Associate Director

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

Associate Director, Founder Resources, Venture Lab, Wharton School

Job Profile Title

Associate Director C, Student Services, Academic Programs

Job Description Summary

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 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 worldwide 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 staff population representing a rich array of backgrounds, expertise, and cultures. To learn more, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.

The Associate Director provides leadership and management for Venture Lab’s resources for student founders at the University of Pennsylvania, including the mentoring initiative, the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) program, Venture Initiation Program (VIP) instructors, and VIP’s communities of practice. This work will connect Penn student founders to our alumni leaders and experts to receive practical instruction, advice, mentoring, and networking support.

Job Description

Reporting to the Senior Director of Venture Lab, the Associate Director will:

• Lead the mentoring initiative, providing select VIP student founders with additional support from alumni mentors based on industry and/or functional expertise.  This includes developing the initiative strategy, developing the scale-up plan, and managing all aspects of implementation including selecting student mentees, cultivating a pool of alumni mentors, making mentor-mentee matches, ensuring that mentor-mentees develop and complete an effective mentoring plan.
• Lead Venture Lab’s EIR program, which engages experienced alumni entrepreneurs to mentor and assist VIP students. This involves building out the program strategy, gathering lessons learned from pilot year, incorporating student and alumni feedback, and scaling up.  Manage all aspects of implementation including alumni engagement letters, travel and honorarium budget, EIR workshop schedule and office hours, and collaboration with the Venture Lab marketing team to promote these opportunities.
• Lead the VIP communities of practice, including but not limited to those for undergraduates, social entrepreneurship, med-health, and analytics. Partner with the Venture Lab student board and other Penn groups to plan and run thematic, networking, and  community building activities. Manage founder group coaching and other instructor-led workshops, including planning with the Senior Director, scheduling, student enrollment and tracking, and coordination with other VL teams. Plan and manage budget.
• Prepare management reports and presentations for Venture Lab leadership to deliver.  Develop performance measurement plan.  Collect and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs).  Support Salesforce data entry and management.  Collaborate with Wharton External Affairs to create donor stewardship reports.  Create impact reports and use feedback from Venture Lab and Wharton senior leadership to identify and execute approved improvements. Support other time-sensitive reporting as needed.

The position requires frequent interaction with seasoned, accomplished alumni entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other professionals engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation careers, including significant donors. The position is also responsible for cultivating an open rapport and a professional, supportive educational approach with undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs and innovators from all disciplines across the University of Pennsylvania.  The position requires excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills; strong collaboration and team building skills; a forward-thinking mindset; and demonstrated creativity, problem solving, critical analysis, initiative, judgment, and decision-making skills. 

This position is based in Philadelphia.  After successful completion of the introductory period, this position is hybrid eligible with some weeks requiring more in-person work as needed.  While the schedule is generally business hours, the Associate Director must be able to work early mornings/evenings/weekends and to travel as needed. Position is contingent on funding. Please submit a cover letter and resume to be considered for the position.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree and minimum 3-5 years of professional experience related to entrepreneurship and innovation. Masters Degree a plus.
• Demonstrated experience with program management, developing dashboards and frameworks for business and programs.
• Demonstrated ability to establish priorities, manage shifting priorities, and handle numerous time-sensitive projects with multiple deadlines.
• Demonstrated forward-thinking mindset and creativity, problem solving, critical analysis, initiative, judgment, and decision-making skills. 
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience managing budgets, creating detailed project work plans, and managing complex projects with cross-functional and cross-organizational teams.
• Demonstrated ability to function both independently and as part of a team. Excellent collaboration and team building skills.
• Ability to interact effectively and comfortably with diverse group of students, senior executives/professionals, and staff with demonstrated ability to cultivate and manage relationships professionally and with good judgment with a variety of stakeholders. Must have a high degree of professionalism.
• The successful candidate will be adept with technology: Must possess skill in Google software applications (Docs, Sheets, Slides) as well as the Microsoft Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook); Experience with cloud-based tools such as Beautiful.ai, Monday.com, and Typeform; email marketing tools such as ActiveCampaign; and additional tools such as Qualtrics, SurveyMonkeyApply; Experience with Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat a plus.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

Wharton School

Pay Range

$66,000.00 - $75,000.00 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 protectedunder 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