Lead Technical Skilling

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.
  
  

Essential

Academic Qualifications

• 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 technicalcapabilitydevelopment,curriculumarchitecture,andworkforcereadinessprograms.
• 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 trainingstrategy,curriculumdesign,talentpipelinedevelopment,andcapability-buildingframeworksratherthantrainingdeliveryorfacilitation.