Roles › Chief Executive Officer › Chief People Officer › Learning & Development

People / HR

What does a Learning & Development Specialist do?

Build training, leadership programs, and career frameworks.

Steady demand Team: Learning & Development Reports into: Chief People Officer

What they actually do

Onboarding and training programs.
Leadership development; career ladders (like the one on this page).
Learning platforms and content.

Hiring demand

Steady demand. Regular postings, but fewer than the busiest roles. Expect a longer search or more specialization.

Ad space

Who they work with

HRBPsManagersData enablement teams

Typical tools

LMSContent tools

Skills to get there

Teaching
Program design

Title ladder

Common titles for this role at each level. Companies vary; see Role titles decoded.

Level	Typical titles
Entry	Junior / Associate Learning & Development Specialist · Learning & Development Specialist I
Mid	Learning & Development Specialist · Learning & Development Specialist II
Senior	Senior Learning & Development Specialist · Lead Learning & Development Specialist
Expert (IC track)	Staff / Principal Learning & Development Specialist
Management track	Manager, Learning & Development → Director of Learning & Development → VP

See the free training path →

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How to get here

Salary (US) as of 2026-11

Median$69K

Typical range$61K–$96K

Senior / manager$133K

Sources:

Corporate instructional-design roles pay toward the top of the range; frontline trainer roles sit near the BLS 25th-50th percentile.

Experience to get here

Entry level0-2 years (training coordinator)

Typical title3-5 years

Bachelor's in instructional design, education, HR or communications is the norm; a master's in instructional design/learning sciences helps for senior ID roles.

Typical prior roles

Training CoordinatorTeacher or corporate trainerInstructional DesignerHR GeneralistCustomer or sales enablement specialist

Must have

3+ years instructional design and content development in a corporate setting
Authoring tools: Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate
LMS administration and reporting (e.g., Workday Learning)
ADDIE, SAM or agile design methods
Facilitation and stakeholder needs analysis

Milestones people hit first

Designed and launched an onboarding or compliance program company-wide
Owned the LMS: catalog, enrollments, completion reporting
Measured a program's impact (Kirkpatrick levels) and iterated on it

Certifications

Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD)ATD

Nice to havein postings: sometimes

Exam fee	not published
Training	pricing on request (ATD does not publish the fee)
Renewal	every 3 years via professional development
Typical total	pricing on request

Time: 2-3 months study
Prerequisites: 3+ years TD experience (ATD); fewer than CPTD

Listed as 'a plus' in 2026 L&D specialist postings (e.g., Acrisure).

Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD)ATD

Nice to havein postings: sometimes

Exam fee	not published
Training	pricing on request (ATD does not publish the fee)
Renewal	every 3 years via documented professional development
Typical total	pricing on request

Time: 3-6 months study
Prerequisites: 5+ years related talent-development experience

ATD's senior credential (successor to CPLP); postings still cite 'CPLP' as a plus.

SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP)SHRM

Nice to havein postings: rarely

Exam fee	$499
Training	self-study $0-300; prep courses vary
Renewal	60 PDCs / 3 years; $165 member, $210 nonmember
Typical total	$399-1,500 (member exam $399 / non-member $499; early bird $350 / $450)

Time: 3-4 months study
Prerequisites: HR or HR-related work

Only relevant where L&D sits inside a generalist HR team; not in the posting reviewed.

Training & learning

Instructional Design Foundations and Applications FREE University of Illinois / Coursera · course · free to enroll; certificate paid · ~10 hoursUniversity intro to ADDIE and learning theory that postings expect.
Articulate E-Learning Heroes community FREE Articulate · community · free (no fee listed) · ongoingStoryline tutorials, example hub and challenges for the authoring tool most often required.
People Analytics FREE Wharton / Coursera · course · free to enroll; certificate paid · ~12 hoursHelps L&D measure impact instead of completions.
AIHR Learning & Development certificate (Full Academy Access) AIHR · learning path · $1,850/yr (all 17 programs) · self-pacedStructured program on designing L&D with business value.
Human Resource Management: HR for People Managers University of Minnesota / Coursera · learning path · Coursera subscription (Coursera Plus) · ~92 hoursContext on performance management and hiring that L&D programs plug into.

Sources & notes

ATD does not publish APTD/CPTD fees, so they are 'pricing on request' and the APTD entry links to the CPTD page; APTD prerequisite (3 years) is ATD's published rule but is not published by the vendor cited. Only one L&D posting is cited. Certification values are 'sometimes' based on that posting listing APTD/CPLP as a plus.

Figures are US, from the sources listed, and change often; verify before deciding.

Related roles

See it on the org chart

Open Learning & Development in the interactive chart →