"Director, Custom Programs - Wharton Executive Education"

Job Description Summary

Founded in 1881 as the world's first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With campuses in Philadelphia and San Francisco, Wharton has over 850 staff, a faculty population of more than 235 renowned professors, and 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year, 13,000 professionals worldwide advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education's individual, company-customized, and online programs. More than 104,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day.

The Director of Custom Programs collaborates with faculty and global 1000 clients to design and deliver bespoke, high-quality executive development programs. The Director plays a central role in managing and growing client relationships, designing high-impact executive development experiences, and ensuring the overall success and profitability of Wharton Executive Education's custom engagements. This role is both strategic and hands-on, with accountability for the end-to-end delivery of executive education programs tailored to the unique needs of leading organizations around the world.

Job Responsibilities

• Client Relationship Management - Engage with highly sophisticated client representatives, including C-Suite and ELT leaders. Cultivate and deepen relationships with these executives to ensure client satisfaction and retention. Ensure programs meet client business and learning objectives.
• Program Design - Work independently and effectively with faculty and highly informed, sophisticated clients to design, manage, and deliver a high volume of bespoke engagements, selecting appropriate instructors, with an emphasis on standing faculty, translate their organizational challenges and learning objectives into tailored content, assess program success, integrate innovative learning formats and approaches that reflect Wharton's latest thinking.
• Program Financials - Independently responsible for assuring targeted contribution to the profitability of the department through active P&L management, accurate pricing, pricing for all services delivered, and management of expenses. Creates renewal (and sometimes new) contracts for all programs and services.
• Matrixed Management - Manage the effort of the Delivery Team for assigned programs to ensure that all logistical and operational details are prepared and delivered with exceptional customer service.
• Collaboration - Collaborate with colleagues from Business Development on new proposals, client meetings, and presentations, including RFPs; Work across business units to support enrollment in OE, Online, and Live programs, share best practices across business units.
• Business Knowledge - Stays current on business trends, monitors developments within portfolio of clients, tracks industry shifts, leadership changes, strategic priorities, and emerging challenges that may inform program design or highlight new learning needs.
• Mentorship - Helps to mentor, guide, and develop Director Bs and Cs, including taking calls with them, leading needs assessments for their new programs (Cs only), and reviewing their program designs.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree and minimum 7-10 years' experience required. Master's degree in a related field highly preferred. Experience in designing educational solutions preferably in a high-end solutions environment or higher education, academic environment. Experience in consultative selling and adult learning theory and practices highly desirable. Relevant experience and deep knowledge of at least one corporate sector such as financial services, health care, manufacturing, energy, technology or consumer products a plus.

Main Tasks:

• Maintain Wharton as a leader of innovative and financially successful executive education programs through a proven track record of designing innovative educational program solutions for senior leaders in global companies and suggesting improvements to programs and processes.
• Collaborate with clients to evaluate their learning needs. Proven success in completing needs assessments to identify specific business and/or organizational issues and challenges to be addressed, and design a solution to be presented in an educational format. Ability to analyze and understand international and domestic business trends and the concerns of executives. Demonstrate innovative approaches to educational and management problems, including electronic media.
• Work independently and effectively to design, manage, and deliver a high volume of programs in assigned portfolio that provides sophisticated educational solutions to business challenges of executives and corporations over time.
• Collaborate with Vice Dean, Managing Directors, Senior Director and Business Development Team in support of developing proposals and RFPs.

Expected Skills and Behavior:

• Willingness to develop an in-depth understanding of Wharton and external faculty areas of expertise.
• Experienced, skilled, highly effective professional and leader to represent WEE in client-facing settings and through written communications.
• Action-oriented, self-starter and proven ability to work autonomously as well as collaboratively as a member of a program/project team in a fast-paced, results-driven environment.
• Strategic-thinking partner with demonstrated personal strengths that contribute to building a strong, dynamic and unified organization.
• Financial acumen P&L experience. Responsible for assuring positive contribution to the profitability of the department through cost management.
• Experience utilizing business development, sales, or other CRM systems. Strong understanding of metrics and dashboards.
• Ability to negotiate complex and difficult environments.
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally and domestically.
• Ability and willingness to work non-traditional hours, including weekends, early mornings and late evenings as needed.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pay Range

$110,500.00 - $145,000.00 Annual Rate