Manager, Strategic Operations

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.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Job Description

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Drives operational excellence and efficiencies by leading a team of professionals responsible for leveraging systems and 'design-thinking' approaches that improve the quality and program experiences for students and faculty.
• Takes the lead to drive process improvements through root causes analysis and change management plans to reach maximum efficiency.
• Responsible to build cross-functional teams that drive innovation and improvements through and by collaboration, presenting business cases to stakeholders, and operationalizing all necessary phases for successful change management.
• Responsible for applying learning science techniques through pilot programs, specialty taskforces, analyzing data to extract root causes to optimize and develop ongoing strategic innovations.
• Demonstrated ability to work across organizational eco systems to build consensus and consider the needs and interests of various stakeholders contributing to a diverse team across the college and institution.

• Responsible to provide feedback, coach, mentor and develop direct reports accountablefor assignedprojects and performance expectations.
• Create a positive impact on peers and associates to create a change centric environment while staying focused on student and employee satisfaction.

• Manage and prioritize complex projects that span numerous organizational functions and have non-linear dependencies.
• Focus on the entire arc of the student's experience from prospect to alumni -- to ensure that the students and faculty friction points are understood, and programs are delivered as seamlessly as possible to ensure the greatest opportunity for student and faculty success.
• Must demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills, solid organizational skills, and sound judgment to move projects forward and increase efficiency
• Other duties may be assigned as the position and business needs evolve.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities:

• Ability to think strategically and tactically with a strong bias for execution
• Ability to lead, build and coach high performing teams within a business and ensure projects, initiatives, or other work functions are performed successfully
• Demonstrated ability to contribute to and thrive in a collaborative environment and apply a positive team approach to working with colleagues
• Possess strong oral and written communication skills, solid organizational skills, and sound judgment to move projects forward and increase efficiency
• Ability to increase employee engagement, support a positive environment and help remove obstacles for team members
• Knowledge of continuous improvement methodologies
• Ability to apply change management practices to both projects and people
• Aptitude to manage and navigate decisions despite ambiguity
• Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative data analysis
• Ability to market and promote new programs and initiatives focused on Competency-Based Education.
• Highly knowledgeable in best practices, literature, and research on the needs of students at post-secondary institutions and have a strong understanding of the unique needs of WGU students, including graduate and undergraduate students

Competencies:

Organizational Impact:

• Responsible forimplementing initiativesand projects establishedby university ordepartment leadership;establishes operationalplans for department,function, or office withshort-term impact onresults.
• May deliver input intonew processes,standards, or plans thatimpact overall university ordepartment results.

Problem Solving & Decision Making:

• Leverages system and design-thinking approaches that improve department processes and systems using significant conceptualizing, reasoning, and interpretational judgement.
• Problems and issuesfaced are numerous,difficult, and requiredetailed informationgathering and analysis.Typically affectmultiple areas orspecialties. Problemsand issues span a wide range ofchallenging and uniquesituations.

Communication & Influence:

• Collaborates cross-functionally with partieswithin and outside ofthe department and mayoccasionallycommunicate withexternal parties.
• May influence others toaccept the job area'sviews, practices,concepts, andapproaches and conduct briefings withleaders within theUniversity ordepartment.

Leadership & Talent Management

• Responsible formanaging a team of professionals overseeing college level initiatives by providing guidance,coaching, and training toother employees and stakeholders impacting their work.
• Ensures proper training of team members and actively participates in hiring, firing, and promotion decisions.
• Provides direction and conducts performance reviews of direct reports.
• Demonstrates the WGUleadership principles inall aspects of service tostudents, employees, andpartners of WGU.
• Primarily achieves goals through leading a team of professionals

Job Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• 7+ years of related experience with a bachelor's degree, or 4+ years and a master's degree, or a Doctorate or Terminal degree with 2+ years of experience.
• 3+ years leading direct reports.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience successfully applying techniques for project and change management a plus.
• Experience developing, delivering, and evaluating strategies at post-secondary institutions.
• Experience with successful collaboration across multiple departments and proven ability to produce results to operational improvements that impact the student experience.
• Program/project and change management experience are valuable assets.

Position & Application Details

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It's not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.