about

My full name is Ulrich Heitzlhofer, but given that Austrian names don't do so well in other languages, I tend to go by my nickname "Uli" pronounced /uːlee/ (or as a friendly barista once put it all around my coffee cup "OOOOOOLEEEEEE" ;-). Aside from having the urge to being on time, my two super powers are to quickly build trust and getting s*** done, presumably happening in reverse order. On the getting s*** done side, I'm a big fan of driving measurable impact and being able to tell stories with data. The more holistic and integrated these initiatives are in the larger strategy, and far reaching stories, the better! On quickly building trust, I can't point my finger on a specific trait. Rather, I think it's a combination of things such as being Austrian, which tends to be easy going yet direct and authentic, speaking with a funky German, British, Scottish and Californian influenced mishmash of an English, and generally being a decent practitioner in the Learning & Development and Talent Management landscape. When I'm not working, I pretty much spend all my time with my lovely wife and two children, who are currently 9 and 7 years old.

Back in 2008, I graduated in "International Business" at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, and wrote my Masters Thesis on the topic of “Demographic Change and Consequences for Businesses.” Out of college, I joined Heidelberg US, a German mechanical engineering company specialized in offset printing, as an HR intern and co-developed a leadership competency model together with the Head of Organizational Development. Due to the economic downturn, my contract was not extended, opening the way to join another German mechanical engineering company called GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft as an HR Trainee. Over the course of the next year, I focused predominantly on Performance Management for existing and high potential leaders and their leadership development. That specific background set me up for success to land a job with Google in 2011, joining as Performance Management Specialist. While running the (at that time) quarterly process over the next 2 ½ years, a core part of my role was to test and pilot alternatives, which eventually led to a complete redesign launched for all of Google in 2014. Driving this change management process meant communicating and training managers / leaders on the new philosophy and how it’s going to impact their roles. During that time, I realized how much passion I had for learning & development, leading to a role on Google’s Executive Development team, targeting Google’s senior leadership with development opportunities. 

Over the next 1 ½ years, I learned the in’s and out’s of running learning programs, but experimentation was limited due to the number of senior Google Execs. As such, I shifted focus in 2015 by joining the Manager Development team, targeting experienced Google managers across the globe. In addition to running a unique onboarding experience for managers new to the company, but not new to managing people, I developed two additional learning programs: the first one pulled in Project Aristotle (internal code name) research on “team effectiveness” and combined learnings with inclusive leadership. The second addressed the topic of “managing at scale” with the intention to prepare managers for challenges accompanied when growing their teams / orgs from single-, to double-, to triple-digits. 

After 6 ½ years at Google, I moved on to a new adventure and joined Lyft as Head of Learning & Development and Performance Management in June, 2017. Over my time at Lyft, I scaled the development team from one direct report to a team of 25 L&D and Talent Management Practitioners and supported Lyft's IPO on all things people development and performance management related. At the start, I inherited a failing Performance Management system, which I redefined and relaunched, resulting in >80% employee favorability (measured in UX survey post performance cycle, where employees rated the statement: “My performance was evaluated fairly”). Furthermore, I launched an entire suite of development content & programs tailored to Lyft’s unique business challenges such as “Interview Skills”, “Unconscious Bias” and “Influencing Without Authority” workshops. For people managers, I co-created manager expectations together with senior leadership and launched 3-tiered manager development programs ranging from new first-time and advanced manager immersion programs to manager peer circles to on-demand manager development resources. For senior leadership, I launched executive development immersion programs including 1:1 coaching support, skills-intense learning workshops and transition programs for first-time Directors and VPs. Lastly, I owned company-wide Onboarding and inherited the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team for the last 9 months of my time at Lyft. Clearly, it has been quite a ride throughout my time with Lyft ;-)

Shortly after leaving Lyft, I joined Hinge Health as Head of Learning & Development. Over the 1 1/2 years with Hinge Health, I redesigned Performance Management, crafted a multi-year L&D strategy, rolled out a new, AI powered LMS, and strategically transformed people management via Hinge Health manager expectations, rolling out a three-tiered manager development initiative (live-workshops, self-paced content and peer-to-peer circles all designed around newly defined manager expectations) with the vision that "all team members have a great management experience".

In the fall of 2024, my wife started a new role, thereby giving me the flexibility to spend more quality time with the family and kids (they're truly adorable right now and I'm so very grateful to have the opportunity to spend more time with them on a daily basis!) as well as explore my own consulting and fractional L&D practice, which I transitioned to at the beginning of 2025. Here is my full CV, if interested.