Manager - Talent Transformation & Learning

Real opportunities. Real impact. Your career, redefined.

At Oceans, we help the best and brightest Sri Lankans to take advantage of opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be available to them, while supporting entrepreneurs around the world. We call our Sri Lankan talent Divers, for their ability to go deep and solve problems.

The role of a Manager – Talent Transformation & Learning is a strategic, hands-on leadership role that combines the development and delivery of training programs with performance coaching. You will be part of a team responsible for shaping talent development through the Oceans SCUBA Academy and overseeing learning interventions. This role will balance the design and management of training programs with providing targeted coaching to Divers facing specific client challenges.

This role also contributes to coaching assigned Divers in Port and designing frameworks that enhance readiness for deployment (based on specific performance coaching needs identified by Oceans). You’ll be a key partner in shaping proactive and reactive talent strategies—ensuring each Diver receives the personalized support they need to succeed.

Accountability

As a Manager – Talent Transformation & Learning, your work will span four major domains. 

Training Design & Delivery

• Design, develop, and implement the Oceans SCUBA Academy structure and curriculum.
• Coach and deliver training across various modules, ensuring content is practical, up-to-date, and aligned with industry trends and client feedback.
• Regularly assess training effectiveness and customize programs based on performance data and client feedback.

Performance Coaching & Development

• Help Divers identify upskilling opportunities aligned with their long-term career growth and the needs of their clients.
• Collaborate on 1:1 performance coaching sessions (Rescue Dives) for Divers facing red-flag performance concerns impacting client relationships or SLA adherence.
• Provide individualized coaching plans targeting root causes of performance issues, guiding Divers through sustainable recovery strategies.
• Work with benched Divers (Divers in Port) to enhance their readiness for client placement, ensuring seamless transitions from training into client environments.

Evaluation & Reporting

• Define and track OKRs for training and performance interventions, ensuring alignment with business goals.
• Maintain detailed records of intervention progress, generating insights from data and sharing performance results with the Head of Diver Success.
• Use data to refine coaching and training strategies, identifying trends and areas for improvement in Diver readiness.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Management

• Partner closely with internal teams (Training, Diver Success, Client Success) to ensure integrated support for Divers at all stages of their journey.
• Collaborate with the Integration Success team to address performance challenges and maintain client satisfaction during intervention periods.

Colleagues

You’ll work directly with Divers navigating critical performance moments, acting as a trusted coach and accountability partner. You’ll collaborate with Pod Leaders, Oceans Training Team, and Team Client Success to deliver integrated support. You’ll report to Kavitha Gunesekera, Head of Diver Success.

Skills and Qualifications

At Oceans, we believe in T-shaped people with one area of deep vertical expertise and broad horizontal interests. As the Manager - Talent Transformation & Learning, the legs of your T should be in addressing the evolving needs of clients and making sure those needs are clearly addressed with our Divers, and accurately communicated to our internal teams. Your arms should extend to an understanding of how businesses grow and develop employees. 

Diversity of experience is core to Oceans. You are expected to be able to manage, work with, and serve people from a broad range of backgrounds in an inclusive manner that supports both individual and collective dignity.

This will include opportunities to demonstrate skills in each of the following areas:

Growth mindset & Cross-Industry Flexibility: How successful have you been in transforming (as opposed to transacting) strategy into execution?

• Our Divers work with clients across a wide range of industries, which means training needs and priorities can vary from client to client. We are seeking adaptable candidates who can quickly gain familiarity with new sectors, identify root challenges, and design or source effective solutions.

• You should be able to:

1. View industries through the lens of a business analyst, grasping cross-industry roles and client expectations.
2. Coach and apply transferable core skills that add value across different contexts

Planning and prioritization: 

• How effectively can you define goals, break down complex tasks, and assess their importance and urgency to create organized, realistic timelines?
• Are you skilled in maintaining detailed records, generating insights through data, and communicating progress clearly to stakeholders?

Business acumen:Are you aware of key business issues? How have you applied that knowledge and the confidence to take action informed by past experiences?

Collaboration / Stakeholder management: Do internal teams feel you understand what they do and how to interface with them, including where you will take ownership and where you will collaborate?

Performance coaching:  Are you able to deliver effective, personalized coaching interventions, particularly in high-stakes or performance-critical scenarios?

To excel in this role, you should have:

• Minimum of 5 to 7 years of experience in training, coaching, or talent development.
• Proven track record of designing and delivering scalable training programs.
• Strong understanding of offshore talent sourcing and diverse roles.
• Experience managing remote training programs and working with geographically dispersed teams, coupled with excellent facilitation skills.

Employment Details

While Oceans is a remote-first organization, this is a hybrid role and you should expect to be in-person roughly 5 to 8 days a month

About Oceans

At Oceans, we build remote teams that connect the world’s top 1% of talent with visionary leaders. With us, you’re not just doing a job - you’re redefining your career with opportunities designed to unlock your potential. We welcome the chance to discuss the complementary parts of our business during your interview process and encourage questions about where we are and where we are going.