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.

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:

Grade: Management_Executive 612

Pay Range: $163,200.00 - $293,800.00

Responsibilities

Job Description

Primary Responsibilities

• Inspire and develop a team of 20+ professionals across WGU’s Leavitt School of Health and 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.
• Provide executive oversight, strategic direction, and partnership alignment for clinical site development and placement functions, ensuring that clinical capacity supports enrollment growth, accreditation standards, field experience quality, and the long-term scalability of nursing and behavioral health programs.
• Ensure that clinical slots are acquired and aligned with forecasted student volume, placement sequencing, accreditation requirements, and state regulatory expectations.
• Weekly collaboration in predictable and renewable clinical scheduling cadences that prevent bottlenecks in student progression. Incorporate business intelligence from clinical partners—including site availability trends, regulatory shifts, and employer workforce needs—into clinical and academic strategy recommendations.
• Provide executive leadership for proactive identification and escalation of risks that may disrupt student placement, and guide corrective action planning across CLPS and academic partners.
• Ensure disciplined tracking and real-time accuracy of partnership commitments and onboarding cycles in Salesforce and other systems.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

This job description includes a general representation of job requirements rather than a comprehensive inventory of all required responsibilities or work activities. The contents of this document or related job requirements may change at any time with or without notice.

Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills, 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 behavior and communication style to meet the needs of a wide range of situations; tackles obstacles appropriately; is comfortable with ambiguity.
• Accountable to others; does what it takes to get the job done; actions are consistent with words; follows through on commitments; exhibits exceptional integrity.
• Displays commitment to the organization and to personal growth; self-motivated and able to motivate and inspire others; asserts self appropriately to champion ideas; tells the truth in a direct and constructive manner.
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%

Education

• Bachelor’s degree

Experience

• 15 years of working within or adjacent to the healthcare industry, with 10 years in a leadership role
• Have established significant partner relationships with healthcare institutions across the United States

Experience In Lieu Of Education

Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager.

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep knowledge and understanding of the Higher Education industry and other domains across the University
• Bachelor’s, graduate degree, or clinical experience related to healthcare management, administration, policy, or direct patient care.

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) 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.

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 [email protected].

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