Posted:
3/16/2025, 5:00:00 PM
Location(s):
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States ⋅ Utah, United States
Experience Level(s):
Senior
Field(s):
Business & Strategy
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:
Job Description
Job Summary
The Director of work-based Pathways, leads the vision and execution of new work-based learning pathways across the Leavitt School of Health. Reporting to the Vice President and Dean of the Leavitt School of Health, the ideal candidate has an innovative mindset and a demonstrated ability to think creatively to initiate and execute new ideas. Establishes the strategic direction and key performance indicators for the development, launch, and scaling of work-based pathways within the Leavitt School of Health.
Primary responsibility is building partnerships between employers and the school role requires close collaboration with academic leadership and program/product development teams to ensure the school’s work-based pathways, including apprenticeships and apprenticeship degree programs, are designed to meet both student and employer needs, and that programs are effectively scaled to provide maximum impact across diverse student populations.
Job Description
Responsible for leading and scaling WGU’s work-based learning pathways initiative in alignment with the university’s mission and goals. Must demonstrate expertise in innovation and developing work-based learning and apprenticeship programs. Collaborates with Leavitt School of Health to create and refine pathways that directly address workforce gaps across the United States.
Ensuring the pathways developed meet the skill needs while also, providing students with meaningful, credit-worthy, and career-relevant work experiences. This role is crucial in bridging curriculum and assessment design between academic leaders and workforce partners, shaping the future of work-based education at WGU.
Vision and Strategy:
The Director establishes and drives the vision and long-term strategy for the Leavitt School of Health in collaboration with school SVPs, program development and strategic partnerships, and other teams. This includes conducting portfolio reviews in partnership with the school and leading market analysis to identify opportunities where work-based pathways align with workforce demands and address skill and opportunity gaps.
Key results include:
Development and launch of new, scalable work-based pathways in existing and new domains in WGU’s academic portfolio (e.g. apprenticeships degrees, apprenticeships). Oversee curriculum and assessment development for work-based pathways, ensuring they meet the needs of students, and employers, and adhere to the academic integrity of WGU. Alignment of academic programs with employer demands to address workforce skills gaps. Significant expansion of access to work-based learning pathways for underrepresented and low-income students.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities:
Development and Scale: Lead the creation and scaling of work-based pathways and learning across Leavitt School of Health. Student Success: Build work-based pathways that meet student needs and deliver a strong ROI. Program Development: Oversee curriculum and assessment development for work-based pathways, ensuring they meet the needs of students and employers, and adhere to the academic integrity of WGU for the Leavitt School of Health. Management: Build and lead a team of domain experts to support work-based pathway . Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with school SVPs, academic program directors. Thought Leadership: Serve as a thought leader in work-based learning and pathways, representing WGU in national forums and driving forward the conversation on work-based education. Regulatory and Compliance: Knowledge and understanding of regulatory requirements for RTIs, employers, RAPs and workforce boards, as well as associated funding opportunities
Other Duties: Performs other related duties/responsibilities as deemed necessary in the effective performance of this role or as directed by executive leaders, stakeholders and employers.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Minimum Qualifications
Education:
Masters degree in Business Administration, Education, Workforce Development, Human Resources, Health Care, or a related field is required.
A combination of education and relevant work experience in designing and implementing work-based learning or apprenticeship programs may also be considered in lieu of an advanced degree.
Experience:
10 years of progressive leadership experience in higher education, work-based learning, workforce development, apprenticeship program management, or a related field. Experience in designing, launching, and scaling work-based pathways, apprenticeships, or similar workforce-aligned educational programs.
Disclaimer: This Job Description has been designed to indicate the general nature, essential duties, and responsibilities of work performed by employees within this classification. It does not contain a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications that are required of the employee to do this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. This Job Description does not constitute a contract of employment and the University may exercise its employment-at-will rights at any time.
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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 recruiting@wgu.edu.
Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.
Website: https://www.wgu.edu/
Headquarter Location: South Salt Lake, Utah, United States
Employee Count: 11-50
Year Founded: 1996