Lead - Learning & Development

About Gapstars

At Gapstars, we partner with some of Europe’s most ambitious tech companies from disruptive startups to fast-scaling scale-ups, helping them build high-performing remote engineering teams.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, with talent hubs in Sri Lanka and Portugal, we are home to 300+ engineers who thrive on solving real-world challenges with modern technologies. Our teams work across domains, from networking and marketplaces to SaaS and AI delivering scalable solutions that drive meaningful outcomes.

If you’re looking for a company that combines technical excellence, strong culture, and room to grow, welcome to Gapstars.

Purpose of the Role 

To architect and operate a scalable, modern Learning & Development ecosystem that strengthens Gapstars’ “people product” and directly fuels client delivery. The L&D Lead will transform training into a repeatable "Operating System" establishing clear role-based pathways, robust manager enablement, and measurable performance outcomes. The core aim is to develop high-impact, low-admin model that builds the capability of our community and empowers our leaders, while providing tangible "proof of capability" that supports our commercial growth.

Primary Tasks & Responsibilities

1. Academy Architecture & Learning Pathways

• Design and execute the "Gapstars Academy" with a predictable quarterly calendar that employees and leaders can rely on.

• Build standardized, role-based learning pathways for key populations (Team Leads, Community Specialists, Engineers) while managing a flexible for specific client or label needs.

• Create structured learning journeys that cover the full employee lifecycle: from "Day 1" onboarding enablement to performance support and future career progression readiness.

2. Manager Enablement & Leadership Capability

• Develop and deploy practical toolkits and learning sprints focused on core people-leadership skills: feedback, burnout detection, and managing difficult conversations.

• Partner with Delivery and Operations to ensure learning is embedded into the daily rhythm of how teams run, rather than functioning as isolated workshops.

3. Operational Excellence 

• Collaborate with the Engineering team to minimize administrative burden. Simplify enrollment, automated reminders, and completion tracking to ensure the function scales without adding headcount.

• Maintain a clean, high-value library of self-serve assets (playbooks, templates, micro-learning) to ensure knowledge is accessible on-demand.

4. Performance Integration & Commercial Impact

• Integrate L&D directly with the performance management cycle; ensure development plans are linked to specific pathways and deploy targeted interventions where teams show risk signals.

• Collaborate with Sales and Marketing to translate L&D efforts into client-facing credibility (e.g., sharing evidence of our pathways and governance to support sales narratives).

5. Measurement & Governance

• Define and track practical success metrics: participation, pathway coverage, manager capability adoption, and impact indicators (e.g., retention stability).

• Manage the L&D budget responsibly to ensure high ROI; identify and evaluate external partners and platforms.