How would you like to work in a place where your contributions and ideas are valued? A place where you can serve with compassion, pursue excellence and honor every voice? At Wellstar, our mission is simple, yet powerful: to enhance the health and well-being of every person we serve. We are proud to have become a shining example of what's possible when the brightest professionals dedicate themselves to making a difference in the healthcare industry, and in people's lives.
Work Shift
Job Summary:
The Executive Director of Learning & Talent Development is a transformational Learning & Development (L&D) leader responsible for driving workforce capability, clinical excellence, and professional growth across a dynamic 12-hospital health system with over 35,000 employees. This executive will lead system-wide education initiatives that blend evidence-based competency frameworks (e.g., Donna Wright), immersive simulation, and cutting-edge learning technologies to ensure a highly skilled and agile workforce. A licensed clinicianpreferably a nursethe ideal candidate brings deep experience in L&D strategy, a strong understanding of clinical education, and a proven ability to respond to rapidly shifting healthcare priorities, operational changes and workforce demands.
The role requires a highly strategic mindset, the ability to influence and build relationships with senior leadership, and a deep commitment to advancing Wellstar's learning and talent strategy across all levels of the organization
Core Responsibilities and Essential Functions:
Strategic Leadership & Learning Architecture
* Lead the development of a robust, system-wide L&D strategy aligned with clinical excellence, patient safety, regulatory standards, and health system goals.
* Build adaptive and scalable learning solutions that support rapid workforce transformation, whether driven by new care models, emerging technologies or operational shifts.
* Employ contemporary competency frameworks (e.g., Donna Wright Competency Assessment Model) to ensure relevance, rigor, and accountability in education.
Organizational Agility & Workforce Responsiveness
* Partner across the organization to assess emerging talent needs and rapidly design responsive learning programs for onboarding, reskilling, crisis-readiness, and role evolution.
* Lead initiatives and proactively address workforce development in response to new clinical programs, system growth, market shifts, or regulatory changes.
* Champion innovation and continuous improvement, applying agile methods to prioritize speed-to-competency and speed-to-impact.
Team & People Leadership
* Lead and inspire a high-performing, multidisciplinary education team -- including clinical educators, instructional designers, and learning technologists.
* Foster a culture of agility, collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
* Develop internal talent and succession pipelines within the L&D team and broader workforce.
Clinical & Curriculum Excellence
* Ensure alignment of learning programs with clinical practice standards, quality measures, and interdisciplinary competencies.
* Collaborate with clinical leaders to design and validate certification-eligible programs that advance nursing and allied health practice
* Ensure accreditation readiness and compliance across all clinical education activities
* Provide applied learning experiences for CareerCare and workforce enablement programs
Technology, Tools & Learning Innovation
* Leverage advanced learning technologies-LMS, simulation systems, digital credentials, analytics platforms-to enhance learner engagement and impact.
* Introduce and operationalize learning innovations including microlearning, virtual simulation, AI-driven personalization, and mobile-accessible education.
* Monitor L&D and EdTech trends to keep the organization on the forefront of healthcare education strategy.
Enterprise Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
* Collaborate with HR, clinical and operational leaders to align L&D with system strategies including workforce planning, DEI, retention and leadership development.
* Serve as a trusted advisor to executives and managers on workforce agility, talent pipelines, and learning strategy.
* Represent the health system externally on learning strategy, workforce development, and academic partnerships.
Performs other duties as assigned
Complies with all Wellstar Health System policies, standards of work, and code of conduct.
Required Minimum Education:
RN - Reg Nurse (Single State) Upon Hire Preferred or
NBRC-RRT - Registered Respiratory Therapi Upon Hire Preferred or
Required Minimum Experience:
Minimum 10 years Minimum 10 years of progressive leadership experience in Learning & Development with at least 5 years in healthcare or clinical education. Required and
Minimum 7 years of experience project managing, implementing and supporting educational services, initiatives and projects.
Required and
Minimum 5 years Clinical healthcare or clinical education.
Required and
Required Minimum Skills:
Excellent project management skills including practical usage of project management software applications
Strong communication, presentation and customer relation skills
Must have the ability to influence others to work collaboratively to achieve results
Able to understand and relate to the interdependencies/impact of Information Systems on the operation of the WellStar Health System
Demonstrated ability to work cross functionality in a leadership capacity within large complex organizations.
A strong sense of confidence and self-assurance to handle a variety of challenges
Understanding of the education life cycle and the ability to lead the creation of education products from request to delivery
Ability to lead the development and design of all educational content and learning instruments
Demonstrated success building, scaling, and leading L&D programs in complex, matrixed organizations.
Strong experience implementing competency models like Donna Wright, simulation-based learning and technology-enhanced instruction.
Proven ability to lead in fast-changing environments and build adaptive learning strategies responsive to shifting workforce or organizational priorities. High
Join us and discover the support to do more meaningful work—and enjoy a more rewarding life. Connect with the most integrated health system in Georgia, and start a future that gives you more.