What does a development specialist do?
A development specialist is responsible for monitoring career training and programs for the employees, improving their capabilities and maximum potential to contribute to the company's growth and success. Development specialists also assist in assessing departmental operations, evaluating training needs, and facilitate skill development discussions and exercises. A development specialist helps identify business opportunities to generate more revenues for the organization and improve profitability status. A development specialist must have excellent communication and organization skills and comprehensive knowledge of human management to assist employees with their inquiries and concerns.
Development specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real development specialist resumes:
- Manage RFP and contracting process.
- Manage a comprehensive caseload and keep accurate count of individuals enroll in WIA program.
- Manage complex USDA management information system records for portfolio properties.
- Manage alumni and corporate relations and activities and continuous learning education initiatives.
- Recruit, manage and motivate volunteers in public education, professional education, service and rehabilitation and tobacco control programs.
- Provide educational and recreational programming for young adults with developmental disabilities and neurological disorders, such as autism.
- Issue CLE certificates and maintain program files in compliance with CLE requirements.
- Maintain files and documentation in accordance with federal, state and local WIA and WIOA guidelines
- Conduct ride-alongs with new MDS hires, providing both training and marketing perspective from the field.
- Observe activities and responds accordingly including emergency situations such as evacuation, CPR, or first aid.
- Complete extensive training in caring for trouble youth which include CPR, medication administration, defusing crisis, and physical restraints.
- Collaborate with the sales and business management teams to establish a strategy and architecture of new CRM to meet business needs.
- Prepare data for CRM base customer communication.
- Incorporate different technical applications, particularly PowerPoint in workshops and seminars.
- Certify quality department supervisors and inspectors in ISO internal quality auditing.
Development specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 8% of Development Specialists are proficient in Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction, and Professional Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Instructional skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Development Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 8%
Created training documentation and trained internal staff of agents and supervisors working on various campaigns including training specialized customer service representatives.
- Customer Satisfaction, 7%
Facilitated large group training sessions, exceeded customer satisfaction surveys gauging the effectiveness of training delivered and facilitation skills.
- Professional Development, 6%
Conducted learning gap analysis and prepared recommendations for 2016 professional development offerings that increased leadership capability and communication quality within divisions.
- Patients, 6%
Coordinated communication between patients, family members, medical staff, and administrative personnel.
- Excellent Interpersonal, 5%
Acquired excellent interpersonal skills and professional attitude through years of management.
- PowerPoint, 5%
Assisted in development of on-line videos, PowerPoint presentations and documents utilized on the company Intranet SharePoint website.
Common skills that a development specialist uses to do their job include "customer service," "customer satisfaction," and "professional development." You can find details on the most important development specialist responsibilities below.
Creativity. One of the key soft skills for a development specialist to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what development specialists do because "specialists should be resourceful when developing training materials." Additionally, a development specialist resume shows how development specialists use creativity: "led six-person elearning creative team developing courseware and online quizzes in adobe captivate. "
Instructional skills. Many development specialist duties rely on instructional skills. "training and development specialists deliver employee training programs," so a development specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways development specialist responsibilities rely on instructional skills: "work closely with instructional design to develop elearning as appropriate and evaluate return on investment for all training provided. "
Analytical skills. development specialists are also known for analytical skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to development specialist responsibilities, because "training and development specialists must evaluate training programs, methods, and materials and choose those that best fit each situation." A development specialist resume example shows how analytical skills is used in the workplace: "designed and developed complex enterprise java applications, object oriented software, worked on code optimization and data modeling. "
Communication skills. development specialist responsibilities often require "communication skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "training and development specialists must convey information clearly and facilitate learning to diverse audiences." This resume example shows what development specialists do with communication skills on a typical day: "develop internal marketing and communication plans for training programs. "
The three companies that hire the most development specialists are:
- Deloitte343 development specialists jobs
- Res-Care Premier63 development specialists jobs
- Breakthru Beverage Group51 development specialists jobs
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Compare different development specialists
Development specialist vs. Training coordinator
A training coordinator is an individual who develops and conducts training programs for employees or volunteers. Training coordinators create printed and instructional materials as well as maintain an online library of training resources. Aside from conducting training, training coordinators need to assess employees' development and report their progress to the management. An organization also requires its training coordinators to obtain a bachelor's degree in Human Resource or related field and have excellent communication skills.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, development specialist responsibilities require skills like "customer satisfaction," "excellent interpersonal," "project management," and "java." Meanwhile a typical training coordinator has skills in areas such as "coordinators," "strong customer service," "safety training," and "iso." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that training coordinators earn slightly differ from development specialists. In particular, training coordinators are 3.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a development specialist. Additionally, they're 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Development specialist vs. Training consultant
A training consultant's job is to prepare, evaluate, and execute an organization's employee education programs. Their duties and responsibilities may include developing instructional materials, identifying knowledge and skills gaps, and organizing learning activities. Other duties include selecting educational methods such as online courses and on-the-job coaching, organizing management training, and assessing the impact of this training on employee performance. The skills and qualifications for this role include a bachelor's degree in human resources management or a relevant field, previous work experience as a training consultant, and knowledge of learning management software.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real development specialist resumes. While development specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "customer service," "customer satisfaction," "patients," and "excellent interpersonal," training consultants use skills like "training delivery," "product knowledge," "presentation," and "instructional design."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Training consultants tend to reach similar levels of education than development specialists. In fact, they're 4.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Development specialist vs. Training facilitator
A training facilitator is responsible for managing the training sessions of employees in an organization, both for career advancement and process-related training. Training facilitators outline the training objectives, prepare the facility and resources, and ensure that all participants are present during the discussion. They also coordinate with the department heads for any progress updates and additional requirements for training purposes. A training facilitator must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in acting as a liaison between the management and the trainees for their inquiries, concerns, and feedback.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, development specialists are more likely to have skills like "customer satisfaction," "patients," "excellent interpersonal," and "project management." But a training facilitator is more likely to have skills like "presentation," "management system," "lms," and "technical training."
When it comes to education, training facilitators tend to earn similar degree levels compared to development specialists. In fact, they're 3.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Development specialist vs. Training developer
A training developer is responsible for organizing process training and development programs for the employees. Training developers coordinate with the management to identify training criteria and processes that would fit the company's goals and objectives. They create engaging content and learning materials, as well as assessing the employees' learning by conducting activities that will test their knowledge of the subject. A training developer should have excellent communication and organizational skills, ensuring efficient training methods within the management's budget requirements and specifications.
Types of development specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
