Learning and Development Manager

Founded over 35 years ago, First Quality is a family-owned company that has grown from a small business in McElhattan, Pennsylvania into a group of companies, employing over 5,000 team members, while maintaining our family values and entrepreneurial spirit. With corporate offices in New York and Pennsylvania and 8 manufacturing campuses across the U.S. and Canada, the companies within the First Quality group produce high-quality personal care and household products for large retailers and healthcare organizations. Our personal care and household product portfolio includes baby diapers, wipes, feminine pads, paper towels, bath tissue, adult incontinence products, laundry detergents, fabric finishers, and dishwash solutions. In addition, we manufacture certain raw materials and components used in the manufacturing of these products, including flexible print and packaging solutions.

Guided by our values of humility, unity, and integrity, we leverage advanced technology and innovation to drive growth and create new opportunities. At First Quality, you’ll find a collaborative environment focused on continuous learning, professional development, and our mission to Make Things Better®.

We are seeking a Learning and Development Manager for our First Quality Print & Packaging facility located in Anderson, SC.  The Learning and Development Leader makes sure the business unit has the people it needs to run safely and well, today and in the future, by closing skill gaps, building strong leaders, and creating a workplace where people want to stay and grow. The role owns the business unit’s learning systems, from new-hire onboarding and operator qualification to required safety and quality training. It develops supervisors and salaried leaders, builds the talent pipeline through succession planning and career paths, and partners with operations to turn performance problems into practical solutions. As a steward of organization’s culture, the L&D Leader also leads engagement, recognition, and change efforts that connect employees to the business unit’s goals. Success shows up in business unit results: faster time to competency, fewer skill-related safety and quality issues, lower early turnover, stronger front-line leadership, and a ready bench for critical roles.

Primary responsibilities include:

Technical and Operator Training

• Design and facilitate new-hire onboarding and orientation for hourly and salaried employees.
• Build job-specific training for operators, technicians, and maintenance, using standard work and job instruction methods.
• Maintain skills matrices and certification sign-offs showing who is qualified on each line, machine, and process.
• Select, train, and certify a network of floor trainers, and keep training consistent across all shifts.

Compliance and Regulatory Training

• Partner with EHS to develop and ensure compliance with safety training, including lockout/tagout, powered industrial trucks, hazard communication, confined space, and PPE.
• Administer the LMS or training records system, track completions and refresher cycles, and keep records audit-ready.
• Support internal, customer, and regulatory audits with training documentation.

Leadership and Supervisor Development

• Design and facilitate leadership programs for supervisors, leads, and salaried leaders.
• Run onboarding for newly promoted supervisors, focused on coaching, feedback, conflict, and fair application of policy.
• Coach individual leaders and support individual development plans.
• Develop Individual Development Plans in partnership with leaders.

Talent Pipeline and Succession

• Partner with Operations Director and HRBP on succession planning for critical roles and identify high-potential employees.
• Build career pathways, such as operator to lead to supervisor, and maintenance skill tiers.
• Manage apprenticeships, tuition assistance, and partnerships with technical schools, community colleges, and universities.
• Partner with local universities to build meaningful relationships and strategic partnerships.

Continuous Improvement Support

• Train Team Members in problem solving and Lean tools such as 5S, root cause analysis, A3, and Kaizen.
• Update training and standard work so process changes are sustained.
• Identify needs and areas for improvement.

Needs Analysis and Program Management

• Partner with plant leaders to diagnose performance gaps and decide when training is the right answer.
• Manage the training budget, outside vendors, and scheduling around production and shift patterns.
• Supervise and develop training ambassadors.

Culture and Engagement

The L&D Manager is a steward of plant culture, turning stated values into the daily habits of leaders and teams. This work treats engagement as a driver of safety, quality, and retention, not a side program.

Engagement Measurement and Action

• Coach leaders to hold results discussions with their teams and build specific action plans.
• Track follow-through on action plans so employees see that feedback leads to change.
• Use stay interviews, exit interview data, and early-turnover trends to find and fix engagement problems.

Employee Voice and Communication

• Build two-way channels such as shift huddles, roundtables with plant leadership, and suggestion systems.
• Help leaders communicate the why behind business decisions, especially during change.
• Make sure information reaches every shift, including nights and weekends, in formats that work on the floor.

Recognition and Belonging

• In partnership with HR. design and manage recognition programs tied to safety, quality, attendance, improvement ideas, and living our culture.
• Coach supervisors on frequent, specific, in-the-moment recognition.
• Support a respectful, inclusive workplace through training, onboarding, and leader expectations.

Onboarding and Early Retention

• Own the first 90 days experience, through structured check-ins at 45 and 90 days.
• Partner with leaders to spot early warning signs of new-hire turnover and intervene quickly.

Values and Leader Behavior

• Translate company values into observable leader behaviors and build them into leadership programs.
• Model and teach the plant's expectations for respect, accountability, and safety ownership.
• Gather 360 or upward feedback on leaders and use it in development plans.

Change Management

• Support major changes such as new equipment, systems, schedules, or reorganizations with training, communication plans, and leader talking points.
• Prepare front-line leaders to answer questions and manage resistance on their crews.

Community and Wellbeing

• Coordinate community involvement, volunteer events, and school or workforce outreach that builds pride in the plant.
• Promote wellbeing resources and partner with benefits on programs employees will use.
• Recruit and support employee committees, such as engagement, safety, or events teams.

The ideal candidate should possess the following:

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Education, Business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years in training, learning and development, or HR, with at least 2 years in a manufacturing or industrial setting.
• Experience designing and facilitating training for both hourly employees and leaders.
• Working knowledge of OSHA training requirements and training recordkeeping.
• Strong facilitation, coaching, and communication skills with all levels, from the floor to plant leadership.
• Proficiency with an LMS and Microsoft Office.
• Build trust and credibility on the production floor.
• Uses data to diagnose problems and show results.
• Manages multiple programs and priorities with attention to detail.
• Leads change and influences without direct authority.
• Work is split between office, training room, and production floor settings.
• Production areas involve noise, moving equipment, and temperature changes; required PPE must be worn.
• Must be able to stand and walk for extended periods and move throughout the plant.
• Flexible hours are required to reach all shifts, including occasional early mornings and nights.
• Occasional travel to other sites, schools, or conferences.

Preferred

• Experience with Lean or continuous improvement, including job instruction or TWI.
• Certification such as ATD CPTD, SHRM-CP, or a Lean or Six Sigma belt.
• Experience running engagement surveys and leading action planning.
• Experience building apprenticeship programs or school partnerships.
• Supervisory experience.

What We Offer You

We believe that by continuously improving the quality of our benefits, we can help to raise the quality of life for our team members and their families. At First Quality you will receive:

• Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities
• Paid time off (three-week minimum)
• Medical, dental and vision starting day one
• 401(k) with employer match
• Paid parental leave
• Child and family care assistance (dependent care FSA with employer match up to $2500)
• Bundle of joy benefit (years’ worth of free diapers to all team members with a new baby)
• Tuition assistance
• Wellness program with savings of up to $4,000 per year on insurance premiums
• ...and more!