Director Academic Delivery

Western Governors University•Salt Lake City, UT

About The Position

WGU is redefining what it means to learn and demonstrate mastery. As a Director of Academic Delivery, you’ll lead the people and systems responsible for instruction or evaluation within your school or domain, ensuring every learner experiences excellence from the moment they begin a course to the moment they demonstrate mastery. This is not a “keep the trains running” role. It’s a rare opportunity to shape how WGU teaches and measures learning at scale. You are at the forefront of reshaping the higher education experience at one of the most innovative universities in the nation. Through data, empathy, and innovation, you’ll help reimagine what learning looks like for modern students, leading a team of people leaders and faculty united by a shared mission: to help learners build workforce-relevant skills, earn degrees that align with their goals, and create clear, lasting pathways to upward mobility. Reporting to a Vice President of Academic Delivery and serving on the Academic Delivery, school, and university leadership teams, you will be a highly influential executive leader driving academic excellence, operational efficiency, and student success. You’ll oversee the hiring, development, and performance of a high-performing learning delivery team, ensuring personalized support at scale while maintaining a sharp focus on WGU’s key results of completion, return for graduates, and equity. Ever vigilant to cost, quality, and culture, you’ll use data to guide decision-making, foster innovation, and cultivate a diverse, psychologically safe workplace where faculty thrive, and students succeed. WGU is looking for leadership in the following areas: General Education (evaluation focus) School of Business (evaluation focus and instruction focus) School of Technology (evaluation focus and instruction focus) Leavitt School of Health (evaluation focus) School of Education (evaluation focus)

Requirements

Master’s degree required; doctorate preferred.
8+ years of progressive leadership
Proven track record leading teams with measurable improvement in student or institutional outcomes.
Demonstrated ability to lead through others, manage budgets, and make data-informed decisions.

Nice To Haves

Experience or familiarity with the domain is a plus.

Responsibilities

Deliver measurable student success. Drive gains in WGU’s key results. Completion, Return for Graduates, and Equity by aligning instructional and evaluation practices to ensure students are both supported and challenged to demonstrate true competency.
Build and develop high-performing teams. Hire, coach, and grow exceptional people leaders, faculty, and staff who embody WGU’s mission. Create a culture of accountability, belonging, and continuous learning.
Drive operational excellence at scale. Manage resources wisely. Build systems that enable sustainable growth while improving student experience and reducing unit costs.
Use data to drive better decisions. Turn insights into action. Rely on data to identify opportunities, remove barriers, and continuously improve instruction, assessment, and learner outcomes.
Advance innovation in teaching, learning, and evaluation. Partner across the university to pilot and scale new instructional models, evaluation methods, and technologies that enhance student mastery and engagement.
Champion WGU’s mission and culture. Lead with empathy and integrity. Model WGU’s values and help create a psychologically safe, inclusive environment where faculty and staff can thrive.
Translate academic strategy into operational execution within your domain/school and across Academic Delivery.
Lead people managers responsible for instruction or evaluation functions.
Partner with deans, program leads, and assessment designers to ensure alignment between the master curriculum, teaching and evaluation, through course resources and playbooks, calibration, and performance management.
Establish and advance clear success metrics for high-quality student service across academic delivery.
Manage and optimize budgets, staffing models, and workload distribution, including rapid adoption of new technologies
Ensure quality, compliance, and innovation across courses and programs.
Represent your domain/school in university-wide forums on academic delivery, culture, and student outcomes.
Establish your leadership presence and empower your team. Clarify your vision for academic delivery within your school/domain and function, and communicate it consistently and purposefully.
Build trust quickly, align your leaders around shared goals, and create an environment where faculty feel seen, supported, and motivated to innovate for students.
Plan and execute annual faculty summit. Collaborate with school/domain and event teams to create an annual faculty conference to foster collaboration, enhance engagement, and align academic strategies. Ensure actionable outcomes focused on improving course quality, student success, and faculty development through data-informed discussions and the sharing of best practices.
Lead a smart, strategic budget process. Drive the Fiscal Year budget planning process from start to finish. Translate institutional priorities into actionable financial plans that balance student impact with operational efficiency, ensuring every dollar advances learning, equity, and completion.
Launch the next generation of the student experience. Lead the rollout of Future Ready AI tools that help students navigate their learning journey with more clarity and connection. Partner with technology, operations, and other academic teams to design for modern learning. You will implement a plan to leverage AI to simplify processes, personalize support, and foster a culture that is both tech-enabled and human-focused, ultimately driving student success.
Move the needle on student success. Set ambitious, data-backed targets to improve key success metrics such as completion rates, time-to-competency, and student satisfaction. Align your team’s daily actions to these outcomes and celebrate early wins that show measurable progress.
Increase student retention through meaningful connections. Implement practical, evidence-based strategies to improve course completion rates and student success by improving the quality and timing of support. Leverage systems that identify when learners need help and ensure faculty and staff can respond quickly and personally.