Academic Portfolio Products Manager

Company: Western Governors University
Location: Salt Lake City
Posted on: October 23, 2024

Job Description:

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 Academic Portfolio Products oversees the university's academic portfolio product offerings, with a primary focus on creating and implementing best practices, standards, and strategies for a unified approach to the University's Academic Portfolio. This role is dedicated to collaborating across multiple organizations to design and execute standardized best practices that not only enhance market-aligned program offerings across the university but also significantly improve student return on intended outcomes. The role also drives innovation in academic investments and resource allocation and is instrumental in developing and applying standardized approaches that enhance consistency and quality across all academic offerings.Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Develops and executes a comprehensive strategy for standardizing academic portfolio management practices across the university, fostering a unified approach to the health and maintenance of the Academic Portfolio. Collaborates with stakeholders from various schools to ensure the strategy aligns with diverse needs and goals. Creates and maintains a review process for implementing best practices and standards.
• Conducts product research and collaborates with Portfolio Strategy and Institutional Research teams to develop and execute change management practices that improve unified portfolio prioritization, portfolio maintenance, and process enhancement across WGU.
• Provides thought leadership and recommends innovations in learning products, learning design, and delivery based on data analysis and learning science. Partners cross-functionally for the timely execution of new products, processes, and procedures that support the growth of the school
• Collaborates with external and internal stakeholders across organizations to design and execute program offerings that enhance intended outcomes and are workforce and skill-aligned. Creates research-based benchmarks aligned with industry and workforce needs in academic product management.
• Develops a set of university-wide standards for academic product development, maintenance, and assessment. Establishes and maintains a centralized repository of best practices, standards, and strategies to ensure consistency in approach across all schools and departments.
• Builds relationships with key stakeholders across all schools and departments to promote and implement unified strategies and best practices. Facilitates cross-functional collaboration to ensure buy-in and adoption of new standards. Develops and implements change management strategies to support the transition to centralized practices
• Designs and delivers training programs on best practices for active portfolio maintenance and standards for faculty, staff, and administrators. Provides ongoing oversight and monitoring of the health and performance of active programs across the One WGU Portfolio. Creates and maintains documentation, including playbooks and templates.
• Establishes metrics and KPIs to measure the effectiveness of standardized practices and their contribution to a unified University Academic Portfolio. Regularly assesses and reports on the impact of implemented standards. Continuously refines and updates best practices based on feedback and emerging trends.
• Evaluates and recommends management tools and business intelligence technologies to support standardized academic product management processes. Oversees the implementation and adoption of selected tools across the university
• Maintains professional knowledge of innovative and current practices in the areas of learning science, competency-based education, and online learning through analysis of research and participation in conferences
• Represents Academic Programs/Product to external and internal stakeholders at all levels
• Performs other related duties as assigned.Knowledge, Skill and Abilities:
  • Ability to build relationships and influence at all levels, both internally and externally
  • Proven ability to analyze data to identify trends and drive innovation
  • Ability to organize, coordinate, and direct team activities and results
  • Ability to coach, direct and develop direct reports
  • Sound judgment and decision-making skills
  • Ability to be an agent of change in a rapidly changing environment
  • Strong organizational and demonstrated communication and research skills
  • Excellent organizational and project management skills, including the ability to effectively handle multiple tasks and pay attention to detail
  • Requires composure under pressure, dealing with ambiguity and comfort working closely with executive leadership.Job Qualifications:Minimum Qualifications:
    • Master's degree in related field or disciple disciplines including but not limited to Business Administration, Educational Leadership, and Organizational Development.
    • 5 years of Product and Portfolio management experiencePreferred Qualifications:
      • Experience in developing and implementing university-wide academic standards and best practices.
      • 5 years leading and managing people, teams, and projects
      • Experience with workforce education and online education
      • Experience performing data collection, analysis, and presentation
      • Experience in instructional design, curriculum development, and educational technology
      • Experience in relationship management across a range of internal and external partnersPhysical Requirements:
        • Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
        • Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.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: Pay Range: $97,100.00 - $145,600.00WGU will accept applications for this position until 12:00 AM ET, 10/25/2024How to apply: apply onlineFull-time Regular Positions(FT classification, standard working hours = 40)This is a full-time, regular position that is 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; and 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.The University is an equal opportunity employer.All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

Keywords: Western Governors University, Layton , Academic Portfolio Products Manager, Executive , Salt Lake City, Utah