Cohen & Co is embarking on a firmwide evolution of how we develop our people — and we’re looking for a leader to help build what’s next.
As Director of Learning & Development, you will lead the continued advancement of our learning strategy — shaping a scalable, enterprise learning capability that supports firm growth, leadership readiness, and long-term value creation.
Reporting to the Chief People Officer and partnering closely with Service Line Leaders, HR Business Partners, and firm leadership, this role will design and scale a modern learning ecosystem across three core areas:
- Technical Enablement & Business Acumen
- Leadership Development & Partner Capability
- Digital Learning & AI Enablement
This role is central to Cohen’s broader People Strategy and will play a key role in:
- Creating meaningful opportunities for our people to grow, build new skills, and explore diverse career paths and experiences — reinforcing Cohen & Co as a place where people build meaningful careers, deepen their expertise, and accelerate their growth
- Accelerating time-to-productivity and career progression
- Strengthening leadership and partner readiness across the firm
- Enhancing how learning is designed and delivered to balance quality, scalability, and efficiency
- Embedding measurement and insights to better understand learning’s impact on performance and business outcomes
The ideal candidate brings a builder’s mindset, strong business acumen, and the ability to translate strategy into scalable, practical solutions within a professional services environment.
Learning Strategy & Operating Model
- Build and execute a firmwide learning strategy aligned to growth objectives, workforce priorities, and the firm’s operating model
- Establish a scalable operating model that supports enterprise consistency while meeting service line needs
- Translate business priorities into structured development pathways aligned to career progression, promotion readiness, and performance expectations
- Implement governance, prioritization, and intake processes to focus on the highest-value learning initiatives
- Partner with leadership to identify capability gaps and align learning investments to business priorities
Technical Enablement & Business Acumen
- Evolve technical learning toward a more structured, scalable approach, leveraging instructional design principles and consistent learning frameworks
- Define technical learning pathways by service line aligned to role expectations and progression milestones
- Embed business acumen across levels to strengthen client impact and decision-making
- Balance internal development and external providers to deliver high-quality, efficient learning solutions
- Enhance how subject matter expertise is leveraged to support both learning quality and business priorities
Leadership Development & Partner Capability
- Design and implement leadership development experiences across all career stages, from emerging leaders through partners
- Strengthen partner and managing director capability aligned to firm strategy, growth, and succession priorities
- Refresh manager and leader capability expectations to support team effectiveness and development
- Integrate leadership development with broader talent processes, including performance management and succession planning
- Support leadership assessments (e.g., 360s, coaching) to inform development and growth
Digital Learning, AI & Measurement
- Expand digital learning capabilities to improve accessibility, consistency, and learner experience
- Partner across the firm to leverage technology and AI to enhance learning delivery and efficiency
- Build and evolve a measurement and analytics approach that provides insight into participation, effectiveness, and outcomes
- Use data to continuously refine learning strategy and inform investment decisions
- Ensure alignment across learning platforms and tools
Leadership & Team Development
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing Learning & Development team
- Build capabilities across instructional design, program management, and learning operations
- Drive accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence
- Collaborate closely with HR Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, and firm leadership
What Success Looks Like
- Increased employee engagement, retention, and internal mobility driven by meaningful development experiences and clear career pathways
- Scalable learning programs aligned to career progression and firm priorities
- Improved time-to-productivity for new hires and internal promotions
- Stronger leadership pipeline and succession readiness
- Enhanced consistency and quality of learning experiences across the firm
- Increased visibility into learning effectiveness and impact
Required
Who You Are
- Bachelor’s degree
- 10+ years of progressive experience in Learning & Development or Talent Development
- 5+ years leading enterprise-wide learning programs and teams
- Proven success designing and implementing scalable learning strategies
- Strong analytical and program leadership skills with the ability to operate in evolving environments
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
Preferred
- Experience in a public accounting or professional services organization
- Experience with digital learning platforms, learning technologies, or AI-enabled solutions
- Experience building or enhancing learning measurement and analytics capabilities
Locations
- Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Milwaukee, WI; Baltimore, MD
- In office 4 days per week
Who We Are
Sure, we like numbers. (But we’ll never treat you like one.)
At Cohen & Co our foundational principles offer insight into how we achieve an inclusive, growth-oriented culture that fuels the success of our firm, our clients and our people. In particular, we honor our foundational principle of “great people first” by:
- Championing the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion by embracing the unique stories, backgrounds, perspectives and ideas that come from our people; and
- Offering a comprehensive and competitive Total Rewards package, which allows each employee to use the benefits that best suits their needs. Our offerings go beyond standard options, including time off outside of your standard PTO to give back to the community, annual discretionary merit increases and bonuses, talent development resources to tap into growth opportunities, and so much more!
Estimated Salary Range: $160,000 to $190,000*
- Salaries offered to candidates are determined based on factors such as candidate's relevant skillset, experience, licensure, and certifications, as well as job responsibilities, geography, market considerations, and organizational needs. At Cohen & Co, we don't stop setting ourselves apart by offering competitive base compensation. As part of our 'great people first' foundational principle, our firm offers a comprehensive and competitive Total Rewards package that allows each employee to design a package that best suits their needs and goes beyond standard options, including time off outside of your standard PTO to recharge and give back to the community, annual discretionary merit increases and bonuses, talent development resources to tap into growth opportunities, and so much more!
Learn More About Us!
- Discover our Passion, Purpose & Expertise
- Learn more about our Firm's culture
- Experienced Hire Opportunities
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity of thought and background to build an inclusive and energized culture and better meet the needs of our clients.
Agency recruiters may not submit unsolicited candidate information or resumes to any Cohen & Co employee without a recruiting services contract first being entered into with the Cohen & Co Talent Acquisition Team; see policy here.
