London Office - Senior Manager, Europe Learning and Talent Development (14-month maternity cover)- (M/F/D)

Location: London

Working pattern: 14-month fixed-term contract, starting early- to mid-July 2026. Flexible and hybrid working available, with an expectation to be in the London office at least 3 days per week. Must be available 19-23 October for orientation week in London.

L.E.K. Consulting is a global strategy consulting firm that uses deep industry expertise and rigorous analysis to help business leaders achieve practical results with real impact. With over 2,300 professionals located across five continents, L.E.K. specialises in Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) support with clients across the full range of corporates and private equity.

Our European People team supports over 750 people across five countries. As a regional team, we work together to deliver specialist insight and support across four pillars: Recruitment and Onboarding, People and Operations, Learning and Development, and People Strategy and Analytics.

Learning and Talent Development at L.E.K. hires bright people to solve challenges for our clients and to support our firm to be exceptional. Our Learning and Talent Development team supports all our people to continue to learn, grow and thrive at work by creating a learning ecosystem that integrates feedback, training, learning experiences and future development planning.

The Learning & Talent Development (L&TD) team conceives of, designs, develops, manages, and coordinates the delivery of a variety of programmes which provide our employees with the tools they need to grow and succeed at L.E.K. and beyond. Reporting to the Regional People Director, the Learning & Talent Development Senior Manager is responsible for leading L.E.K. Europe’s formal learning offering and managing the Learning and Talent Development team. The role also plays a critical part in shaping and driving the firm’s talent development agenda, ensuring that development frameworks, talent processes and growth opportunities are clear, effective and aligned to business needs.

This builds on an established learning offering while bringing stronger ownership and continued evolution to the talent development space. We offer over 100 learning experiences to 750+ Europe-based employees at all levels and roles in the firm. This role works closely with senior stakeholders to set the direction for employee development, maintain excellence in delivery, and ensure our people have the skills, support and clarity they need to progress successfully.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Learning and Talent Development leader to provide maternity cover for a broad and visible role. The successful candidate will lead a high-performing team, sustain momentum across an established learning curriculum, and drive the continued creation and implementation of talent development priorities across Europe.

Job Description

Working in collaboration with Partners, Managers, and individuals to develop and deliver a coherent learning and talent development offering that enables our people to continue to build their skills, perform strongly, and grow into future roles. This will include:

• Owning and managing the full learning offering across Europe, ensuring it remains high quality, commercially relevant and aligned to business priorities.
• Leading, managing and developing the Learning and Talent Development team, building capability, supporting performance and engagement, and ensuring high standards and efficient delivery.
• Overseeing the end-to-end delivery of programmes and learning events, driving strong attendance, participation and continuous improvement through use of feedback, evaluation and performance insights.
• Setting the direction of the curriculum, including content design, format, timing, instructional methods and faculty support, and evolving the offering in line with business and talent needs.
• Partnering with sectors, functional groups and senior stakeholders to understand capability requirements and ensure learning and development initiatives are relevant, well-positioned and effectively implemented.
• Providing oversight of key learning experiences, including onboarding, leadership programmes and milestone development events.
• Defining and evolving the firm’s talent development strategy, and driving the design, implementation and adoption of development frameworks, career pathways and planning approaches.
• Owning and facilitating the 9 box grid talent review process, leading high-quality and consistent talent discussions, and supporting identification of high-potential individuals, development priorities and critical roles.
• Supporting succession planning and risk mitigation for key positions in partnership with senior stakeholders and the broader People team.
• Embedding a culture of ongoing development by equipping individuals, coaches and line managers with practical tools, frameworks and guidance, and overseeing development support programmes (e.g. coaching, mentoring, sponsorship).
• Managing governance, suppliers and budget, ensuring effective use of resources, value for money and high-quality delivery.
• Maintaining strong operational oversight across processes, systems and planning to ensure the function runs smoothly and consistently.

Essential Requirements

• Significant experience in adult learning, instructional design and training, ideally within a professional services or similarly fast-paced environment.
• Strong experience in talent development, including designing and implementing frameworks, development approaches and initiatives that support progression and long-term capability building.
• Demonstrable experience defining and evolving talent development strategy in line with business needs.
• Demonstrable experience leading and developing direct reports, ideally within a small but high-performing team, with the ability to set standards, coach effectively and build team capability.
• Strong commercial acumen and confidence navigating business dynamics, competing priorities and senior stakeholder expectations.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior audiences and adapt across different styles, levels and cultures.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and projects simultaneously while keeping stakeholders appropriately informed.
• Strong analytical skills and sound judgement.
• Ability to lead both strategically and operationally, moving comfortably between high-level planning and detailed execution.
• Ability to travel to other offices as required.
• Fluent English (C2).

Desirable

• Professional services experience.
• Experience leading or contributing to talent review, succession, performance or development planning processes.
• Experience designing or overseeing coaching, mentoring or sponsorship programmes.
• Training delivery and facilitation experience.
• Experience leading change or embedding new people processes in a complex stakeholder environment.
• German, French or Spanish language skills (C1/C2).