Fast Facts

WGU is seeking an Associate Dean & Director of Engineering for their School of Technology, responsible for leading innovative academic programs and driving student success through collaboration and strategic partnerships.

Responsibilities: Oversee program management and growth, manage instructional faculty, ensure accreditation compliance, drive initiatives for student success, and collaborate with industry partners.

Skills: Strong leadership, strategic planning, data-driven decision-making, effective communication, and program marketing skills are essential.

Qualifications: Master’s degree required; preferred terminal degree and experience in online education or higher education programs.

Location: Position based in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Remote work is not specified.

Compensation: $126800 - $228300 / Annually

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:

Grade: Management_Executive 610Pay Range: $126,800.00 - $228,300.00

Job Description

Job Profile Summary:

As the Associate Dean and Program Director of one or more academic programs in WGU’s School of Technology (WST) you will be a subject matter expert and a respected academic business leader in driving the education and successful outcomes of students in your field. In collaboration with college and university leadership, other departments, and other WGU organizations, you will have end-to-end responsibility of (a) growing your programs with new, market relevant, and innovative competency based program offerings, (b) identifying and supporting the implementation industry partnerships and go-to-market strategies to bring the right students and employers to these programs, and (c) delivering great educational outcomes for these students by directly managing the instructional faculty and leveraging the coaching and mentoring faculty to drive student success. 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 high-level of retention and ROI for the students. In this role, you will report to the Vice President and Dean of the Department.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• P&L ownership experience with managing over $25M+ P&L with focus on achieving WGU contribution margins and net new student growth
• Program management and program marketing experience in launching new and revised programs into the education market and operating programs using data and insights; data-driven portfolio management experience
• Drive a culture of continuous experimentation, measurement, and learning from data to rapidly improve the quality and delivery to students
• Strong people leader to directly or indirectly lead a diverse team of program managers, 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 buy-in, 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 outcomes-based orientation. Persists in accomplishingobjectives 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 cross-functionally.
• Organizational Learning: Learns quickly when facing new situations. Experiments to find new solutions. Takes on challenges of unfamiliar tasks. Extracts lessons-learned from failures and mistakes. Expands knowledge base through ongoing curiosity.
• Ensure Accreditation Compliance: maintain ABET accreditation and other appropriate accreditations, ensuring programs meet high standards of academic and professional excellence
• Build and Leverage an Advisory Council: establish and maintain an industry advisory board to align programs with workforce needs, gather expert insights, and create opportunities for studentsPerforms 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 and employability
• Customer and 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, 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 academic program leaders, instructional faculty, and student coaches/mentors
• Execution focus with the ability to dive-deep and live in the details with a fast-paced weekly execution cadence
• Ability to organize and coordinate activities and results across cross-functional teams
• Ability to coach and develop direct reports
• Ability to collaborate with and manage 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 decision-making skills
• Strong oral and written communication skills

Job Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Master’s degree in a relevant field from an accredited institution. 
• Five (5) years in a similar design and product ownership role, demonstratingexpertise in marketing, continuous improvement, and thought leadership. Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and scale initiatives. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Terminal degree in a relevant field from an accredited institution. 
• Experience in higher education, particularly in online education programs or in rapidly evolving organizations/programs. 
• Expertise in developing curriculum and/or high-stakes assessments. 
• Proven success in leading change management efforts and bringing structure to complex, dynamic 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.

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, 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. 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 [email protected].

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