Training and Development Manager

Location:

This position will be onsite at our corporate offices in Allen, Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth area).

Full-time W-2 ONSITE opportunity (not remote)!

Work Eligibility: 

• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring employer-sponsored visa sponsorship now or in the future.
• Candidates must have permanent work authorization in the United States. Sol-Ark does not provide visa sponsorship, including but not limited to F-1 CPT, F-1 OPT (including STEM OPT), H-1B, or any other employment-based visa requiring future sponsorship.

About the Position: 

We are seeking a Training and Development Manager to partner closely with the HR Director to build and implement Sol-Ark's training and talent-development framework in a fast-growing manufacturing business with evolving learning infrastructure. Jointly set priorities, standards, resources, and a roadmap for onboarding, workforce skills, frontline leadership, professional growth, and high-potential talent. Within this shared direction, lead assigned program design, delivery, LMS administration, measurement, and improvement in collaboration with HR Business Partners, functional leaders, and subject-matter experts. Balance strategic planning with hands-on execution; the HR Director and business leaders share responsibility for direction, sponsorship, and adoption.

Responsibilities:     

Learningstrategy, framework, systems, and governance

• Partner with the HR Director and business leaders to assess skills andleadership gaps, set priorities, and develop a companywide learning plan withclear accountabilities.

• Build learning pathways for entry-level, manufacturing, technical andprofessional employees, frontline supervisors, emerging leaders, andhigh-potential talent.

• With the HR Director and functional owners, establish trainingstandards, competency and skills matrices, curricula, learning records, andscalable procedures.

• Lead LMS setup, administration, and improvement with the HR Director,IT, HR Operations, and vendors; manage content, assignments, completiontracking, reporting, and data integrity.

Employeeonboarding, workforce skills, and training delivery

• With hiring managers and HR Business Partners, design structuredonboarding and role-readiness plans with 30-, 60-, and 90-day milestones,manager ownership, assessments, and documented proficiency checks.

• Coordinate job-specific instruction, cross-training, and process-changetraining with Operations, Engineering, Customer Support, Safety, Quality, andother subject-matter experts.

• Personally develop and facilitate classroom, small-group, virtual, andon-the-job training; create instructor guides, job aids, manager toolkits, andtrain-the-trainer programs for varied skill levels and shifts.

• Coordinate calendars, instructors, and training access across bothfacilities while limiting disruption to production and essential operations.

Frontlinemanagement, talent, and organizational development

• With the HR Director and HR Business Partners, develop and deliverfrontline-supervisor training in communication, performance expectations,coaching, feedback, engagement, accountability, conflict resolution, andleadership.

• With HR Business Partners and operations leaders, identify recurringmanagement challenges, reinforce learning through workplace coaching, andverify improvements in supervisory practices.

• With the HR Director and department leaders, develop learning for newmanagers, high potentials, and succession candidates; connect development plansto performance reviews, job skills, career growth, and business needs.

• Support organizational change by helping managers and employees adoptnew processes and technologies through communication, training, pilots,reinforcement, and follow-up.

Measurement,continuous improvement, and business partnership

• With the HR Director and functional owners, define success measures andbaselines; track completion, participation, time to proficiency, skillsvalidation, supervisor coverage, and observable post-training results.

• Use Excel, LMS reporting, employee feedback, and operational data toevaluate training effectiveness; present concise findings, recommendations, andprogress to technical and business leaders.

• Coordinate learning resources, materials, third-party providers, andassigned budgets within HR Director-agreed priorities; evaluate deliveryoptions and recommend investments based on business impact.

• Maintain auditable training records and coordinate required orsafety-related learning with department owners, preserving their technical andcompliance accountability.

Scalingand startup-style operating environment

• Work effectively in a lean, entrepreneurial, high-growth environmentwith shifting priorities, incomplete processes, and disconnected systems; addpractical structure without unnecessary bureaucracy.

• Own assigned programs from design through sustained implementation;collaborate with the HR Director, HR Business Partners, and functional ownersto build infrastructure, develop content, deliver training, resolve adoptionbarriers, and refine practices.

Qualifications:  

• Minimum of five years of progressively responsible training, learningand development, talent development, or organizational development experiencein a manufacturing, industrial, or similarly operations-intensive setting,including substantive ownership of program design and implementation.

• Proven ability to assess needs and build learning infrastructure fromlimited or inconsistent processes, with examples of successful programlaunches, management adoption, and measurable outcomes.

• Proficiency with LMS administration, learning records, and coursemanagement; strong Microsoft 365 skills, especially Excel, PowerPoint, Word,Teams, and Outlook.

• Strong instructional design, facilitation, presentation, and coachingskills across entry-level, technical, professional, and supervisory audiences;ability to turn complex topics into practical learning.

• Strong business acumen, analytical thinking, project execution,organization, and stakeholder influence; able to work independently amidcompeting priorities.

• High emotional intelligence, judgment, adaptability, and credibility;able to navigate ambiguity, feedback, and resistance to change.

• Ability to work primarily onsite and flex training hours to supportoperating shifts and time-sensitive business needs.

Preferred Experience:  

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, AdultLearning, Instructional Design, Business Administration, or a related field.

• Experience building an enterprise learning function in a startup-like,rapidly scaling, or transforming organization with immature or fragmentedlearning systems.

• Experience with manufacturing skills matrices, technical andsafety-training coordination, supervisor academies, high-potential development,succession planning, and career paths.

• Experience with e-learning tools, blended learning, train-the-trainermethods, vendor evaluation, and training impact measurement; CPTD, APTD, orrelated certification a plus.

Benefits:  

We offer a competitive salary and performance-based bonus program, medical, dental, vision, accidental, FSA, HSA, Paid Time Off (PTO), and 401(k). ­­

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