Talent Development Manager

Our Story:

Story Cannabis was built by misfits on a mission — people bold enough to shift the cannabis narrative and create something better. Founded in 2021 by industry veterans, Story is a vertically integrated company headquartered in Phoenix, operating across Arizona, Maryland, Ohio, and Louisiana, and we’re just getting started.

Our vision is to bring hope, happiness, and healing to the world through cannabis, and we’re doing it one state, one store, and one customer at a time.

Leadership defines how we show up. Data drives how we grow. Gratitude keeps us grounded. Unity fuels our momentum. And growth, in every sense, inspires everything we do.

If you’re ready to challenge what’s expected and shape the future of cannabis, your next chapter starts with Story.

Overview:

The Talent Development Manager is responsible for designing, evolving, and executing the organization’s talent development approach across the employee lifecycle. This role ensures that training, development, and readiness efforts are aligned to career progression, leadership capability, and business needs.

This position owns the integration and continuous improvement of development frameworks—including management capability, career development, onboarding, and succession—ensuring they are practical, scalable, and effective in real operating environments. The role partners closely with HR Managers and business leaders while remaining focused on capability building. 

Responsibilities:

• Evaluate, evolve, and maintain development frameworks that support management capability, career progression, and leadership readiness.
• Assess the effectiveness and usability of existing frameworks, simplifying or adjusting them to improve adoption and impact.
• Ensure alignment across development components so training, career pathways, onboarding, and succession planning reinforce one another.
• Design and maintain career development frameworks that articulate skill expectations, readiness indicators, and growth pathways.
• Align training and development opportunities to career progression and role readiness.
• Design and deliver targeted training programs that support skill development, career progression, and leadership readiness.
• Own the development and continuous improvement of orientation and onboarding experiences.
• Ensure onboarding aligns with longer-term growth and readiness pathways.
• Support succession planning by defining readiness criteria and development pathways for critical roles.
• Partner with HR and business leaders to align development efforts with succession priorities.
• Use development data to inform readiness discussions.
• Track participation, outcomes, and adoption of development initiatives.
• Identify gaps, trends, and opportunities to improve effectiveness.
• Use feedback and data to refine frameworks, programs, and tools.
• Partner with HR Managers, business leaders, and operational teams to align development efforts with business strategy.
• Act as a subject-matter expert in talent and leadership development.

Qualifications & Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree Organizational Development, Business Administration, Education, or a related field preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in talent development, learning & development, organizational development, or related specialty.
• Background in adult learning, coaching, or organizational development a plus.
• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and improving development frameworks.
• Strong facilitation and instructional design skills.
• Experience aligning training to career progression and role readiness.
• Ability to evaluate existing approaches and recommend changes.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills.
• Ability to use data and feedback to inform decisions.
• Experience supporting succession planning or leadership readiness.
• Familiarity with learning platforms (LMS), Seed Talent a plus.
• Talent development or adult learning certification (preferred).

Physical Requirements:

• This role requires prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

Our Benefits:

• Paid time off (PTO) including 8 paid holidays per year*
• Medical Insurance, which includes a 100% company paid option for employees*
• Dental Insurance, which includes a 100% paid option for employees*
• Vision Insurance, which includes a 100% paid option for employees *
• 401k retirement savings plan*
• Company paid Short-Term & Long-Term disability*
• Company paid Life Insurance*
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Employee referral program
• Commuter benefits*
• Product discounts
• Additional compensation incentives (tips, bonuses, etc.)

*For full-time positions only

We want our story to be one that fosters an inclusive culture and provides an enriching employee experience. As an equal-opportunity employer, we embrace individuals from all backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives. We believe in providing equal opportunities to all individuals, including those who may have encountered legal issues related to previous marijuana laws. We understand that these laws have disproportionately impacted certain communities and individuals. We are committed to considering all candidates based on their qualifications, skills, and potential to contribute to our team, rather than focusing solely on past legal encounters. We encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those with past involvement with the legal system, to apply for positions within our organization.