Talent Engagement Lead

Are you an experienced talent and learning leader who can turn organisational priorities into meaningful employee experiences, development opportunities, and practical solutions?

Do you enjoy partnering with managers and senior leaders to solve real team and organisational challenges, while also building the programmes, systems, and experiences that help employees perform and grow?

Are you excited by the opportunity to lead learning, leadership development, engagement, performance, and employee experience across a distributed pan-African organisation?

If so, the Talent Engagement Lead role at ALX might be the right fit for you. This role leads the Talent Development and Experience function and combines strategy, people leadership, experience design, advisory support, and delivery.

About ALX Africa

ALX Africa, a non-profit organization under the ALX Foundation, is dedicated to unlocking the potential of Africa's digital future. Formerly part of Sand Tech Holdings, we've embarked on an independent journey to provide world-class tech skills training and career acceleration programs. Our mission is to bridge the digital divide, upskill and re-skill talent, and create a generation of innovative leaders. By 2030, we aim to empower 2 million Africans to secure sustainable tech careers.

With hubs in 8 cities across Africa and counting, we provide safe access to quality learning and a dedicated network of expert instructors. Our innovative programs equip learners with the practical skills and knowledge needed to succeed in today's rapidly evolving tech industry. Through a combination of rigorous coursework, industry partnerships, and hands-on projects, we prepare our students for in-demand roles in software engineering, data science, and cybersecurity.

We achieve this by:

• Providing young professionals with access to the most in-demand tech skills that will power the future.
• Empowering the next generation of technology innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders through challenging, real-world coursework.
• Building a lifelong, impactful community of tech professionals that support them at all stages of their career journey.

Our impact thus far:

• 205k+ learners since 2021
• 117k youth in work
• 13k youth starting own ventures
• 66k youth in jobs through entrepreneurship

Visit our website www.alxafrica.com to learn more about our digital revolution.

Role Summary

The Talent Development and Experience (TDX) team is responsible for shaping the employee journey at ALX through the learning, experiences, systems, and support that help employees and teams perform, grow, and thrive.

The Talent Engagement Lead sets the direction for TDX and leads a portfolio spanning learning and development, manager and leadership capability, performance enablement, employee engagement, culture, onboarding, organisational change, and major employee experiences.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the role leads the TDX team, contributes to the broader People leadership agenda, and works closely with senior leaders and managers to understand organisational and workforce needs, design practical solutions, and ensure high-quality delivery across the employee experience.

Specific Responsibilities

TDX Strategy and Team Leadership

• Develop and lead ALX’s Talent Development and Experience strategy in line with organisational priorities.
• Lead, coach, and develop the TDX team, setting clear priorities, standards, and performance expectations.
• Oversee the TDX portfolio, budget, external partners, and delivery across the function.
• Advise senior leaders and managers on talent development, team capability, employee experience, engagement, and organisational needs.

Learning, Manager and Leadership Development

• Lead ALX’s employee learning and development strategy and translate organisational needs into relevant development opportunities, pathways, and resources.
• Own manager and leadership development, working with internal specialists and external partners where required.
• Ensure employee learning and development initiatives are practical, well-designed, and evaluated for quality, application, and impact.
• Build and manage the internal and external partnerships needed to deliver high-quality learning and development, including facilitators, coaches, subject-matter experts, and learning providers.

Talent and Employee Experience

• Oversee onboarding, offboarding, role clarity, employee development, and growth pathways.
• Lead the developmental aspects of performance management and partner closely with Talent Operations.
• Partner with managers to understand team capability, development, performance, and workforce needs, and connect them to the right support and solutions.
• Provide talent and development insights that help leaders make informed decisions about employee growth, capability, and succession.

Employee Engagement, Culture and Organisational Experiences

• Lead ALX’s employee engagement strategy, including employee listening, surveys, insights, and action planning.
• Oversee organisational rituals, employee communications, community initiatives, and experiences that strengthen connection and bring ALX’s culture to life.
• Lead the end-to-end design and delivery of major employee experiences, including organisation-wide retreats, leadership retreats, and strategic workshops.
• Support organisational change management by equipping managers and employees with the communication, learning, and engagement needed to navigate change effectively.

Insights, Systems and Continuous Improvement

• Use employee, learning, performance, and engagement data to identify needs and advise senior leaders.
• Establish clear measures of success and use evidence and feedback to continuously improve TDX initiatives and employee experiences.
• Oversee the systems and tools that support learning, engagement, onboarding, performance enablement, and talent development.
• Identify opportunities to simplify and automate TDX processes through technology, AI, and improved ways of working.

Skill Requirements - Essential

• 8 to 10 years of relevant experience in learning and development, talent development, organisational development, employee experience, human resources, or a related field.
• Experience leading a similar function or multidisciplinary team.
• Strong experience developing learning and development strategies and manager or leadership development initiatives.
• Experience designing learning, employee, and organisational experiences that translate clear objectives into meaningful, practical participant journeys.
• Ability to understand organisational and workforce needs and translate them into practical talent, development, and employee experience solutions.
• Strong people leadership, portfolio and programme management, and senior stakeholder management skills.
• Sound understanding of performance management, talent development, employee engagement, organisational change, and the employee lifecycle.
• Experience using employee, learning, performance, or engagement data to inform decisions and improve approaches.
• Experience working across African markets and within cross-cultural, geographically distributed organisations.
• Strong communication, systems thinking, and operational discipline, with the ability to use technology, AI, and automation to improve how work is delivered.
• Experience or qualifications in facilitation, coaching, organisational development, or change management would be advantageous.

Person Specification/Attributes

• Courage: Willingness to speak up, challenge the status quo, and embrace new challenges.
• Humility: Openness to learning, seeking help when needed, and a focus on serving others.
• Adventure: A passion for setting ambitious goals, tackling difficult tasks, and finding joy in the journey.
• Initiative: Proactive problem-solving, a sense of ownership, and a willingness to go above and beyond.
• Resilience: The ability to bounce back from setbacks, persevere through challenges, and emerge stronger.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to connect organisational priorities, employee evidence, and talent solutions.
• Systems Mindset: Ability to see how learning, leadership, performance, culture, technology, and employee experience interact.
• Collaboration: Strong partnership and influencing skills across senior leaders, managers, teams, and external partners.
• Communication: Ability to simplify complex information and communicate with clarity and credibility.
• Execution Excellence: Strong planning, prioritisation, judgement, and follow-through.

Employment Type

This role is a full-time position.

Preferred Time Zones

The preferred time zones are GMT +2/SAST/CAT

Due to the considerable amount of virtual work and interaction with colleagues and customers in different physical locations internationally, it is essential that the successful applicant has the drive and ethic to succeed working in small teams physically but in greater efforts virtually. Self-driven communication through web collaboration and video conferencing is essential.