Learning and Development Specialist - Chicago - Karbon

Description

Learning And Development Specialist

Karbon is the global leader in practice management software for growth-minded accounting firms. We provide an award-winning, highly collaborative cloud platform that streamlines work and communication, enabling the average accounting firm using Karbon to save 18.5 hours per week, per employee.

We have customers in 34 countries and have grown into a globally distributed team, with our people based throughout the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. We are well-funded, ranked #1 on G2, have a fantastic team culture built on our values, are growing rapidly, and making a global impact.

We're looking for a builder, someone who thrives on creating structure and clarity from the ground up. As our Learning & Development Specialist, you will design and deliver scalable learning systems that accelerate onboarding, deepen leadership capability, and strengthen the culture that drives Karbon's success.

While this is a systems-builder role, we're also looking for someone who enjoys facilitation and delivery. At its core, this role is about designing frameworks, programs, and rhythms that make learning a business driver, measured by outcomes like productivity, retention, and leadership readiness.

This is a part-time role (approximately 3 days per week)

About the Role

Design and Deliver Scalable Learning Systems

• Build a unified "Learning at Karbon" framework that connects onboarding, leadership development, and ongoing capability building
• Design programs to improve manager effectiveness and accelerate time to productivity for new hires
• Launch Karbon Manager Core, focused on coaching, feedback, and accountability
• Refresh the Emerging Leaders Program into a globally scalable, blended model with AI-enabled learning experiences

Operationalize Learning Across the Employee Journey

• Own and enhance Karbon's Onboarding Academy, ensuring consistent, role-specific day ramps
• Partner with HRBPs and functional leads to identify skill gaps and link learning to business outcomes
• Act as the learning partner to HRBPs, collaborating closely to embed development into team rhythms, talent processes, and key career moments
• Embed learning in the flow of worksearchable, self-serve, and globally accessible

Apply AI to Enhance Learning at Scale

• Use AI tools to personalize learning paths, automate delivery, and scale learning touchpoints across the employee lifecycle
• Experiment with AI-powered content generation and adaptive learning technologies to drive efficiency and engagement
• Stay up to date with L&D innovations in generative AI, and translate emerging capabilities into practical use cases at Karbon

Measure Impact and Enable Scale

• Define clear success metrics tied to productivity, internal mobility, and retention
• Track and report on learning ROI and capability uplift in partnership with Ops and Finance
• Use data and feedback loops to continuously improve program quality and adoption

Champion Culture and Leadership at Scale

• Curate experiences that reinforce Karbon's values and ways of working
• Equip leaders with the tools, resources, and rituals to drive connection, accountability, and team performance
• Recognize internal facilitators and grow a community of learning champions

Success in this role is:

• Learning at Karbon is a unified identity across all programs within 3 months
• Managers consistently use shared frameworks for feedback, coaching, and development
• Onboarding ramp times are reduced, with measurable productivity improvements
• The Emerging Leaders Program is globally scaled and showing high engagement
• Learning outcomes are linked to retention, internal mobility, and performance metrics
• Everything we do is measurable

About You

• 6+ years of experience in L&D, talent development, or org development, ideally in SaaS or fast-scaling tech
• Data obsessed - knowing how to apply measurements to every part of the learning journey to track success beyond just surveying employees
• Proven track record designing and scaling learning programs such as leadership, onboarding, or capability frameworks
• Strong instructional design and program management skills
• Proficient with modern L&D tools, including LMS/LXP, AI-driven learning platforms, and analytics
• Talent partner, not an order taker driven to make everything you touch better
• Global mindset and ability to design inclusive, relevant learning across regions and cultures
• Commercial, pragmatic approach focused on business outcomes

Why work at Karbon?

• Gain global experience across Australia, New Zealand, UK, and Canada
• Strong benefits package including:
• Flexible Time Off with an encouraged 4 weeks use per year
• Company paid medical for you and eligible spouse/partner and dependents
• Paid dental and vision and eligible spouse/partner and dependents
• 401(k) with company matching
• Flexible Spending Account
• Up to 8 weeks paid parental leave
• Work-from-home stipend
• Work with (and learn from) an experienced, high-performing team
• A collaborative, team-oriented culture that embraces diversity, invests in development and provides consistent feedback
• Be part of a fast-growing company that firmly believes in promoting high performers from within

The estimated base salary range for this role is:

$50,000 - $55,000 USD

Karbon embraces diversity and inclusion, aligning with our values as a business. Research has shown that women and underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single criteria. If you've made it this far in the job description but your past experience doesn't perfectly align, we do encourage you to still apply. You could still be the right person for the role

We recruit and reward people based on capability and performance. We don't discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, lifestyle, age, educational background, national origin, religion, physical or cognitive ability, and other diversity dimensions that may hinder inclusion in the organization.

Generally, if you are a good person, we want to talk to you.

If there are any adjustments or accommodations that we can make to assist you during the recruitment process, and your journey at Karbon, contact us at for a confidential discussion.