Senior Director, Wharton Human Resources & People Operations
University Overview
The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn’s distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America’s Best Large Employers in 2023.
Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.
The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.
Posted Job Title
Senior Director, Wharton Human Resources & People Operations
Job Profile Title
Director D, Human Resources, School/ Center
Job Description Summary
Wharton School Overview
Founded in 1881 as the world’s first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With campuses in both Philadelphia and San Francisco, Wharton has over 850 staff, a faculty population of more than 235 renowned professors, and 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 13,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education’s individual, company-customized, and online programs. More than 104,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day. Wharton is home to a dynamic community of staff, bringing a wide range of skills, experiences, and perspectives. To learn more, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.
Job Description
The Senior Director of Wharton Human Resources & People Operations is a key leadership role responsible for driving strategic human resources and talent management initiatives within the Wharton School. They play a key role in shaping HR strategies that align with the organization's vision and values while fostering a positive and high-performing work environment. Responsibilities include overseeing the optimization and digital transformation of talent acquisition, performance management, employee relations, compliance, and employee development. As a key thought partner for senior leadership, this role is responsible for taking a holistic view of the School's objectives and bridging the gap between workforce challenges and solutions.
As a dynamic and influential leader, the Senior Director plays a pivotal role in creating a thriving organizational culture that advances the strategic mission of the Wharton School. They spearhead the transformation of traditional HR services, such as recruitment, comprehensive training programs, and performance management systems, to innovate and drive excellence and employee well-being.
This role will actively contribute to and participate in HR initiatives that extend beyond their immediate school environment, directly engaging with Core HR. Involvement will include participation in committees, working groups, and task forces focused on enhancing organizational effectiveness and driving HR initiatives at the University. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to engage in cross-school collaborations to disseminate best practices and realize strategic objectives.
Responsibilities
Strategy & Leadership: Craft and execute advanced, progressive HR strategies supportive of the Wharton School’s leadership objectives and drive culture. Transition the school HR function from being process-oriented to adopting an end-to-end tactical and strategic mindset, introducing proactive and holistic strategies to support the employee lifecycle and organizational optimization.
Oversee the HR needs of Wharton's extensions, including San Francisco and any global engagements. Ensure compliance with regional employment regulations and institute global best practices that recognize and address local nuances.
Nurture cross-organizational partnerships, collaboratively working to propel both the school and broader university toward achieving their mission-critical objectives.
Play a pivotal role in Core HR initiatives, including committees, task forces, and cross-school collaborations aimed at advancing organizational effectiveness and HR innovation. Serve as a mentor within the HR community at Penn.
Talent Management: Spearhead & optimize the school’s ability to recruit, develop, and retain top talent to advance strategic objectives. Innovate onboarding practices to ensure seamless integration of new talent. Develop proactive solutions for talent pipelines and recruitment optimization. Employ data analytics to anticipate turnover trends and implement strategies to address them. Oversee staff compensation-related matters, including setting competitive salaries, counteroffers, reclassifications, salary adjustments, additional pay, and bonuses.
Employee Relations & Engagement: Adopt a data-driven and people-centered approach to address intricate employee relations concerns, encompassing investigations, reorganizations, conflict resolution, and disciplinary processes. Implement analytics to analyze trends in employee relations challenges and craft proactive interventions. Provide thought partnership, coaching, and guidance to managers and leaders on a wide range of employee topics.
Operational Excellence: Establish an innovative, technology-enabled HR and people operations function, leveraging automation and AI to optimize processes. Design, implement, and utilize people analytics to understand targets of opportunity, trends, and proactive approaches. Leverage technology to foster greater clarity around HR policies and practices. Stay abreast of the latest trends in HR and People Analytics to ensure Wharton remains a pioneer in employee-centric innovation. Infuse workplace practices with insights from Wharton research to fortify our brand, ensuring internal experiences resonate with our external promotion of premier business school research.
Wharton HR team Management: Lead and empower a team of HR professionals, fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation. Design opportunities for their skill augmentation and professional growth, supported by regular, insightful feedback & coaching.
Workforce Development & Learning
Design, facilitate, and/or organize a comprehensive suite of professional development opportunities for employees to nurture both personal and professional growth.
Job Location - City, State
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Required Qualifications
-A master's degree and 10+ years of related experience are required, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Significant HR leadership experience, including responsibility for developing and executing human resources and people strategies in a large, complex organization.
- Demonstrated expertise across multiple HR disciplines, including employee relations, talent management, organizational development, performance management, compensation, workforce planning, and employee engagement.
- Substantial experience advising and coaching senior leaders on complex and sensitive workforce, organizational, and employee relations matters, including investigations, conflict resolution, performance concerns, reorganizations, and organizational change.
- Demonstrated experience translating organizational priorities into practical people strategies, programs, and solutions, with the judgment to balance employee, leadership, operational, and institutional considerations.
- Proven ability to lead, develop, and empower a team of HR professionals, including setting direction, establishing accountability, coaching for performance, and building team capability.
- Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change and improve HR practices, processes, or service delivery through innovative and employee-centered approaches.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, including experience using workforce data, metrics, and other insights to identify trends, inform decisions, and develop proactive solutions.
- Exceptional interpersonal, communication, consultation, and influencing skills, with demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships and navigate effectively across multiple levels and stakeholder groups.
- Demonstrated discretion, sound judgment, and ability to manage highly sensitive and confidential matters in a complex organizational environment.
Experience serving as a strategic HR advisor to executive or senior leadership teams and contributing to organization-wide workforce and business decisions.
Preferred Qualifications
- Senior HR leadership experience within higher education, a large decentralized institution, or another complex, mission-driven organization.
- Experience leveraging HR technology, automation, artificial intelligence, and/or people analytics to improve HR operations, employee experience, and organizational decision-making.
- Experience operating effectively within a highly matrixed or decentralized environment requiring collaboration across multiple schools, divisions, functions, or locations.
- HR professional...