Job Description
Best Buddies International is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, inclusive living, and family support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Best Buddies is the largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people worldwide with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Our programs empower people with IDD to form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure jobs, improve communication and advocacy skills, and live independently, while also offering support for their families.
Position Title: Senior Director, Program Learning & Resources
Department: State Operations and Programs
Reports to: Vice President, Programs
Salary: $75,000-$80,000
# Direct Reports: 0
Position Overview:
The Senior Director, Program Readiness & Resources leads the development, implementation, and continual improvement of program-specific onboarding, learning, and performance alignment across all Best Buddies program pillars (Friendship, Jobs, Leadership, Inclusive Living, and Family Support).
This role is responsible for establishing a centralized, standardized onboarding and learning structure that ensures all program staff receive consistent, high-quality foundational learning regardless of location. Working in close partnership with Human Resources and Training & Development, this position helps operationalize and deliver program-specific learning experiences, ensuring alignment with organizational training standards, systems, and tools.
By partnering closely with Human Resources and program leadership, this position supports the creation of clear role expectations, performance benchmarks, and continuous learning systems that drive staff effectiveness, accountability, and program excellence.
The Senior Director works cross-functionally with pillar leads, state teams, and Human Resources to reduce training burden at the local level, increase consistency across markets, and ensure staff are equipped with the knowledge, tools, and expectations needed to successfully deliver programs.
Job Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree or a minimum of 7–10 years of progressive experience in training, program operations, talent development, or related field
- Demonstrated experience designing and delivering structured onboarding and training programs at scale
- Experience developing competency models, performance benchmarks, or role clarity frameworks
- Strong facilitation, presentation, and content development skills
- Exceptional project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and drive results
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and translate insights into action
- Ability to collaborate effectively across departments, including Human Resources, and influence without direct authority
- Ability to convert complex information into clear, user-friendly training materials and resources
- Highly adaptable, solutions-oriented, and able to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment
- Strong organizational and time management skills with attention to detail
- High level of accountability, initiative, and results orientation
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office and database platforms (SharePoint, Salesforce preferred)
- Willingness to travel and work evenings/weekends as needed
Job Duties include, but are not limited to:
Programs
- Design and lead a standardized, national program onboarding experience in partnership with Human Resources, aligning with enterprise onboarding frameworks and tools
- Facilitate a monthly, one-week onboarding training focused on core job functions, program fundamentals, and organizational expectations
- Ensure all new staff receive consistent, high-quality foundational training, reducing variability across states
- Define and maintain onboarding curriculum including program implementation, communication standards, data entry, participant engagement, and role expectations
- Establish onboarding benchmarks, assessments, and completion standards to ensure staff meet baseline competency
- Partner with Human Resources to develop and implement a national program learning strategy that supports continuous staff development beyond onboarding identify training gaps and implement solutions to improve staff performance, confidence, and consistency
- Partner with Human Resources to align onboarding, training, and development with broader employee experience and talent strategies
- Lead development and refinement of program job descriptions across all pillars in partnership with HR
- Establish clear performance goals, benchmarks, and competency expectations for program roles
- Ensure alignment between program learning content, role expectations, and performance evaluation in partnership with Human Resources
- Develop and maintain program-specific learning resources, toolkits, and materials aligned with Human Resources training systems and standards
- Partner with program pillar leads to ensure training content reflects current strategies, priorities, and best practices
- Support alignment between national expectations and local implementation by clearly defining onboarding responsibilities:
– National: Core training, foundational skills, expectations, and performance benchmarks
– State: Local relationships, stakeholders, and state-specific processes - Utilize data, feedback, and performance trends to continuously improve training systems and staff readiness
- Develop systems to track onboarding participation, completion, and training effectiveness
- Ensure training infrastructure supports program consistency, scalability, and long-term growth
- Define and maintain clear ownership boundaries between Human Resources-led training infrastructure and program-led content, ensuring a seamless and coordinated staff learning experience
Fund Development
- Support Development and Major Gifts teams by providing program training insights, staff readiness updates, and impact examples as needed
Operations
- Support facilitation of programmatic staff calls and contribute to structured communication efforts (e.g., Pillar Post)
- Develop and maintain training systems, workflows, and tools that support consistent onboarding and staff development
- Identify inefficiencies in training and onboarding processes and implement solutions to improve effectiveness and reduce burden on field staff
- Ensure training materials and resources remain current, accessible, and aligned with organizational priorities
- Partner with Human Resources to evaluate training impact on staff performance, engagement, and retention
- Maintain documentation, reporting tools, and systems related to training and onboarding
- Lead continuous improvement efforts based on training feedback and field insights
- Collaborate with leadership to align training strategy with organizational priorities and program goals
- Contribute to organization-wide initiatives through collaboration and resource alignment
Best Buddies® is an affirmative action employer, in addition to an EOE and M/F/V/PWD/PV employer. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are foundational to Best Buddies International’s core values and help the organization continue to achieve its mission. Here at Best Buddies, our goal is to lead and advocate for a more inclusive world.
Best Buddies offers a comprehensive and generous benefits program that include financial security, health and wellness and time off.