What does a learning development specialist do?
Also called a learning specialist, a learning development specialist is someone who designs, executes, and organizes training programs. Learning development specialists see to it that the programs will help improve the performance of employees and that of organizational productivity. They design, establish, and direct employee discussions, simulations, and exercises. Also, they are the ones who prepare study guides, manuals, and text for employee training. The set of skills necessary for this job include leadership, management skills, communication skills, and attention to detail.
Learning development specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real learning development specialist resumes:
- Work independently and as part of a team to achieve optimal learning retention on EMR systems within the hospital environment.
- Lead experiential learning in supervisory skills, conflict management, leadership, team building and organization process effectiveness.
- Create and update existing adult learning programs, workbooks, PowerPoint presentations.
- Develop standards for job/task analysis, instructor-le training materials, train-the-trainer activities, course maintenance plans, and performance assessment/evaluation tools.
- Process FMLA requests and letters.
- Facilitate the creation of SharePoint portal and MyLearning.
- Work with QA to identify and troubleshoot content integration issues.
- Perform payroll tasks, reconciliation of office cash and bank deposits.
- Utilize SalesForce to track negotiations, recruitment, and maintenance efforts.
- Used SalesForce to create campaigns and insure timely follow up with prospects.
- Serve as VirtualEdge subject matter expert (SME) on various LSD projects.
- Put in tickets to other departments for issues with payroll and missing time.
- Develop curricula for and teach traditional and hybrid developmental mathematics courses using D2L and ALEKS software.
- Coordinate management, technical, interpersonal, and computer training with vendors, internal SMEs, and corporate training services.
- Create an individualize grade level character to engage students by writing stories to go with each of the math lessons.
Learning development specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Learning Development Specialists are proficient in Training Programs, Project Management, and HR. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Creativity, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Learning Development Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Training Programs, 7%
Satisfied training and development needs by analyzing organization results, job requirements, operational problems and current training programs.
- Project Management, 6%
Developed Management Fundamentals training courses including performance management, project management, employee engagement, on-boarding, and employee relations strategies.
- HR, 6%
Implemented and Managed Professional Mastery Program for HR department for Asia-Pacific region.
- Instructional Design, 5%
Analyzed, designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated timeshare collections training materials with team using Instructional Design ADDIE Methodology.
- Subject Matter Experts, 5%
Collaborated with departmental subject matter experts and managers to assess needs and align program objectives to medical center priorities.
- Organizational Development, 4%
Project managing organizational development consulting projects, contributing as an expert on various consulting teams and managing administration for the organization.
"training programs," "project management," and "hr" are among the most common skills that learning development specialists use at work. You can find even more learning development specialist responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a learning development specialist to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "training and development specialists must evaluate training programs, methods, and materials and choose those that best fit each situation." Additionally, a learning development specialist resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "generated post training evaluation using kirkpatrick 4-model and analyze results to ensure program effectiveness. "
Creativity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling learning development specialist duties is creativity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "specialists should be resourceful when developing training materials." According to a learning development specialist resume, here's how learning development specialists can utilize creativity in their job responsibilities: "led cross-departmental design thinking approach to reinvent new employee orientation including associated finance, hr and it processes. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of learning development specialists is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday learning development specialist duties, as "training and development specialists must convey information clearly and facilitate learning to diverse audiences." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "constructed useful reports and timely communications by partnering with hr leaders. "
Instructional skills. For certain learning development specialist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "instructional skills." The day-to-day duties of a learning development specialist rely on this skill, as "training and development specialists deliver employee training programs." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what learning development specialists do: "collaborated with instructional leadership teams around professional development priorities, data- driven instructional practices and school-wide classroom learning walks. "
Collaboration skills. Another skill commonly found on learning development specialist job descriptions is "collaboration skills." It can come up quite often in learning development specialist duties, since "specialists need strong interpersonal skills because delivering training programs requires coordinating with instructors, subject-matter experts, and trainees." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day learning development specialist responsibilities: "develop instructional materials in collaboration with internal stakeholders, subject matter experts and training colleagues. "
The three companies that hire the most learning development specialists are:
- Deloitte375 learning development specialists jobs
- Sanford Health12 learning development specialists jobs
- Raytheon Technologies9 learning development specialists jobs
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Compare different learning development specialists
Learning development specialist vs. Corporate trainer
A corporate trainer is someone who essentially works as a teacher in a corporate setting. Daily duties include training employees with new company systems, skills, and strategies. They monitor the engagement levels and performance of the training participants. Also, they collaborate with project stakeholders to create training content and design. Corporate trainers must have high interpersonal skills to connect with trainers easily and to get them to participate actively in the training sessions. Preferred candidates for the job are those with a bachelor's degree in human resources or those with relevant job experience in the same field.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a learning development specialist are more likely to require skills like "project management," "instructional design," "organizational development," and "learning solutions." On the other hand, a job as a corporate trainer requires skills like "corporate training," "account executives," "product knowledge," and "sales training." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Corporate trainers earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $58,663. On the other hand, learning development specialists are paid more in the finance industry with an average salary of $77,736.The education levels that corporate trainers earn slightly differ from learning development specialists. In particular, corporate trainers are 10.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a learning development specialist. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Learning development specialist vs. Epic credentialed trainer
Epic credential trainers are professionals who are trained at the hospital client where they provide training to users. The responsibilities of the trainers include the delivery of end-user training and assistance in technicalities. They balance various projects and their deadlines while still managing caseloads. Their job involves the establishment and enforcement of training interventions. Also, they offer extensive customer service through communication on a professional level and provide support via telephone or WebEx.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, learning development specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "training programs," "project management," "hr," and "instructional design." Meanwhile, an epic credentialed trainer has duties that require skills in areas such as "ehr," "patients," "end user training," and "coordinators." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Epic credentialed trainers earn a higher average salary than learning development specialists. But epic credentialed trainers earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $77,624. Additionally, learning development specialists earn the highest salaries in the finance with average pay of $77,736 annually.epic credentialed trainers earn lower levels of education than learning development specialists in general. They're 5.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Learning 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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, learning development specialists are more likely to have skills like "project management," "instructional design," "organizational development," and "learning solutions." But a training coordinator is more likely to have skills like "patients," "cpr," "coordinators," and "strong customer service."
Training coordinators make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $51,627. On the other hand, learning development specialists are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $77,736.training coordinators typically earn lower educational levels compared to learning development specialists. Specifically, they're 8.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Learning 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.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between learning development specialists and training consultants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a learning development specialist might have more use for skills like "organizational development," "customer service," "powerpoint," and "learning solutions." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of training consultants require skills like "training delivery," "product knowledge," "presentation," and "train-the-trainer. "
The finance industry tends to pay the highest salaries for training consultants, with average annual pay of $67,693. Comparatively, the highest learning development specialist annual salary comes from the finance industry.In general, training consultants hold similar degree levels compared to learning development specialists. Training consultants are 0.4% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of learning development specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
