Senior Director, Healthcare Partnerships

Western Governors University•Salt Lake, UT

16d•$163,200 - $293,800

About The Position

The Senior Director of Healthcare Partnerships is a senior executive with responsibility for leading and executing healthcare partnership strategy on behalf of WGU and the Leavitt School of Health. The Senior Director of Healthcare Partnerships is responsible for seeking out and developing new business opportunities and strategic partnerships that deliver optimal value for healthcare employers, the Leavitt School of Health, its students and graduates. The Senior Director works closely with other senior leaders from the Leavitt School of Health Regional Operations, Marketing, Regional Operations, Admissions, Government Relations, and Enrollment teams to drive the reputation of the WGU brand with healthcare partner and prospective partner organizations, government entities, academic institutions, and other audiences, leading to new student enrollment, degree attainment, and placement opportunities across WGU’s Leavitt School of Heath and other academic colleges as well as influencing the landscape of higher education to make it a more accessible, equitable, and outcome-based option for working learners. In addition, this role serves as an executive lead for the ReNEW Fund, WGU’s national “earn-and-learn” initiative that integrates employer sponsorship, student financing, and academic progression to expand access to nursing education and clinical capacity. The Senior Director drives ReNEW’s employer partnership strategy across multiple markets and employer systems, ensuring alignment between the Leavitt School of Health, Strategic Partnerships, Advancement, and the Office of the President. This includes stewarding large-scale employer participation, informing fund utilization, and ensuring ReNEW delivers measurable workforce outcomes that strengthen nursing pipelines nationwide. The Senior Director also provides strategic leadership and executive oversight for WGU’s clinical partnership acquisition function, ensuring that clinical site development, placement capacity, accreditation-aligned experiences, and partner relationship management are effectively aligned to student progression and programmatic growth across relevant academic programs. This includes guiding the work of business development teams responsible for sourcing, securing, and sustaining clinical site partnerships in support of equitable, scalable field learning opportunities.

Requirements

A strategic thinker around talent development solutions and improving the upskilling and advancement rate of employees within healthcare organizations.
Demonstrated expertise to develop and achieve cross-functional strategic plans, key objectives, and measurable KPIs.
Deals with others in a considerate, respectful, and unbiased manner; approaches conflict proactively; solicits and shares feedback openly; listens with empathy and maintains composure.
Draws on factual information garnered from careful cultivation of a broad knowledge of WGU’s goals and processes; investigates beyond assumptions.
Course corrects behavior and communication style to meet the needs of a wide range of situations; tackles obstacles appropriately; is comfortable with ambiguity.
Accountable to others; does what it takes to get the job done; actions are consistent with words; follows through on commitments; exhibits exceptional integrity.
Displays commitment to the organization and to personal growth; self-motivated and able to motivate and inspire others; asserts self appropriately to champion ideas; tells the truth in a direct and constructive manner.
Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%
Bachelor’s degree
15 years of working within or adjacent to the healthcare industry, with 10 years in a leadership role
Have established significant partner relationships with healthcare institutions across the United States
Experience in lieu of education Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager.

Nice To Haves

Deep knowledge and understanding of the Higher Education industry and other domains across the University
Bachelor’s, graduate degree, or clinical experience related to healthcare management, administration, policy, or direct patient care.

Responsibilities

Inspire and develop a team of 20+ professionals across WGU’s Leavitt School of Health and Regional Operations to identify, secure, and cultivate strategic partnerships with large healthcare organizations.
Establishes forecasts and ongoing measurements to assure that matriculate, completion, and, where appropriate, placement goals are met.
In partnership with regional executives, lead and maintain staffing plans, development, motivation, and ongoing management of such staff including monthly, quarterly, and annual reviews; new hire training; ongoing observations; turnover prevention via training and support provided.
Coordinate planning for annual budget in collaboration with senior Marketing Communications and Outreach leadership to execute critical B2B2C initiatives and achieve University growth and cost efficiency targets, including specific audience, geographic market, and academic program goals.
At the direction of and in partnership with the Leavitt School of Health, execute strategy for externally facing healthcare networking events, including multiple national-level conferences per year.
Establish objective annual goals and drive a performance-oriented culture of individual accountability, particularly related to the achievement of Key Performance Indicators.
Contribute to establishment and dissemination of brand and messaging frameworks that define positioning, attributes, and proof points that communicate powerfully with WGU’s healthcare audiences.
Build relationships of trust and collaboration across and within the Leavitt School of Health and the Outreach team (Regional Operations, Strategic Partnerships, Marketing Communications, Government Relations, etc.) and with cross-university partners, including WGU executives, SVPs, and Communications professionals of all levels across: Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Academic Colleges, WGU Academy, Shared Services (EdTech, Military Support, Advancement, etc.), and myriad other departments.
Provide executive oversight, strategic direction, and partnership alignment for clinical site development and placement functions, ensuring that clinical capacity supports enrollment growth, accreditation standards, field experience quality, and the long-term scalability of nursing and behavioral health programs.
Ensure that clinical slots are acquired and aligned with forecasted student volume, placement sequencing, accreditation requirements, and state regulatory expectations.
Weekly collaboration in predictable and renewable clinical scheduling cadences that prevent bottlenecks in student progression.
Incorporate business intelligence from clinical partners—including site availability trends, regulatory shifts, and employer workforce needs—into clinical and academic strategy recommendations.
Provide executive leadership for proactive identification and escalation of risks that may disrupt student placement, and guide corrective action planning across CLPS and academic partners.
Ensure disciplined tracking and real-time accuracy of partnership commitments and onboarding cycles in Salesforce and other systems.
Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Benefits

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
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