"Director, Stanford LEAD"

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB) has built a global reputation based on its immersive and innovative management programs. We provide students a transformative leadership experience, pushing the boundaries of knowledge with faculty research, and offering a portfolio of entrepreneurial and non-degree programs that deliver global impact. We invite you to be part of our mission of developing innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who change lives, change organizations, and change the world. 

Executive Education is responsible for the development and management of all the school’s non-degree program offerings. The mission of our organization is to “use GSB faculty ideas to inspire global leaders to change their thinking and drive positive impact throughout their organizations.” Executive Education also provides an ideal vehicle for the GSB to experiment with innovation in both content and pedagogy.

Executive Education is seeking a Director for Stanford LEAD: the GSB’s flagship online yearlong, cohort-based program for mid- to senior-level professionals around the world. In this role, you will guide the strategic direction, operational excellence, and long-term vision for LEAD - serving as the program’s product leader while partnering closely with faculty, course facilitators, and cross-functional teams across ExecEd. 

As Director, you will oversee both the enrollment lifecycle and the learner experience, functioning much like a product owner who deeply understands user needs, identifies opportunities, and drives continuous improvement. Your work will include managing admissions processes, shaping well-balanced cohorts, and collaborating with marketing and outreach teams to understand trends and support sustainable growth. At the same time, you’ll steward the academic and community journey for thousands of global learners each year, supporting curriculum innovation, strengthening engagement, and ensuring LEAD continues to meet the evolving needs of diverse professionals worldwide. You will also lead and develop a team of staff responsible for executing core program functions and ensuring a high-quality experience across the learner journey.

This is a highly visible leadership role within Executive Education, blending strategic customer journey management, academic stewardship, and cross-functional program leadership.

This is a full-time 100% FTE hybrid position with the expectation to be on-site at the Stanford campus a minimum of 2 days a week.

Primary Responsibilities

• Serve as LEAD's primary ambassador, acting as the official face and voice of the program to the global learner community
• Define the product's long-term vision and strategy, ensuring alignment with overall business goals.
• Oversee and execute the end-to-end management of program activities, identifying priorities, setting objectives, optimizing processes, and allocating resources to meet program goals while maintaining operational excellence.
• Conduct market research, competitor analysis, and user research to understand customer pain points and needs.
• Partner with Stanford GSB faculty to help develop, refine, and iterate course and program enhancements, aligning content and delivery with learner needs and the academic standards that distinguish Stanford Executive Education.
• Guide and contribute to enrollment, outreach, and communication strategies, including prospective learner engagement, admissions processes, and community messaging to build strong, diverse, and well-balanced cohorts.
• Develop, manage, and oversee tracking of customer journey metrics and program budgets, including forecasting, monitoring, and reporting to support strategic planning and sustainable growth.
• Serve as the central point of communication, translating objectives between different teams and informing stakeholders about progress, budget, and business goals.
• Lead, coach, and develop the staff team responsible for program execution, identifying skill gaps, providing training and development, and ensuring teams operate effectively and with a continuous-improvement mindset.

To be successful in this position, you will bring

• Bachelor’s degree and eight years of relevant experience, or combination of education and relevant experience.
• Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to influence and motivate constituencies which could span multiple organizational boundaries.
• Demonstrated excellent planning, organizational and analytical skills.
• Demonstrated ability to make sound business decisions using good business judgment and innovative and creative problem-solving.
• Demonstrated ability to manage financial, organizational and staff resources.
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills with the ability to cultivate professional and business partnerships.
• Relevant subject matter expertise.

The expected pay range for this position is $162,809 - 188,000 per annum.

Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage the university reasonably expects to pay for a position upon hire. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs. At Stanford University, base pay represents only one aspect of the comprehensive rewards package.

Why Stanford is for you:

Imagine a world without search engines or social platforms. Consider lives saved through first-ever organ transplants and research to cure illnesses. Stanford University has revolutionized the way we live and enrich the world. Supporting this mission is our diverse and dedicated 17,000 staff. We seek talent driven to impact the future of our legacy. Our culture and unique perks empower you with:

• Freedom to grow. We offer career development programs, tuition reimbursement, or audit a course. Join a TedTalk, film screening, or listen to a renowned author or global leader speak.
• A caring culture. We provide superb retirement plans, generous time-off, and family care resources.
• A healthier you. Climb our rock wall, or choose from hundreds of health or fitness classes at our world-class exercise facilities. We also provide excellent health care benefits.
• Discovery and fun. Stroll through historic sculptures, trails, and museums.
• Enviable resources. Enjoy free commuter programs, ridesharing incentives, discounts and more!

How to Apply

We invite you to apply for this position by clicking on the “Apply for Job” button. To be considered, please submit a résumé along with your online application.