Manager, Enablement Design

About the Field Enablement Team

The Field Enablement team at Thumbtack empowers our employees, pros, and customers through impactful learning experiences that drive performance, skill development, and business outcomes. We’re a collaborative, cross-functional team made up of three key pillars: Enablement Design, Enablement Delivery, and Content amp; Communications. Together, we identify learning needs across the organization and create thoughtful, scalable solutions that support every stage of the employee lifecycle. From onboarding to ongoing development, our work is deeply embedded in the success of Thumbtack’s frontline teams and plays a vital role in ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience for the pros and customers who rely on us every day.

The challenge

As the Manager of Enablement Design, you’ll lead a team of instructional designers and a multimedia producer to build high-impact learning programs that drive performance and support key business priorities. From new hire onboarding to ongoing product education, you’ll translate complex needs into scalable, engaging learning experiences that enable our frontline teams to thrive.

You’ll bring a strategic lens to how we approach enablement - introducing fresh ideas, streamlining processes, and leveraging emerging technologies (including AI) to improve how we design, deliver, and measure learning. This is a highly cross-functional and influential role that combines strategic thinking with operational excellence, so if you're energized by leading teams, building from scratch, and making learning a competitive advantage, this role offers a unique opportunity to drive meaningful change at scale.

What you'll do

• Lead and inspire a high-performing team: Manage and mentor a team of instructional designers and a multimedia producer, setting clear priorities, unblocking challenges, and creating space for creativity and growth.
• Design scalable, high-impact learning programs: Oversee the end-to-end creation of programs that support new hire onboarding, continuous learning, and product or process changes across our frontline teams and pros.
• Partner cross-functionally to drive enablement strategy: Collaborate with teams across Thumbtack to identify learning needs, align on goals, and co-create training that supports business objectives and user experience.
• Streamline systems and processes: Build and refine operational workflows to improve content management, team efficiency, and scalability of learning initiatives.
• Innovate with learning technology: Explore and implement emerging tools (including AI) to enhance content design and learner engagement.
• Measure what matters: Define and track success metrics to evaluate program effectiveness and continuously improve learning outcomes.

In order to be successful, you must bring

• People leadership experience: 5+ years in a leadership role managing instructional design, L&D, or enablement teams (ideally within high-growth or fast-changing environments)
• Deep instructional design expertise: Proven ability to create effective, engaging learning solutions grounded in adult learning theory, instructional design best practices, and performance enablement.
• Technical fluency with learning tools: Hands-on experience with learning tech stacks, content authoring tools, and ideally, AI-based solutions for content development and management.
• Strategic and operational mindset: Ability to zoom out and set vision while also driving execution - especially around building processes, defining KPIs, and managing complex projects.
• Strong communication and cross-functional skills: Comfort navigating ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and translating business goals into enablement solutions that resonate with diverse audiences.
• Comfort with change and ambiguity: Thrives in dynamic environments where priorities shift, and problem-solving happens in real time.

Expected salary ranges

• For candidates living in San Francisco / Bay Area, San Jose, New York City, or Seattle metros, the expected salary range for the role is currently $136,000 - $176,000.
• For candidates living in Austin, TX or Washington DC metros or in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Washington states, the expected salary range for the role is currently $122,400 - $158,400.
• For candidates living in all other US locations, the expected salary range for this role is currently $115,600 - $149,600.

Actual offered salaries will vary and will be based on various factors, such as calibrated job level, qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role.