and professional growth comes to life through our Engagement & Development function. It reflects our commitment to fostering a global workplace culture where our people feel connected supported and empowered to develop meaningful careers. Led by our Chief Engagement & Development Officer and guided by our Partner-led Engagement & Development Committee this function ensures coordinated impactful and accessible programming Firmwide strengthening performance enhancing leadership capabilities and reinforcing our shared sense of community.

Position Summary

As Senior Manager Learning & Development EMEA you will lead the continued development of our regional learning and development offering in support of the Firms 2028 strategy and longer-term ambitions. You will define and deliver strategic learning priorities that strengthen capability support career growth and create a meaningful employee experience for lawyers and business services professionals across EMEA.

This is a highly visible role with the opportunity to influence how we develop talent across a large complex and internationally connected region. Partnering with senior leaders across the Firm you will understand business needs shape practical solutions and deliver measurable impact. Your work will span formal and informal learning using in-person and virtual classrooms digital learning coaching mentoring and collaborative approaches.

The role includes leading an EMEA Learning & Development team of six colleagues across Brussels Germany and London as well as overseeing the regional learning portfolio across 25 EMEA offices. Working as part of one global team you will collaborate closely with colleagues in the People Team Engagement team practice groups professional support lawyer community Innovation team and other global functions.

Department Overview

At White & Case our longstanding dedication to fairness belonging and professional growth comes to life through our Engagement & Development function. It reflects our commitment to fostering a global workplace culture where our people feel connected supported and empowered to develop meaningful careers. Led by our Chief Engagement & Development Officer and guided by our Partner-led Engagement & Development Committee this function ensures coordinated impactful and accessible programming Firmwide strengthening performance enhancing leadership capabilities and reinforcing our shared sense of community.

Duties and Responsibilities

Global Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the Engagement & Development strategy as a regional leader within the global Learning & Development leadership team.

• Shape global learning programs and initiatives bringing together stakeholder input from across our international network.

• Lead global projects as needed working in a matrixed structure and being supported by other members of the Engagement & Development team who report to you by project.

• Partner with global functional leaders across Talent People Knowledge Benefits and other teams to align Learning & Development priorities with wider Firm strategy.

• Ensure global L&D initiatives reflect and reinforce Firm values culture and strategic priorities.

• Contribute to global governance of learning standards including evaluation frameworks quality benchmarks and core curricula.

• Represent EMEA in global L&D forums and decision-making ensuring regional perspectives inform global design and implementation.

EMEA Regional Responsibilities:

• Ensure consistent and high-quality deployment of the firms globally designed projects and programs into the region.

• Develop and maintain a regional curriculum that meets the needs of local practice groups and business services functions.

• Formulate integrated delivery strategies that include all learning modalities including coaching and mentoring utilizing a full range of offerings from physical and virtual classroom to social and collaborative learning.

• Innovate how White & Case provides learning drawing on best practice and previous experience.

• Track learning activity participation and compliance against agreed needs and success measures.

• Evaluate program effectiveness through business impact behavior change and return on investment then adjust solutions where needed.

• Serve as a trusted business partner to senior stakeholders including the Human Resources Director - EMEA Office Executive Partners Regional COO Regional Section Heads and Business Services Chiefs on organizational change and development initiatives.

• Ensure a smooth running and efficient regional program of events.

• Support the regional integration of Workday Learning in collaboration with global colleagues.

• Manage the procurement and performance of external learning vendors across EMEA.

• Lead the EMEA Learning & Development budget ensuring sound financial management and effective investment.

• Oversee regional reporting and analytics providing clear updates on learning activity outcomes and impact to key stakeholders.

• Ensure Learning & Development activity meets relevant regulatory professional and Firm requirements.

Individual Responsibilities

• Lead the EMEA L&D team based in three locations developing their talent in a high stretch high support environment.

• Liaise closely with the Engagement team colleagues to ensure that business partnering activities are aligned and Engagement and L&D activities are complementary.

• Business partner on one-off bespoke projects where necessary.

• Lead individual learning programs from a design and delivery perspective ensuring effective evaluation.

• Design learning programs incorporating the latest thought leadership psychology and learning theories and practices.

• Facilitate learning programs in workshops and in on stage scenarios.

• Act as the escalation point for complex L&D queries for the region.

• Coach and build team capability in consulting learning design facilitation stakeholder management and communication.

• Role model effective stakeholder management influencing and communication skills in a partnership environment.

• Actively pursue own continuous professional development staying current with developments in L&D legal sector trends and technology-enabled learning.

• Opportunity to be part of the global Coaching Office if desired.

Qualifications

• 10 years experience in developing and delivering training instructional design and developing learning solutions.

• Masters degree preferred. Advanced degree in Human Resources Psychology Organizational Behaviour Organizational Development or related field useful.

• Professional services experience especially in a law firm preferred.

• Coaching qualification desirable.

• A range of Psychometric qualifications (Hogan DiSC Lumina preferred).

• Demonstrated exceptional quality of writing with the ability to skillfully craft influential messages to gain buy-in across audiences.

• Significant experience of leading complex L&D departments in a global setting in a matrixed environment.

• Excellent instructional design skills as well as facilitation and presentations skills in-