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 certification, such as SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or comparable advanced certification.

Applicants must submit a cover letter.

Department / School

Wharton School

Pay Range

$135,327.00 - $186,000.00 Annual Rate

Salary offers are made based on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, and in alignment with salary ranges based on external market data for the job’s level. Internal organization and peer data at Penn are also considered.

Equal Opportunity Statement 

The University of Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin (including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics), citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any class protected under applicable federal, state or local law.

Special Requirements 
Background checks may be required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.

University Benefits

• Health, Life, and Flexible Spending Accounts: Penn offers comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits to protect you and your family’s health and welfare. You can also use flexible spending accounts to pay for eligible health care and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars.

• Tuition: Take advantage of Penn's exceptional tuition benefits. You, your spouse, and your dependent children can get tuition assistance here at Penn. Your dependent children are also eligible for tuition assistance at other institutions.

• Retirement: Penn offers generous retirement plans to help you save for your future. Penn’s Basic, Matching, and Supplemental retirement plans allow you to save for retirement on a pre-tax or Roth basis. Choose from a wide variety of investment options through TIAA and Vanguard.

• Time Away from Work: Penn provides you with a substantial amount of time away from work during the course of the year. This allows you to relax, take vacations, attend to personal affairs, recover from illness or injury, spend time with family—whatever your personal needs may be.

• Long-Term Care Insurance: In partnership with Genworth Financial, Penn offers faculty and staff (and your eligible family members) long-term care insurance to help you cover some of the costs of long-term care services received at home, in the community or in a nursing facility. If you apply when you’re newly hired, you won’t have to provide proof of good health or be subject to underwriting requirements. Eligible family members must always provide proof of good health and are subject to underwriting.

• Wellness and Work-life Resources: Penn is committed to supporting our faculty and staff as they balance the competing demands of work and personal life. That’s why we offer a wide variety of programs and resources to help you care for your health, your family, and your work-life balance.

• Professional and Personal Development: Penn provides an array of resources to help you advance yourself personally and professionally.

• University Resources: As a member of the Penn community, you have access to a wide range of University resources as well as cultural and recreational activities. Take advantage of the University’s libraries and athletic facilities, or visit our arboretum and art galleries. There’s always something going on at Penn, whether it’s a new exhibit at the Penn Museum, the latest music or theater presentation at the Annenberg Center, or the Penn Relays at Franklin Field to name just a few examples. As a member of the Penn community, you’re right in the middle of the excitement—and you and your family can enjoy many of these activities for free.

• Discounts and Special Services: From arts and entertainment to transportation and mortgages, you'll find great deals for University faculty and staff. Not only do Penn arts and cultural centers and museums offer free and discounted admission and memberships to faculty and staff. You can also enjoy substantial savings on other goods and services such as new cars from Ford and General Motors, cellular phone service plans, movie tickets, and admission to theme parks.

• Flexible Work Hours: Flexible work options offer creative approaches for completing work while promoting balance between work and personal commitments. These approaches involve use of non-traditional work hours, locations, and/or job structures.

• Penn Home Ownership Services: Penn offers a forgivable loan for eligible employees interested in buying a home or currently residing in West Philadelphia, which can be used for closing costs or home improvements.

• Adoption Assistance: Penn will reimburse eligible employees on qualified expenses in connection with the legal adoption of an eligible child, such as travel or court fees, for up to two adoptions in your household.

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To learn more, please visit: https://www.hr.upenn.edu/PennHR/benefits-pay