Amber Ali

Strategic talent and learning development leader with a track record of designing organisation-wide capability strategies, leadership pipelines, and talent frameworks that align workforce development with business priorities. Experienced in leading cross-functional programmes, delivering measurable development outcomes, and influencing at executive level. Recognised as an industry voice in early careers and apprenticeship strategy, with keynote and panel invitations from City & Guilds and QA alongside organisations including Microsoft, Google, and Royal Mail.

Winner of the 2024 CEO Award for transforming workforce development at Yorkshire Building Society.

Senior Associate – Skills and Talent at Yorkshire Building Society (2024-04 – Present)

• Talent Strategy & Organisational Development
• Designed and launched our Talent Matrix, giving executive leadership a clearer, data-informed view of talent health, succession risk, and organisational capability.
• Led a cross-functional internal mobility and inclusion programme, managing a delivery group of six colleagues across functions and levels. The programme focuses on improving progression outcomes for ethnically diverse colleagues and those with social mobility constraints.
• Launched a professional growth toolkit covering career conversations, CV writing, and interview skills; introduced an internal-first hiring policy; and launched cross-organisational and mutual mentoring initiatives. The programme targets 2,000 colleagues.
• Redesigned the colleague intranet and internal communications strategy, building and launching the Talent and Careers Hub to improve the reach, relevance, and accessibility of people development messaging for all colleagues across the society.
• Scoped and implemented Cappfinity as the organisation's psychometric tool, embedding strengths-based practice into leadership development frameworks and securing executive buy-in for a consistent approach to talent assessment. Registered 1,953 colleagues on the platform, with 1,707 completing the tool.
• Led redeployment activity during a significant People Division restructure, supporting a cohort of colleagues through redundancy and redeployment processes.
• Designed and delivered six leadership programmes to 307 managers, achieving 100% recommendation rates engaging 307 leaders across 568 learning hours.
• Designed an Aspiring Leaders pathway to complement our Leadership Apprenticeships with 96 colleagues utilising the workbook over 300 times and totalling 622 learning hours.
• Designed performance toolkits and objective-setting guidance for People Leaders, helping embed practical development into day-to-day management and strengthen performance culture.
• Built YBS's apprenticeship programme from scratch: designing the full infrastructure including programme architecture, sponsorship model, application process, colleague communications, and ongoing governance.
• Met a stretching organisational target to onboard 150 apprentices between October 2023 and 2026, growing provision from zero to 60 live apprentices at any one time, with a particular focus on Data and AI standards to address business-critical future skills needs. Increased internal levy spend 86% YoY, cutting expired levy by 63% and designed and implemented the strategy for transferring £300,000 annually based on our organisational goals.
• Redesigned the apprenticeship offer from siloed standalone programmes into an integrated learning pathway, with the Data Academy as the flagship - progressing colleagues from Data Essentials e-learning (3,298 lesson uses) through apprenticeship pathways from Level 3 to Level 6.
• Led strategic consultations across all 24 Directors and 5 People Partners, shaping bespoke provider-led programmes tailored to YBS needs rather than off-the-shelf solutions.
• Achieved a 65% distinction rate, 100% promotion success for Senior Leader apprentices, and withdrawal rates of 18%, below the industry benchmark.

Learning Partner, Operations Division at Yorkshire Building Society (2023-06 – 2024-04)

Learning Partner to the Operations division, then the organisation's largest function spanning IT and Transformation, providing strategic advice on learning, capability and change during a period of significant technology-led restructuring.

• Led the divisional rollout of the Future Skills Framework, conducting skills gap analysis and establishing proficiency baselines; findings identified poor digital and data literacy as a critical organisation-wide gap, directly informing the business case for a dedicated Early Careers and apprenticeship strategy.
• Partnered with senior Operations leaders to translate business priorities into targeted learning interventions, acting as a trusted advisor through technology transformation and structural change -insight that led to my promotion into a newly created role to lead digital and data capability build-out.

Learning & Development Manager at Tenet (2022-05 – 2023-05)

• Built an L&D function for a 260-colleague organisation, shaping the learning culture, and operating model.
• Partnered with IT to design and launch a full regulatory e-learning catalogue and LMS from the ground up, embedding consistent technical and behavioural capability standards across the organisation.
• Led organisation-wide learning needs analysis and designed a blended training portfolio covering soft skills, systems, compliance, induction, and client advisory.
• Managed third-party vendors and a team of three direct report. Established KPI tracking, feedback loops, and focus groups to measure impact and drive continuous improvement.
• Designed and delivered regulated learning solutions covering Consumer Duty and conduct risk, translating complex regulatory requirements into practical, accessible learning that supported compliant, customer-focused outcomes across the business.

Operations Manager at Abodus (2021-09 – 2022-05)

• Designed and delivered an L&D strategy including a behavioural framework, performance management structure, and the Abodus Training Academy, informed by organisation-wide skills and gap analysis.

Dual Store Manager at Co-Op (2020-01 – 2021-09)

• Management of two Liverpool city centre locations during covid, achieved an 83% leadership score in company Talkback results, with 22 of 26 team members giving a 10/10 rating.

Hotel Manager at Premier Inn & Travelodge (2014-09 – 2020-01)

• Managed a portfolio of hotels from flagship city-centre sites, including London City Airport, to motorway locations, with teams ranging from 12 to 40 colleagues and full P&L accountability. Maintained staff turnover of 22.7% against a sector average of 31%.

BA (Hons) in Politics – Lancaster University (2010 – 2013)