Senior Manager, Program Mentoring Faculty

If you're passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country-and you're committed to working hard to play your part in building that future-consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused 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:

Job Description

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Leads improvement initiatives within program teams to support the university's key performance indicator goals.
• Provides supervision, direction, and leadership for a team of program managers (direct reports), each of whom is responsible for the performance, training, and development of a team of program mentors.
• Collaborates with multiple shared service teams and other WGU department leaders to provide students with a personal, flexible, and affordable education experience.
• Uses university platforms to pull qualitative and quantitative data regarding student experiences within programs of responsibility. Uses that data to implement improvements in mentoring approaches within the programs.
• Uses student and staff input to inform the WGU decision-making process, particularly regarding WGU mentoring strategies and services.
• Works with program level leaders to develop and implement effective communication strategies to positively impact student progress, retention, satisfaction, and graduation.
• Collaborates with leaders to make hiring and promotion decisions.
• Supports the execution of strategic plans, analyzes results for future direction.
• Takes ownership of assigned initiatives and applies strong leadership skills to build a high-performing, cross-functional team environment.
• Develops strategic and effective working relationships with key WGU stakeholders.
• Leads ongoing team- and discipline-specific training in a distributed (in-office & remote employees) environment.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities:

• Ability to lead a diverse team of managers, provide professional development, and be open to feedback from their team and colleagues. Must be able to motivate and encourage others while demonstrating how their work contributes to student and program success.
• Must have strong technology skills, including: data entry, Outlook email and calendar, MS Office, database, or equivalent experience is required.
• Demonstrates a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and promotes activities for leaders and individual contributors to grow in the area of DE&I.
• Ability to pull data from university platforms, understand implications, and recommend a course of action. Uses data to drive decisions.
• Strong verbal skills, with ability to present information clearly, concisely, and accurately; friendly, persuasive speaking style.
• Remarkable organizational talent is requisite.

Competencies:

• Organizational Impact:
• Leads a team of managers focusing on executing the strategic initiatives and operational plans for the program(s) of responsibility with measurable contribution to the achievement of key performance indicators.
• Delegates work and holds team managers accountable for performance expectations
• Problem Solving and Decision Making:
• Responsible for identifying needs and making recommendations for process or systems improvements to improve staff efficiency and improve student success.
• Can work with managers and program level leaders to solve many student escalations
• Assignments received and problems faced are sometimes broad and undefined, and will require use of analytical concepts, investigation, use of data to identify source and drive decision-making.
• Communication and Influence:
• Must demonstrate excellent communication skills across many stakeholders within and outside of programs of responsibility, including shared service leaders.
• Uses culturally competent communication skills and demonstrates a commitment to using inclusive communication.
• Ensures compliance with university policies and procedures for the programs of responsibility. Works with program level leaders to balance an individualized student approach with the need to adhere to university policies and procedures.
• Leadership and Talent Management:
• Manages/Supervises a team of manager professionals.
• Is responsible for professional development of leaders
• Ensures managers on team are providing proper training of their members. Participates in hiring, firing, and promotion decisions. Conducts performance reviews and may recommend salary reviews.

Job Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:

• Master's degree in a related field of study from an accredited institution
• In lieu of the educational requirement, WGU may accept a bachelor's degree and five (5) years of direct experience applicable to the position.
• Five (5) years of leadership or supervisory experience in the following areas: managing projects in a fast-paced and complex environment, leading cross-functional teams, leading teams to impact organizational outcomes through specific interventions, facilitating training, analyzing data, using data to drive decisions, presenting to diverse audiences.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Terminal degree from an accredited institution in a related field of study.
• Applicable licenses or certifications.
• Experience leading process improvement projects.
• Experience handling and resolving student behavior/conduct concerns.
• You reside within a 50-mile radius of the Salt Lake City, UT office.

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• May be required to work some evenings and weekends.
• Occasional travel and commuting to include overnight travel to Salt Lake City, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Austin, or other cities.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

Position & Application Details

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. It's not all-inclusive.

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

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