Melissa Jones

Learning Expert

I am a results-driven leader with 20+ years experience leveraging technology to make learning more accessible, personalized, engaging and effective. I am an expert in building and leading teams to deliver at scale without sacrificing quality. I specialize in working with highly technical content and audiences.

Priors: Shopify Engineering, General Assembly, Code.org, Adobe

Current: Fractional Chief Learning Officer, Board and Advisory Member (America On Tech, Dev Degree)

Building product for the fastest growing EdTech companies.

EdTech companies often find themselves at a crossroads, striving to expand beyond the MVP stage while maintaining consistent quality and impactful outcomes. This is where I step in. I have a proven track record of successfully scaling education programs for adult learners, including:

• Adobe's Education Exchange, which reached 125k learners in its inaugural year, providing professional development services to educators.

• Code.org's Teacher Training programs, where I optimized reach while reducing per-teacher costs.

• General Assembly's consumer and enterprise Immersive and Part-time training offerings, where I improved consistency and quality of delivery prior to our acquisition.

Achieving scale without compromising quality is hard.

To successfully transition from MVP to scale without sacrificing learning quality, Education companies must:

• Develop a deep understanding of your learners, their needs and how best to reach them

• Build high-performing teams comprised of program managers, instructional designers, and subject-matter experts delivering world-class content

• Implement efficient design and delivery systems rooted in tech product management and operations best practices

• Cultivate well-trained, dedicated instructors who champion your brand

• Define measurable and meaningful learning outcomes that resonate with customers and drive business growth

• Create a unified leadership team aligned with these principles, working toward a common goal

I can drive your company’s learning, training and product strategy.

Focus areas we can work on together include:

• New product/program development (from discovery and pilots to launch and GTM).

• Comprehensive content audits, refreshes, or overhauls.

• Instructional quality assessments and targeted solutions (hiring, onboarding, performance management, Train the Trainer)

• Team alignment, planning / roadmapping, and culture transformations.

• Targeted upskilling for leaders, learning designers, program/product managers, and instructors.

Empowering engineering organizations.

As your technology company grows, so does the need for strategic investment in training and culture. Neglecting these vital aspects can lead to decreased developer productivity and reduced employee satisfaction. But Engineering Leadership teams often struggle to balance these priorities, relying on HR support that may not resonate with highly technical staff.

With over two decades of experience, I specialize in crafting tailored learning and culture programs for technical audiences. During my tenure at Shopify, I collaborated with the CTO to implement successful strategies, such as doubling the engineering team size through strategic hiring and innovative early career programs, enhancing onboarding for faster impact, and improving developer satisfaction through enhanced documentation and training. I also volunteer as a board member and advisor for organizations focused on diversity in tech such as Dev Degree and America on Tech.

I can help unlock the potential of your technical teams.

I'm eager to collaborate with your leadership team to build impactful learning, culture, and community programs for your technical teams. I can diagnose the root causes of productivity issues and provide tech-enabled solutions. My programs engage and resonate with engineers, elevating your cultural systems and delivering measurable results.

Focus areas can include:

• Comprehensive cultural systems review and issue identification

• Change management (i.e. re-orgs, infrastructure changes, responding to AI opportunities)

• Leadership team alignment, off-site sessions, and resets

• Strategic hiring initiatives, including employer branding, interviewing systems, and early career recruitment

• Customized onboarding program development or enhancement

• Manager training and leadership development

• Technical upskilling (i.e. new technologies, developer tooling) and soft skills training (i.e. communication, feedback)

• Knowledge management, documentation, and tech blogs

• Culture and community event facilitation (Hackathons, Talks, Conferences)

Get aligned, get unstuck, get stuff done.

Although I specialize in supporting learning excellence and technical team productivity, I am also a seasoned facilitator and executive coach who can provide general support for any leader or team including:

• Planning and delivering effective off sites and retreats

• Facilitating strategic planning and executive alignment sessions

• Advising on change management and other leadership topics

• Training on facilitation best practices