Sr. Manager, Workforce Performance

About ETS:

ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners worldwide to be future-ready. For more than 75 years, we've been advancing the science of measurement to build benchmarks for fair and valid skill assessment across cultures and borders. Our worldwide impact extends through our renowned assessments including TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE and Praxis tests, serving millions of learners in more than 200 countries and territories. Through strategic acquisitions, we've expanded our global capabilities: PSI strengthens our workforce assessment solutions, while Edusoft, Kira Talent, Pipplet, Vericant, and Wheebox enhance our educational technology and assessment platforms across critical markets worldwide.

Through ETS Research Institute and ETS Solutions, we're partnering with educational institutions, governments, and organizations globally to promote skill proficiency, empower upward mobility, and unlock opportunities for everyone, everywhere. With offices and partners across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, we deliver nearly 50 million tests annually. Join us in our journey of measuring progress to power human progress worldwide.

This role is an exceptional opportunity for a visionary and strategic doer to fundamentally shape the future of work at ETS. In this pivotal build-mode role, you will act as a critical architect, leading the complete overhaul and creation of cutting-edge performance management and workforce development programs. Your work will meaningfully impact more than 4,000 global employees, fundamentally reshaping how they learn, grow, perform, as well as contribute to our mission.

Architect Transformative Performance & Contribution Management:

Champion the design and implementation of ETSs next-generation performance system. Shift from a traditional performance model to a dynamic, transparent, and skills-based contribution management model that drives accountability and pay-for-performance rigor. This critical build will encompass frameworks for continuous feedback, agile objective setting, and transparently linking individual contributions and skill development to enterprise strategy and rewards, embodying ETS's 'science of measurement' within our own talent practices.

Develop and Scale Future-Ready Workforce Development Programs:

Foster the creation of robust, personalized professional and career development programs. This build will include designing innovative internal mobility opportunities (e.g., talent marketplace, gigs), formal and informal mentorship initiatives, and designing modern upskilling and reskilling programs that include leveraging verified assessments of skills and capabilities. The aim is to empower employees to continuously learn, unlearn, and relearn, fostering a culture of lifelong development and internal career growth, directly addressing the organizational need for clear career paths and continuous advancement opportunities.

ETS AI Academy & Innovation Hub: Leading Our AI-Powered Future:

Advance the launch of a multi-tiered ETS AI Academy & Innovation Hub, aimed at weaving AI into the fabric of our company. This strategic initiative will equip our global workforce with the essential skills and capabilities to confidently integrate AI into their everyday work, unlocking innovative applications and transformative new use cases that significantly boost productivity, spark creativity, and amplify their professional impact. This also includes exploring and recommending the strategic integration of AI tools and agentic AI into our People and Talent processes for enhanced efficiency, personalized learning, and data-driven insights, strategic integration of AI tools and agentic AI into our People and Talent processes for enhanced efficiency, personalized learning, and data-driven insights.

Drive Enterprise-Wide Skills-Based Transformation:

Champion the internal adoption of a skills-first operating model across the entire employee lifecycle. This foundational effort involves developing a comprehensive, dynamic skills taxonomy, integrating skills assessments and talent intelligence products into our internal talent processes, and building clear pathways for skills-based hiring, development, internal mobility, and career progression. You will ensure our internal talent practices reflect the future of work ETS champions externally.

Keyword: Performance management, Organizational Design & Development

Required Experience:

Required:

• Minimum of 8+ years of progressive experience in Talent Management, Learning & Development, or Organizational Effectiveness roles, with significant experience in designing and implementing global, transformational programs.

• Demonstrated experience in driving cultural and organizational change initiatives, ideally in a 'build' or 'overhaul' context.

Preferred:

• Master's degree or advanced certification (e.g., in Organizational Development, Human Resources, Learning & Development).

• Experience within the education technology (EdTech) or assessment industry.

• Direct experience implementing skills taxonomies, internal talent marketplaces, or AI-driven HR solutions.

• Experience in both corporate and non-profit environments, or within a hybrid organizational structure.

Desired Knowledge & Skills

• Influencing Without Authority: Critical for driving adoption, change, and alignment across ETSs matrixed structures, especially when formal hierarchies dont guarantee buy-in.

• Execution Discipline: Maintains focus and delivers results in a fast-moving, build-mode environment by breaking complex goals into clear priorities, milestones, and measurable outcomes.

• Decision Making in Ambiguity: Enables confident, pragmatic calls when building, scaling, and adapting programs in fast-moving, imperfect-data environments.

• Stakeholder Collaboration: Ensures sustained progress on key initiatives by bridging diverse perspectives with HR, business units, leaders so transformation is seamless and genuinely organizational.

• Organizational Savvy: Advances initiatives effectively by understanding ETSs formal and informal decision-making networks, building trust, and avoiding missteps in a sensitive, high-visibility environment.

• Resilience: Powers through obstacles, transformation pains, and setbacks so teams and projects sustain momentum and morale stays high in a demanding, shifting organization.

• Adaptability: Allows rapid pivoting in response to changing priorities, structures, or market factors; turns uncertainty into opportunity, fueling growth.

• Strategic Communication: Drives organization-wide understanding, engagement, and action crucial for socializing new concepts, framing strategy, and activating change.

• Change Leadership: Shapes and sustains transformation initiatives that cut across geographies and teams, keeping energy high and progress on track in a constantly evolving environment.

• Systems Thinking: Aligns workforce performance and development initiatives with ETSs enterprise transformation, anticipating and managing downstream impacts across products, processes, and our employee user experience.

• Data Storytelling: Translates complex talent and leadership analytics into clear, compelling narratives that influence executives, inspire stakeholders, and drive informed action.

• Program Design: Delivers scalable workforce development and performance programs tailored to ETSs evolving skill requirements and transformation objectives; drives measurable impact for employees and the organization.

• AI Literacy & Enablement: Positions ETSs workforce at the forefront of HR innovation, ensuring teams effectively leverage AI technologies to amplify performance, development, and business results as transformation accelerates.

ETS is mission driven and action oriented

• We are passionate about hiring innovative thinkers who believe in the promise of education and lifelong learning.
• We are energized by cultivating growth, innovation, and continuous transformation for the next generation of rising professionals as leaders. In support of this ETS offers multiple Business Resource Groups (BRG) for you to learn and advance your career growth
• As a not-for-profit organization we will encourage you to lean in to your passion for volunteering. At ETS you may qualify for up to an additional 8 hours of PTO for volunteer work on causes that are important to you

ETS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law. We believe in creating a work environment where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.

From: ETS GCC