Talent Specialist

Talent Specialist - Chief Administrative Office

The Training Specialist plays an important role in supporting workforce learning, development, and engagement across the City of Philadelphia. This position designs, updates, and delivers training programs and learning resources that serve employees, teams, cohorts, departments and citywide workforce initiatives.

The Training Specialist develops engaging and practical learning experiences for a variety of audiences across departments, job levels, and employee groups. Responsibilities may include creating new training content, enhancing existing materials, facilitating professional development sessions, and incorporating adult learning practices into course design and delivery.

This role requires a creative and organized professional who can translate information into clear, interactive, and useful learning experiences. The ideal candidate is comfortable facilitating groups, developing training materials, using technology to support learning, and working both independently and collaboratively to move projects forward.

The Training Specialist may perform the following essential functions:

• Conduct needs-assessment meetings with departments, teams, and stakeholders to identify skill gaps, training needs, workforce challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
• Design, develop, update, and enhance training programs, workshops, instructional materials, presentations, job aids, exercises, and other learning resources.
• Translate stakeholder input, program goals, needs assessments, and complex information into clear learning objectives, training outlines, facilitator guides, participant materials, and learner activities.
• Deliver engaging training sessions in virtual, in-person, and hybrid formats for employees, teams, cohorts, departments, working groups, and citywide audiences.
• Apply adult learning principles, instructional design practices, and creative facilitation techniques to promote participation, knowledge retention, and practical application.
• Create interactive and visually effective learning content using tools such as Microsoft, learning management systems, or other training and design platforms.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts, department leaders, vendors, committees, and other partners to ensure training content is accurate, relevant, practical, and tailored to the intended audience.
• Support specialized workshops, team retreats, cohort learning, new program rollouts, and workforce initiatives by developing and facilitating training that promotes understanding, engagement, adoption, and application.
• Collect, review, and use participant feedback, evaluations, assessments, and other learning data to measure training effectiveness and improve learning materials and delivery.
• Manage assigned training projects by establishing timelines, coordinating logistics, communicating with stakeholders, tracking deliverables, and ensuring timely completion.
• Perform other related duties as assigned by department and/or unit leadership.

The Training Specialist may be assigned to one or more of the following specialty areas:

Potential Focus Areas

The Training Specialist may support one or more focus areas based on department needs, workforce priorities, and program assignments. These areas provide examples of how the role may apply training, facilitation, and instructional design skills.

Professional development

Supports structured learning programs that build core workforce skills, strengthen professional growth, and support career development. This may include recurring professional development courses, cohort-based learning, employee skill-building programs, vendor-supported training, and train-the-trainer activities.

Team Development

Supports learning experiences that strengthen team effectiveness, communication, collaboration, and workplace engagement. This may include team workshops, retreat activities, facilitated discussions, experiential learning activities, and customized sessions that address team dynamics or workplace culture needs.

Workforce Initiatives

Supports citywide initiatives and emerging workforce needs through targeted training solutions. This may include learning materials for new programs, services, systems, policies, or strategic priorities, as well as training on topics such as multigenerational workforce practices, LinkedIn Learning adoption, public sector customer service, communication, and workplace effectiveness.

Core Competencies

Demonstrates creativity and innovation in designing training that is practical, engaging, learner centered, accessible, and relevant to workforce needs.

Communicates complex information, processes, programs, or new concepts in a clear, digestible, and learner-friendly way.

Engages