Joe Husbands

L&D Consultant | Leadership, Manager & Early Careers Development | Helping organisations build capability that sticks | CIPD L5 | Made in Manchester 2026 Shortlisted

Macclesfield, England, United Kingdom

About

I’ve spent the last decade helping people work better - first as a project management professional, then as someone who realised the thing I cared most about was building the conditions for others to grow. That practitioner background shapes everything I do in L&D. I design from the inside out - starting with what people actually need to do differently, not what looks good in a programme outline. I’ve built and led talent development, leadership and management programmes, early careers pathways and onboarding experiences across education, healthcare, professional services, defence and the charity sector. What gets me out of bed is the moment someone says “I wish I’d known this six months ago.” That’s the standard I design to - not engagement scores or attendance numbers, but genuine behaviour change that people feel in their working lives and their teams feel too. I hold a CIPD Level 5 in People Management and a Level 3 Award in Education and Training, and I was shortlisted for the Made in Manchester Awards 2026. My strongest ground is end to end programme design - from diagnosing the real need through to building something that embeds and lasts. I take learning seriously, where I can own something meaningful and where the measure of success is whether people actually work differently afterwards.

Experience

  • Learning & Development Consultant at Cornerstone Resources HR Consultancy
    Feb 2025 - Present · 1 yr 5 mos

  • Early Careers Skills & Development Coach | Project Management, Project Control & HR Apprenticeships at BAE Systems
    Nov 2023 - Feb 2025 · 1 yr 4 mos

  • Adelphi Real World (7 yrs 8 mos)
    • Senior Talent Development Manager
      Feb 2021 - Nov 2023 · 2 yrs 10 mos

      Design, deliver and evaluate talent development initiatives

    • Project Manager
      Apr 2016 - Feb 2021 · 4 yrs 11 mos