Lead Academic Program Manager - IT Management

If youre passionate about building a better future for individuals communities and our countryand youre committed to working hard to play your part in building that futureconsider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online competencybased degree programs WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of studentfocused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century one that has received praise from academic industry government and media leaders. Whatever your role working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Pay Range: $119400.00 $185100.00

Job Description

Job Profile Summary:

As Lead Academic Program Manager of academic programs in WGUs IT Management you will be the overall endtoend owner of that program through its entire lifecycle. This will include (a) all the predefinition research (marketsegment selection targeted skills market demand for graduates student demand competitive analysis portfolio strategy pricing program requirements and program level P&L) (b) building and launching the program by working with the academic program directors and other subject matter experts across different departments to define the curriculum and working with the program development team to build and launch the program (with the right quality ontime and in budget) and (c) tracking the postlaunch adoption of the program by working with the marketing and partnership teams to drive the adoption of the program with students monitoring and tracking the success of students within the program working with other stakeholders to make ongoing adjustments to the program to improve student success and market relevance and managing the programlevel P&L. Your success will be measured in terms of planning building delivering and scaling the right programs profitably that cater to our underserved student population with a highlevel of retention and ROI for the students. In this role you will report to the Associate Dean and Academic Program Director and/or the Vice President Dean of the department.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• P&L ownership experience with managing over IT Management
• Drive a culture of continuous experimentation measurement and learning from data to rapidly improve the quality and delivery to students
• Strong people leader to indirectly lead a diverse team of 25 people including academic program leaders instructional faculty and student coaches/mentors
• Influences Others and Communicates Effectively: Communicates to improve and promote teamwork decision making and problem solving. Listens and responds effectively to the reactions and positions of others and encourages the expression of diverse ideas and opinions. Adjusts message and style to fit the audience. Provides timely and helpful feedback. Communicates appropriately to win support with all audiences.
• Collaborates: Works cooperatively with others across the organization to achieve shared objectives. Represents own interests while being fair to others and their areas. Partners with others to get work done. Credits others for their contributions and accomplishments. Gains buyin trust and support of others.
• Manages Ambiguity: Deals comfortably with the uncertainty of change. Effectively handles risk. Can decide to act without the total picture. Is calm and productive even when things are up in the air. Deals constructively with problems that do not have clear solutions or outcomes.
• Drives for Results: Has a strong outcomesbased orientation. Persists in accomplishing objectives despite obstacles and setbacks. Has a track record of successfully achieving goals. Pushes self and helps others achieve results. Has a continuous improvement mindset.
• Builds Effective Teams: Forms teams with appropriate and diverse mixes of styles perspectives and experience. Establishes common objectives and a shared mindset. Creates a feeling of belonging and strong team morale. Shares wins and rewards team efforts. Fosters open dialogue and collaboration among the team. Creates a team that works well crossfunctionally.
• Organizational Learning: Learns quickly when facing new situations. Experiments to find new solutions. Takes on challenges of unfamiliar tasks. Extracts lessonslearned from failures and mistakes. Expands knowledge base through ongoing curiosity.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge Skill and Abilities:

• Deep understanding of how students learn and combining innovative curriculum and student support strategies to drive student success
• Customer or student obsession with a focus on driving successful outcomes for them
• Industry or academic leader in the discipline
• Understanding of the industry trends job opportunities local student needs and educational market trends in the discipline
• Credible voice of the department in external partnerships and presentation opportunities
• Strong people leader to directly or indirectly lead a diverse team of 25 people including other academic program and department leaders instructional faculty and student coaches/mentors
• focus with the ability to divedeep and live in the details with a fastpaced weekly cadence
• Ability to organize and coordinate activities and results across crossfunctional teams
• Ability to coach and develop direct reports
• Ability to collaborate with and lead teams including those in a remote environment while demonstrating excellence integrity and respect
• Ability to work effectively in a highly matrixed organization
• Ability to build relationships and influence at all levels both internally and externally
• Ability to be an agent of change in a rapidly changing environment
• Proven ability to analyze data to identify trends and drive innovation
• Sound judgement and decisionmaking skills
• Strong oral and written communication skills

Competencies:

Organizational Impact:

• Responsible forimplementing initiativesand projects establishedbyuniversity ordepartment leadership;establishes strategic and operationalplans for departmentfunction oroffice withshortterm impact onresults.
• May deliver input intonew processesstandards or plans thatimpact overalluniversity ordepartment results.

Problem Solving & Decision Making:

• Leveragesa systemsthinking approach forimproving existingprocesses and systemswithinthedepartment usingsignificantconceptualizingreasoning andinterpretation.
• Problems and issuesfaced are numerousdifficultand requiredetailed informationgathering and affectmultiple areas orspecialties. Problemsand issuesspan a wide range ofchallengingand uniquesituations.

Communication & Influence:

• Collaborates crossfunctionally with partieswithin and outside ofthedepartment and mayoccasionallycommunicate withexternal parties.
• May influence others toaccept the job areasviews practicesconcepts andapproachesandconduct briefings withleaders within theUniversity ordepartment.

Leadership & Talent Management

• Responsible forproviding guidancecoaching and training toother employees in thedepartment Function orOffice.
• Provides direction toproject team membersincluding feedback onperformance.
• Demonstratesthe WGUleadership principles inall aspects of service tostudentsemployeesandpartners of WGU.

Job Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Mastersdegree in IT Business Administration or related are from an accredited institution.
• 4 years of related experience to include a combination of: program P&L responsibility able to effectively plan and operate degreegranting educational programs with the goal of driving student outcomes student satisfaction and profitability.
• In lieu of a masters degree a bachelors degree 7 years relevant experience may be considered if candidates possess the necessary skills and knowledge required for the position.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Doctorate degree in relevant area from an accredited institution
• Experience in higher education
• Experience in developing online education programs and/or developing and scaling rapidly changing organizations/programs
• Experience in developing curriculum and/or highstakes assessments
• Demonstrated success in change management and bringing order and structure to complex situations

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.

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Position & Application Details

FullTime Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a fulltime regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical dental vision telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual 11 paid holidays and other paid leaves including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. Its not allinclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.