Talent Development Director

About the opportunity

SWCA seeks a Director of Talent Development to lead the design, evolution, and delivery of learning and development solutions that strengthen leadership capability, build critical skills, and enable meaningful behavioral change across the organization.

Reporting to the Vice President of Talent and Transformation, this role partners closely with leaders and subject‑matter experts to translate business priorities into thoughtfully designed curricula, learning pathways, and development experiences that support employee growth and organizational effectiveness.

This role balances strategic thinking with hands‑on curriculum leadership—ensuring learning solutions are well‑designed, relevant, and impactful—while also contributing to broader efforts that shape how SWCA develops talent as the organization grows.

While this position is tied to our Corporate Headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, it may be based anywhere in the United States. This is a full‑time, regular, salaried position with benefits.

At SWCA, culture matters. We are a community of employee‑owners who value collaboration, sustainability, curiosity, and giving back. We believe great workplaces can take their work seriously without taking themselves too seriously—whether that’s through homebrew competitions, wild sock designs, or finding meaningful ways to support our communities.

Please submit a letter of interest and resume to be considered for this position.

Application deadline: Our team will begin reviewing applications immediately, and interviews will be scheduled with qualified candidates on a rolling basis. The application process will remain open until we have received a robust pool of qualified candidates. Once we have identified suitable individuals, we may close the application process without prior notice. We appreciate the time and effort invested by all applicants and will carefully consider each submission.

What you will accomplish

The Director of Talent Development serves as a lead architect of learning experiences that support leadership effectiveness, professional growth, and consistent capability building across the firm.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead curriculum design and learning architecture
• Design and evolve leadership and professional development curricula, learning pathways, and blended experiences that align with SWCA’s business needs and career landscape.
• Ensure learning solutions are grounded in adult learning principles and emphasize application, practice, and behavior change—not content alone.

• Translating business needs into effective learning solutions
• Partner with leaders and stakeholders to clarify development needs, define learning outcomes, and determine the most effective instructional approaches.
• Diagnose whether needs are best addressed through curriculum, performance support, systems changes, or other interventions.

• Oversee development and delivery of talent programs
• Guide the design, development, and facilitation of leadership and talent development offerings, ensuring consistency, quality, and relevance across the organization.
• Balance enterprise‑wide programs with targeted solutions that address specific capability gaps.

• Strengthening learning systems and tools
• Contribute to the ongoing improvement of learning platforms, evaluation approaches, and content governance to ensure programs remain current, scalable, and effective.
• Use feedback and data to continuously refine curricula and learning experiences.

• Lead and develop learning professionals
• Provide direction, coaching, and support to instructional designers, facilitators, and learning partners.
• Align team members’ strengths to curriculum design, facilitation, and program management work where they can have the greatest impact.

• Collaborate across the organization
• Work cross‑functionally with HR, operations, and business leaders to ensure learning solutions support broader talent strategies and organizational priorities.
• Lead working groups and initiatives that require influence without direct authority.
• Serve as an ambassador for SWCA’s Safety Culture and implementation.

• Measure effectiveness and impact
• Evaluate learning outcomes using qualitative and quantitative indicators to understand adoption, skill development, and impact on performance

Experience and qualifications for success

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Eight (8) years of experience in talent development, instructional design, organizational development, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience designing and evolving curricula or learning programs, particularly for professional or leadership audiences.
• Strong understanding of adult learning principles and instructional design practices.
• Experience partnering with leaders and stakeholders to define learning needs and outcomes.
• Proven ability to lead projects and initiatives that span functions or disciplines.
• Strong facilitation, communication, and collaboration skills.
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Preferred qualifications:

• Twelve (12) years of experience in talent development, instructional design, organizational development, or related fields.
• Experience in professional services, consulting, or matrixed organizations.
• Familiarity with organizational effectiveness or change related work.
• Knowledge of SWCA’s business, culture, or career pathways.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., CPTD/CPLP)

Why Work at SWCA:

SWCA Environmental Consultants is a growing employee-owned firm, providing a full-spectrum of environmental services.  Our Vision (the North Star) is to make SWCA the best workplace and industry leader in sustainability, bringing sound science and creative solutions to global environmental challenges while maintaining a dedication to employee-ownership. We live our core values: we collaborate as #OneSWCA; we are #AlwaysLearning, we #NeverSettle, and we #GiveBack.

We are 100% employee-owned, and we build our success together. With offices across the United States, SWCA is one of the largest environmental compliance firms and ranks among Engineering News-Record’s Top 200 Environmental Firms. We offer a supportive, team-oriented work environment and competitive wages and benefits, including an 100% employee stock ownership plan (retirement).

At SWCA, we support our team members in developing their careers to make them leaders in their industry. Our Career Landscape initiative is a process and guide designed to help develop chart rewarding career paths for employees at SWCA. We encourage professional conference attendance, internal and external professional development and training programs, education reimbursement, a Science and Leadership Program, and bonuses for publications meeting certain criteria. All regular status employees are eligible to participate in SWCA medical, dental, vision, employee assistance, wellness, life and disability plans, and are eligible to participate in the SWCA 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust.

If you need assistance accessing SWCA’s website, completing the online application, or require accommodations at any point during the hiring process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@swca.com or call 1-480-581-5378. We’re committed to providing an inclusive and supportive experience for all candidates. This contact information is specifically for accommodation requests; other inquiries will not receive a response. 

EOE - women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply. At SWCA Environmental Consultants, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. We strongly encourage candidates from all backgrounds, including those with diverse experiences and veterans, to apply. We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce enhances creativity, innovation, and overall organizational success.

SWCA is committed to salary equity and salary transparency for all its employees.  In alignment with this commitment, SWCA posts good faith pay ranges in all its advertised job postings to promote pay equity and transparency.

An employee in this US-based position can expect an annual salary of $139,776.00 - $179,088.00. Actual pay within this range may depend on experience, qualifications, geographic location, client requirements where applicable, and other factors permitted by law.  Regular-status employees are also eligible for performance bonuses. Candidates are also encouraged to consider SWCA’s Total Rewards package, which includes a competitive Benefits Package, forward-thinking workplace flexibility, outstanding corporate culture, award-winning career development, and more.

SWCA continues to invest deeply in career development programs, delivering our award-winning Career Landscape support resources to accelerate the growth of our staff. We recognize the valuable skills and experiences our internal team members bring to SWCA’s continued success. Qualified internal candidates are encouraged to apply and will be seriously considered for this position. We believe in promoting from within, where possible, providing our existing employees with compelling opportunities to advance their careers.

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