Senior Director, Healthcare Partnerships

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.

Current WGU employees should submit an internal application before 6/14/2024 to be considered.

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.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Inspire and develop a team of 7+ professionals across WGU’s 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.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities:

• 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 behaviour and communication style to meet the needs of a wide range of si