Chief Skilling Officer

Role Purpose:

Lead the organization's technical capability development agenda to build a future-ready engineering and manufacturing workforce aligned with business growth, technology evolution, and emerging skill requirements.

The role is responsible for developing enterprise-wide technical learning strategies, strengthening technical competencies, designing capability-building frameworks, building industry-academia partnerships, and creating sustainable talent pipelines for current and future business needs.

The position is envisaged as a key capability-building leadership role that will help establish the foundation for a future Engineering Academy and drive technical workforce readiness across the organization.

Role Context:

- Leads enterprise-wide technical capability development initiatives.

- Responsible for technical skilling, workforce readiness, competency development, curriculum architecture, and future-skills development.

- Works closely with business leaders, engineering leaders, HRBPs, functional heads, and external academic partners.

- Drives capability development for engineering, manufacturing, project management, quality, digital, and specialist functions.

- Establishes technical learning frameworks, certification pathways, university partnerships, and talent development ecosystems.

- Acts as the custodian of the organization's technical capability-building strategy.

Key Accountabilities:

Technical Capability Strategy & Workforce Readiness:

- Develop and execute enterprise-wide technical capability development strategy aligned with business and technology roadmaps.

- Identify current and future capability requirements across engineering, manufacturing, project management, quality, and specialist functions.

- Establish capability-development roadmaps to support workforce readiness and business growth.

- Build competency frameworks and capability progression pathways for critical technical roles.

Curriculum Architecture & Learning Frameworks:

- Design enterprise-wide technical learning architectures, curricula, and capability-development frameworks.

- Develop role-based learning journeys and certification pathways for engineers, specialists, and technical professionals.

- Create structured learning frameworks for campus trainees and early-career talent.

- Benchmark best practices and continuously enhance technical learning methodologies.

Campus Talent Development:

- Design and institutionalize structured development programs for Graduate Engineer Trainees (GETs) and other entry-level technical talent.

- Ensure campus trainees are effectively prepared for deployment into business-critical roles.

- Develop technical training pathways, assessments, and readiness frameworks aligned to organizational requirements.

- Partner with business leaders to continuously refine trainee development programs.

Learning Operations & Delivery:

- Manage internal and external training delivery programs.

- Oversee learning calendars, learning platforms, and training infrastructure.

- Ensure effective deployment of virtual and classroom learning solutions.

- Monitor training quality and learning adoption.

Employee Upskilling & Future Skills Development:

- Design and drive enterprise-wide technical upskilling initiatives in emerging technologies and future skills.

- Develop programs to address niche capability requirements and critical skill gaps.

- Establish specialist development pathways and certification-led learning interventions.

- Support workforce transformation through continuous technical capability enhancement.

Industry-Academia Partnerships & Talent Pipeline Development:

- Establish strategic partnerships with universities, engineering institutions, research centres, and industry bodies.

- Engage with academic leaders, deans, faculty members, and researchers to co-create industry-relevant curricula and specialized programs.

- Build strong talent pipelines for critical and niche technical skills.

- Drive collaborative initiatives, industry-academia projects, internships, and future-skills programs.

- Leverage academic partnerships to strengthen organizational capability and workforce readiness.

Capability Analytics & Effectiveness:

- Monitor technical capability KPIs and workforce readiness measures.

- Assess effectiveness and impact of capability-development initiatives.

- Develop dashboards and analytics to track capability maturity and skill development outcomes.

- Identify capability gaps and recommend improvement interventions.

Team Leadership:

- Lead teams responsible for technical capability development and workforce readiness initiatives.

- Build internal expertise in curriculum design, competency frameworks, and capability-building methodologies.

- Foster a culture of continuous technical learning and professional growth.

Key Interfaces:

Internal:

- Business & Functional Leaders (Business Heads, Functional Heads, HRBPs/Location HR Heads) - Capability requirements, Workforce development priorities, Future skills and talent planning.

- Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality & Project Functions - Technical competency requirements, Capability-building interventions, Workforce readiness programs.

External:

- Universities, Institutes & Certification Bodies - Curriculum co-creation, Industry-academia partnerships, Talent pipeline development.

- Industry Bodies & Certification Organizations - Technical certifications, Future-skills development, Specialist capability-building initiatives.

Critical Competencies:

Functional Competencies:

- Technical Capability Development, Curriculum Design & Architecture, Competency Framework Development, Engineering Talent Development, Workforce Capability Planning, Industry-Academia Collaboration, Technical Learning Strategy, Future Skills Development, Certification Framework Design, University Partnership Management, Learning Analytics & Capability Assessment.

Leadership Competencies:

- Strategic Thinking, Stakeholder Management, Influencing Skills, Change Leadership, Communication Skills, Partnership Building.

Behavioral Competencies:

- Ownership & Accountability, Learning Agility, Collaboration, Results Orientation, Innovation Orientation, Continuous Improvement.

Experience:

- 10 - 15 years of experience in Technical Learning & Development, Capability Development, Engineering Talent Development, Workforce Development, or Technical Academy environments.

- Minimum 5 years in a leadership role involving capability-building or technical workforce development initiatives.

- Demonstrated experience in curriculum design, competency framework development, and technical capability-building programs.

- Strong experience engaging with universities, academic institutions, research organizations, and industry bodies.

- Experience in engineering, manufacturing, electronics, aerospace, defence, industrial technology, or related sectors preferred.

- Proven track record in designing technical talent pipelines and future-skills development initiatives.

Academic Qualifications:

Essential:

- Bachelor's Degree in Engineering.

Preferred:

- Master's Degree in Engineering, Technology Management, Business Administration, or related discipline.

- Certifications in Learning & Development, Competency Management, Capability Development, Instructional Design, or Talent Development.

Ideal Candidate Profile:

- Strong experience in technical capability development, curriculum architecture, and workforce readiness programs.

- Demonstrated success in designing competency frameworks and structured technical development pathways.

- Proven ability to build and manage industry-academia partnerships and engage with university leadership.

- Experience in identifying emerging skill requirements and developing future-focused technical capability programs.

- Focused on training strategy, curriculum design, talent pipeline development, and capability-building frameworks rather than training delivery or facilitation.