People development manager

Closing date for applications: 24 September 2025 at 11.30pm

Salary: £51,750 per annum

Are you passionate about creating a workplace where people feel supported and set up to succeed? Lead impactful initiatives that champion learning and development, engage teams and strengthen culture at The National Gallery!

At the Gallery, our people are central to everything we do. We believe that when our teams feel supported, connected, and encouraged to grow, great things happen. Our HR department plays a vital role in shaping the culture of the Gallery, providing expertise across recruitment, learning and development (L&D), performance management, and engagement. Our ambition is simple: to make the Gallery one of the best places to work in the sector and beyond.

We are now seeking a people development manager to take a lead on developing the skills of our people, both current and future. This role will focus on learning and development programmes, engagement initiatives and culture-enhancing programmes including the launch of an apprenticeship programme—all with the aim of fostering a positive employee experience for all. You will work closely with the head of HR and the wider team to ensure colleagues are supported, cared for, and equipped to succeed in their roles.

The ideal candidate will bring curiosity, creativity and a strong understanding of how to foster a culture of learning, growth and engagement across an organisation. You will take a strong learning approach to your role, working with the head of HR to generate new strategic learning ideas and turning them into reality with programmes and initiatives to make a genuine difference to people’s working lives. This is an opportunity to shape how we support and develop our teams, contributing directly to the success and culture of the Gallery.


Responsibilities

Scope of the job:

• Acting as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert on all aspects of learning and development
• Working with the head of HR on the development of a formalised apprenticeship and traineeship programme, and then responsible for the launching and management of this
• Regular delivery of the Gallery's tailored designed formal manager development programme
• Management of the Gallery's induction programme; ensuring that this is consistent, professional and highly received
• Taking a lead on organisational wide employee engagement initiatives for our people
• Taking a lead on the continuous embedding of our Organisational Values
• In conjunction with the HR payroll and systems manager, developing and establishing the L&D platform on the Gallery's HRIS (currently iTrent)
• Continuously auditing our L&D offer at the Gallery and using data to drive decisions ensuring our programme of training is fit for purpose and identifying skills gaps
• Working with the head of HR, deputy head of HR and HR manager on succession planning; working directly with heads of departments to ensure succession planning is at the forefront of decision making and future planning
• Full management of the substantial organisational wide training budget
• Taking a lead on other learning and development programmes as they arise

Key deliverables:

• Develop and implement learning, development and engagement strategies and interventions aligned with the Gallery's strategic goals
• Conduct regular skills gaps analysis from analysing annual reviews and regular feedback in order to design, procure and deliver high-quality learning and development programmes across the organisation
• Ensure learning opportunities are accessible, inclusive, and aligned with individual and organisational needs
• Develop and deliver initiatives that support manager capability.
• Commission and manage external providers and consultants as required
• Regularly analyse, report and present on OD and L&D data to inform future planning and demonstrate impact
• Management of the organisational training budget, ensuring effective financial oversight and delivery of programmes within agreed limits while ensuring best value for money without compromising on quality
• Regularly engaging with and presenting to all statt on engagement and learning programmes

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Demonstrable experience of working in a learning and development/organisational development lead role
• Demonstrable awareness of and ability to develop and deliver organisational training programmes
• Ability to lead working groups to achieve positive and constructive outcomes
• Ability to communicate effectively and in an engaging manner using a variety of methods
• Ability to use own initiative in response to problem solving
• Works positively with colleagues to develop and enhance team, department and organisation working
• Strong commitment to delivering high quality work
• Excellent presentation skills to engage employees through a positive approach to communication.
• Good organisational skills in order to deliver programmes to time
• Excellent attention to detail
• Excellent presentation skills
• Confident; able to communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders
• Trustworthy; able to proactively work with minimal supervision to achieve objectives and deliver on expectations
• CIPD qualified or equivalent qualification

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.