North East | Hybrid Working | £65,000 - £82,000
About the Role
CPI is seeking a passionate and forward-thinking Head of L&D to lead the organisation's approach to learning, leadership, and capability development.
This is a highly visible leadership role with responsibility for shaping how development happens across CPI, ensuring our people have the skills, behaviours, and expertise needed to succeed today and in the future. You'll lead an established team of learning specialists while helping evolve the function beyond traditional learning and development into a broader organisational capability and development model.
We're looking for an individual who brings energy, enthusiasm, and innovative thinking-someone who can inspire others, challenge the status quo, and build a culture where learning is embedded into everyday work.
What You'll Be Responsible For:
Enterprise Capability & Organisational Development
Define and lead CPI's approach to capability and development across the organisation
Build clear capability frameworks aligned to business needs and future growth priorities
Design and deliver organisational development initiatives that improve performance and capability
Help move the organisation towards a more holistic approach to talent and development rather than standalone training interventions
Leadership & Professional Development
Lead the design and delivery of leadership and management development programmes
Create clear development pathways for key professional and technical communities
Drive coaching, mentoring, knowledge-sharing, and self-directed learning initiatives
Develop approaches that support future leaders, technical experts, and executive talent pipelines
Learning Strategy & Innovation
Set the overall learning strategy and development approach across CPI
Ensure learning is practical, impactful, and linked to business performance
Champion modern learning methods, digital learning solutions, and innovative development practices
Explore opportunities to leverage emerging technologies, including AI-enabled learning solutions
Leadership of the Capability & Development Team
Lead and develop a team of specialist Learning & Development professionals
Foster a high-performing, collaborative, and customer-focused culture
Ensure the team delivers high-quality learning interventions across leadership, compliance, management, technical, and professional development programmes
Manage the learning and development budget, ensuring effective use of investment and apprenticeship levy fundingStakeholder Engagement
Partner with senior leaders to identify capability priorities and performance challenges
Translate business strategy into meaningful development activity
Work closely with HR, Organisational Effectiveness, and Technology & Innovation teams to ensure capability initiatives align with organisational goals
About You
You are an experienced learning, capability, or organisational development leader who thrives on helping people and organisations reach their potential.
You'll bring:
Proven experience leading Learning & Development, Capability, or Organisational Development functions
Strong experience translating business objectives into development strategies and programmes
A passion for developing people and creating engaging learning experiences
Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills
The ability to operate strategically while remaining practical and delivery-focused
Experience leading and developing teams
Most importantly, you'll bring:
High levels of energy, positivity, and enthusiasm
A people-first approach
Curiosity, innovation, and a willingness to challenge conventional thinking
A genuine passion for helping others grow and succeed
Desirable:
Experience within scientific, technical, engineering, or innovation-led organisations
Experience within regulated environments
CIPD membership, coaching qualifications, or relevant organisational development credentials
Exposure to leadership programmes, talent development, succession planning, or capability frameworks
Why Join CPI?
Opportunity to shape the future of organisational capability across a nationally significant innovation organisation
Lead a well-established team of development specialists
High visibility with senior and executive stakeholders
Opportunity to influence culture, leadership, and long-term workforce capability
Competitive salary package (£65,000-£82,000)
Location & Working Pattern
Hybrid working arrangement
Regular presence across CPI sites and stakeholder groups as required
Flexible working culture focused on outcomes and collaboration
The Opportunity
This is a rare opportunity to take ownership of Capability & Development at a pivotal point in CPI's evolution. You'll have the platform to build on strong foundations, influence organisational performance, and create innovative approaches that help develop future leaders, world-class technical experts, and high-performing teams.
If you're looking for a role where you can make a lasting impact across an entire organisation, we'd love to hear from you.
Guidant, Carbon60, Lorien & SRG - The Impellam Group Portfolio are acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy
Salary description
£65000.00 - £82000.00 per year