Senior L&D Manager

About the organization

The Hasso Plattner Foundation is a philanthropic organization dedicated to strengthening Europe’s digital sovereignty, improving access to art and culture, and supporting environmental conservation.

What we offer

Purpose – You will work for one of the world’s largest foundations and have the opportunity to shape philanthropic activities.

Personal growth – Fast‑growing organization with opportunities to grow into senior roles.

Agility – Flat hierarchies, motivated teams, and a non‑bureaucratic environment.

Your Role

We are looking for a Senior L&D Manager to lead and build out our L&D Center of Expertise, which will become the go‑to place for L&D across all our charitable entities. You will design the operating model, build the service offering, manage stakeholders across our charitable entities and within the Foundation, and ensure that what we deliver is relevant, used, and creates real impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and run the CoE as a shared service. Design the governance, intake process, and service catalogue. Define what is in scope, what stays local, and how entities engage with the CoE. Establish the cost‑recharging model and manage the budget.
• Develop and curate the learning offering. Build a modular training catalogue covering leadership & management essentials, regulatory & compliance, and meta‑skills (feedback, AI enablement, project management, change management). Source, vet, and manage external providers.
• Own the Leadership Development Program. Take over and evolve our cohort‑based leadership program for senior managers across the ecosystem. Design upcoming modules, manage external facilitators, drive continuous improvement based on participant feedback, and ensure the program is anchored in our ecosystem‑wide Leadership Principles.
• Own and evolve our learning systems and frameworks. Manage day‑to‑day administration of LMS, authoring platforms, goal‑setting and feedback tools, and evaluate new solutions (including AI‑enabled learning tools) as needs evolve. Collaborate with IT and InfoSec to keep the system landscape lean and effective.
• Manage stakeholders across a complex ecosystem. Build trusted relationships with MDs, HR leads, and L&D teams across five entities ranging from 10 to 500 people, with different cultures, maturity levels, and expectations.
• Measure and iterate. Measure and track success metrics of learning & development initiatives – adoption, behavior change, leadership capability, and organizational impact. Use data to improve offerings and demonstrate value.

What we are looking for

• L&D expertise with strategic range. You’ve built learning programs, not just delivered them – from designing leadership modules to sourcing providers to presenting a business case to leadership.
• Experience across organizational boundaries. You know how to serve diverse stakeholders and balance standardisation with local flexibility, building trust across different cultures and seniority levels.
• Operating model thinking. You build the structures that make L&D sustainable: service catalogues, intake processes, governance, pricing logic, budget control, and service quality management.
• Hands‑on delivery. Comfortable designing a framework and running a workshop in a lean team.
• Modern L&D mindset. Focus on blended learning, peer‑based formats, AI‑enabled tools, with a commitment to transfer and impact.

In addition, you bring

• Outstanding academic track record from a leading international university
• Minimum 5 years of experience in leading complex projects, preferably in scale‑up or high‑performing teams
• Excellent analytical and communication skills
• Great organisational skills and a structured way of working
• Exceptionally driven and committed to striving for excellence
• High agility and eagerness to develop new skills and areas of expertise
• Hands‑on experience with AI enablement – ideally in the L&D space

Nice to have

• Experience with SAP SuccessFactors (LMS)
• Experience in a foundation, non‑profit, or mission‑driven organization
• Background in coaching or facilitation
• German language skills (many stakeholders operate in German)

What else do we offer

• A role with real ownership and visibility – building something from the ground up with direct access to the executive team
• A high‑impact environment where your work directly strengthens leadership and capability across an ecosystem of science, education, art, and social good organisations
• Competitive compensation package
• Support to pursue professional training
• Public transport ticket
• State‑of‑the‑art IT equipment
• Working in a beautiful office in Potsdam with a lake view
• Free lunch, fruit, drinks, excellent coffee, and opportunities for outdoor sports activities