"Senior IT Project Leader, Wharton"

Senior IT Project Leader, Wharton

Job Description Summary

Wharton School Overview
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 both 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 from around the world 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. Wharton is home to a dynamic community of staff, bringing a wide range of skills, experiences, and perspectives. To learn more, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.

About the Department
We work with Wharton's academic and administrative departments as dedicated IT partners. Our job is to help faculty, staff, and students use technology effectively. We do this by meeting with individuals and teams to understand their goals and current workflows, identifying where technology can help, and coordinating with Wharton Computing to design and implement concrete solutions. We provide thought leadership to advocate and coordinate the implementation and use of technology. We empower our partners to achieve their goals and fulfill the School's greater objectives.

Position Summary
Reporting to the Senior IT Director within Wharton's Strategic Partnership team, the Senior IT Project Leader serves as a strategic partner to the Executive Education department, leading business process analysis and aligning technology solutions to evolving operational needs. This role evaluates current workflows across the large technology portfolio including key solutions such as CRM platforms, event applications, and hospitality technologies to identify inefficiencies, define improvement opportunities, and implement structured solutions. The position partners with business stakeholders and centralized teams to translate operational requirements into clearly defined deliverables, measurable outcomes, and prioritized technology initiatives. The Senior IT Project Leader drives structured intake, process optimization, and portfolio visibility, ensuring that technology that support the revenue generating division are aligned with sales, enrollment, program delivery, and long-term operational goals. This role requires someone who can assess complex environments, guide process evolution, and ensure technology investments result in tangible improvements in efficiency, clarity, and accountability.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead business process analysis efforts across Executive Education's key plaforms including CRM, internally developed applications, event platforms, and hospitality technologies to evaluate workflows, identify gaps, and recommend improvements.
• Document current-state and future-state processes, including system dependencies, integration points, and operational impacts.
• Translate operational and business needs into structured deliverables, including user stories, acceptance criteria, implementation plans, and defined success metrics.
• Manage and prioritize incoming technology requests by evaluating business impact, operational risk, and alignment to strategic goals.
• Facilitate working sessions with stakeholders to redesign processes and improve system adoption.
• Partner with Solutions, Infrastructure, Client Support Services, and Information Security teams to ensure requirements are clearly defined and initiatives are delivered as intended.
• Develop and maintain portfolio visibility dashboards and reporting artifacts to support prioritization and leadership decision-making.
• Identify and implement process improvements that increase efficiency, reduce redundancy, and enhance user experience across business systems.
• Evaluate emerging tools, including AI-enabled technologies, to determine their impact on workflow optimization and operational scalability.
• Support change management efforts by developing communication plans, training materials, and adoption strategies for system enhancements.
• Contribute to long-term operational and digital planning initiatives as Executive Education's delivery models evolve.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science and 4 to 6 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
• Experience supporting business systems, enterprise platforms, or technology initiatives in a complex organization. Experience working with CRM or comparable enterprise systems in a service-oriented or revenue-generating environment.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business needs into structured requirements, documentation, and project artifacts. Experience managing or organizing project intake and prioritization across multiple stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively with both business and technical teams. Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills and sound judgment when navigating ambiguity.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5-7 years of related experience.
• Experience in higher education, academic technology, executive education, hospitality, event technology, or SaaS environments. Experience using project management tools such as Asana, Jira, or similar platforms.
• Experience with Salesforce or comparable CRM platforms.
• Familiarity with IT service management frameworks (e.g., ITIL), Business Relationship Management (e.g. BRM), or formal change management (e.g. Prosci) practices. Exposure to AI-enabled tools, automation initiatives, or digital transformation efforts.
• Experience improving or formalizing governance and portfolio management processes.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

Wharton School

Pay Range

$100,000.00 - $110,000.00 Annual Rate