Lead Academic Program Manager (Undergraduate Educator Programs)

Western Governors University•Salt Lake City, UT

4d•Onsite

About The Position

This role is for a Lead Academic Program Manager of academic programs in Undergraduate Educator Programs. The individual will be the overall end-to-end owner of the program throughout its entire lifecycle. This includes pre-definition research (market-segment selection, targeted skills, market demand for graduates, student demand, competitive analysis, portfolio strategy, pricing, program requirements, and program level P&L), building and launching the program by working with academic program directors and subject matter experts to define curriculum and working with the program development team to build and launch the program (with quality, on-time, and in budget), and tracking post-launch adoption by working with marketing and partnership teams to drive student adoption, monitoring student success within the program, working with stakeholders to make ongoing adjustments to improve student success and market relevance, and managing the program-level P&L. Success will be measured by planning, building, delivering, and scaling profitable programs that cater to underserved student populations with high retention and ROI for students. The position reports to the Associate Dean and Academic Program Director and/or the Vice President, Dean of the department.

Requirements

Master's degree in education or a related are from an accredited institution.
4+ years of related experience to include a combination of: program P&L responsibility, able to effectively plan and operate degree-granting educational programs with the goal of driving student outcomes, student satisfaction, and profitability.
Minimum of 3 years’ experience in K-12 system in a leadership role.
Minimum of 3 years’ experience in K-12 system teaching in core subject areas (Math, Science, Social Studies, etc.).
Strong analytical skills and experience with accreditation.
In lieu of a master’s degree a bachelor's degree + 7 years relevant experience may be considered if candidates possess the necessary skills and knowledge required for the position.
Deep understanding of how students learn and combining innovative curriculum and student support strategies to drive student success
Customer or 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, local student needs, 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 25+ people including other academic program and department 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 lead 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

Nice To Haves

Doctorate degree in education or a relevant area from an accredited institution
Experience in higher education
Experience in developing online education programs and/or developing and scaling rapidly changing organizations/programs
Experience in developing curriculum and/or high-stakes assessments
Demonstrated success in change management, and bringing order and structure to complex situations

Responsibilities

P&L ownership experience with managing over Undergraduate Educator Programs
Drive a culture of continuous experimentation, measurement, and learning from data to rapidly improve the quality and delivery to students
Strong people leader to indirectly lead a diverse team of 25+ people including academic program leaders, 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 accomplishing objectives 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.
Performs other related duties as assigned.