Associate Director, VIP Incubator, Venture Lab, Wharton School

The Wharton School

17d•$66,000 - $75,000•Hybrid

About The Position

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. Wharton is home to a dynamic staff population representing a rich array of backgrounds, expertise, and cultures. To learn more, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu. The Associate Director provides leadership for Venture Lab’s key strategic priorities through the delivery, management, and end-to-end operations of the Venture Initiation Program (VIP) Incubator. This work will enable Venture Lab to deliver co-curricular learning opportunities in innovation and entrepreneurship to Penn students and connect them to Penn alumni leaders and experts to receive practical instruction, advice, mentoring, and networking support.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree and minimum 3-5 years of professional experience related to entrepreneurship and innovation.
Demonstrated experience with program management, developing dashboards and frameworks for business and programs.
Demonstrated ability to establish priorities, manage shifting priorities, and handle numerous time-sensitive projects with multiple deadlines.
Demonstrated forward-thinking mindset and creativity, problem solving, critical analysis, initiative, judgment, and decision-making skills.
Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
Demonstrated experience managing budgets, creating detailed project work plans, and managing complex projects with cross-functional and cross-organizational teams.
Demonstrated ability to function both independently and as part of a team.
Excellent collaboration and team building skills.
Ability to interact effectively and comfortably with diverse group of students, senior executives/professionals, and staff with demonstrated ability to cultivate and manage relationships professionally and with good judgment with a variety of stakeholders.
Must have a high degree of professionalism.
The successful candidate will be adept with technology: Must possess skill in Google software applications (Docs, Sheets, Slides) as well as the Microsoft Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook); Experience with cloud-based tools such as Beautiful.ai, Monday.com, and Typeform; email marketing tools such as ActiveCampaign; and additional tools such as Qualtrics, SurveyMonkeyApply;

Nice To Haves

Masters Degree a plus.
Experience with Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat a plus.

Responsibilities

Lead the VIP Incubator program, providing Penn students with the opportunity to develop and to receive feedback on their business ideas or startups.
Develop the program strategy, plan program curriculum, prepare and manage program budget.
In consultation with Senior Director, lead program management, including all program logistics and day-to-day execution. This includes application development and selection process, selection criteria and rubric, student experience, summer programming, partner onboarding/engagement, administrative tasks, alumni and external partner-led workshops, collaboration with other Venture Lab programs, data tracking and reporting, and other tasks associated with this program.
Lead the development, program design and delivery, alumni merchandise showcase program, and space planning and development of one of Venture Lab's innovative learning labs, the Retail Lab - a space that serves as a teaching tool that showcases alumni ventures; gives students opportunity to test products, conduct customer and market research; host events, speakers and workshops in collaboration with other programs and centers.
Prepare management reports and presentations for Venture Lab leadership to deliver.
Develop performance measurement plan. Collect and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs). Support Salesforce data entry and management. Collaborate with Wharton External Affairs to create donor stewardship reports. Create impact reports and use feedback from Venture Lab and Wharton senior leadership to identify and execute approved improvements. Support other time-sensitive reporting as needed.
The position requires frequent interaction with seasoned, accomplished alumni entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other professionals engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation careers, including significant donors.
The position is also responsible for cultivating an open rapport and a professional, supportive educational approach with undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs and innovators from all disciplines across the University of Pennsylvania.

Benefits

Penn offers comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits to protect you and your family’s health and welfare. You can also use flexible spending accounts to pay for eligible health care and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars.
Take advantage of Penn's exceptional tuition benefits. You, your spouse, and your dependent children can get tuition assistance here at Penn. Your dependent children are also eligible for tuition assistance at other institutions.
Penn offers generous retirement plans to help you save for your future. Penn’s Basic, Matching, and Supplemental retirement plans allow you to save for retirement on a pre-tax or Roth basis. Choose from a wide variety of investment options through TIAA and Vanguard.
Penn provides you with a substantial amount of time away from work during the course of the year. This allows you to relax, take vacations, attend to personal affairs, recover from illness or injury, spend time with family—whatever your personal needs may be.
In partnership with Genworth Financial, Penn offers faculty and staff (and your eligible family members) long-term care insurance to help you cover some of the costs of long-term care services received at home, in the community or in a nursing facility. If you apply when you’re newly hired, you won’t have to provide proof of good health or be subject to underwriting requirements. Eligible family members must always provide proof of good health and are subject to underwriting.
Penn is committed to supporting our faculty and staff as they balance the competing demands of work and personal life. That’s why we offer a wide variety of programs and resources to help you care for your health, your family, and your work-life balance.
Penn provides an array of resources to help you advance yourself personally and professionally.
As a member of the Penn community, you have access to a wide range of University resources as well as cultural and recreational activities. Take advantage of the University’s libraries and athletic facilities, or visit our arboretum and art galleries. There’s always something going on at Penn, whether it’s a new exhibit at the Penn Museum, the latest music or theater presentation at the Annenberg Center, or the Penn Relays at Franklin Field to name just a few examples. As a member of the Penn community, you’re right in the middle of the excitement—and you and your family can enjoy many of these activities for free.
From arts and entertainment to transportation and mortgages, you'll find great deals for University faculty and staff. Not only do Penn arts and cultural centers and museums offer free and discounted admission and memberships to faculty and staff. You can also enjoy substantial savings on other goods and services such as new cars from Ford and General Motors, cellular phone service plans, movie tickets, and admission to theme parks.
Flexible work options offer creative approaches for completing work while promoting balance between work and personal commitments. These approaches involve use of non-traditional work hours, locations, and/or job structures.
Penn offers a forgivable loan for eligible employees interested in buying a home or currently residing in West Philadelphia, which can be used for closing costs or home improvements.
Penn will reimburse eligible employees on qualified expenses in connection with the legal adoption of an eligible child, such as travel or court fees, for up to two adoptions in your household.