Technical Director, Wharton Instructional Technology & Content

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

Technical Director, Wharton Instructional Technology \& Content

Job Profile Title

Information Technology Technical Director

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.

The IT Technical Director for Wharton will lead instructional technology efforts under Wharton Computing's IDEA Courseware brand. This role provides strategic leadership for Wharton’s learning management system (LMS) and courseware ecosystem, partnering with faculty and school leadership to enhance teaching and learning through innovative, scalable instructional technologies. The position oversees vendor relationships, budget coordination, and sustainable support models while serving as a school-wide subject matter expert and representative on university initiatives. It also includes supervising and developing staff, ensuring effective service delivery, operational excellence, and alignment with broader instructional design and technology goals.

Job Description

Job Responsibilities* Combine strategic vision and experience to advance our faculty members' and programs' success with using our LMS and courseware ecosystem to enhance teaching and learning School-wide. Tasks include meeting with faculty to identify gaps where technology can enhance their courses and staying abreast of emerging EdTech trends to enhance courseware offerings where appropriate. Demonstrate accountability and expertise in delivering and supporting large-scale services. Serve as a key Wharton School product expert for courseware platforms and tools.

• Advise school leadership on trends, best practices, strategic implementations, and business processes to enhance teaching and learning school-wide.
• Liaise with Wharton Finance \& Administration on instructional technology and content licensing budgets.
• Leads and supports direct report(s) tasked with implementing the vision for technology-enhanced teaching and learning. Provide coaching, regular feedback, goal-setting, and day-to-day guidance. Invests in their growth, helps remove obstacles, and foster a positive, inclusive, and high-performing environment. Holds individuals accountable to expectations and standards while ensuring fairness, clarity, and follow-through. When budget allows, supervises or oversees contract staff; covers absences and contributes individually to operations during high-demand periods. Coordinates efforts on these activities with colleagues on the Instructional Design team.
• Serves as a key representative managing relationships with external vendors to improve LMS platforms, content licensing and distribution, teaching tools, and other services. Serves or supervises others as a school-level liaison to vendor advisory councils or industry consortia.
• Partnering with Wharton Computing’s Instructional Design team to develop ownership over a sustainable support model to ensure efficient and reliable customer support for academic technologies and services. Provide Instructional Designers with knowledge to use tools within the courseware ecosystem and consult with them on best practices. Oversee efficient policies, practices, and business processes to advance the use of technology supporting world-class instruction at scale.
• Collaborate on administering and curating a shared instructional technology ecosystem at Penn. Represent the School on university-wide teams charged with standardizing and advancing instructional technology.

Required Qualifications* Bachelor's degree and 5 to 7 years of experience managing technology with demonstrated progression of responsibilities, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Thorough understanding of technology-enhanced learning platforms and tools.
• Demonstrated supervisory and management skills, including budget-related responsibilities, problem-solving, juggling multiple priorities, and meeting deadlines.
• Experience providing authoritative guidance to organizational leaders and/or faculty members regarding best practices in information technology.
• Excellent presentation, writing and customer service skills.
• Demonstrated working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, HTML/CSS, or other basic content authoring tools.
• Availability to cover gaps in a team’s critical service/support responsibilities, including occasional on-call shifts.

Preferred Qualifications* Advanced degree

• Expert-level knowledge of at least one learning management system (LMS), such as Canvas (strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated experience leading an IT service/support team or function; prior ITIL-compliant IT service management strongly preferred.
• Prior accomplishments in vendor relations; negotiation experience strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with responsibility-centered management for higher education budgeting; past RCM experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with project management, IT security/privacy best practices, and/or web accessibility; understanding of FERPA, HECVAT, LTI, and VPAT strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with instructional design, learning analytics, and/or organizational strategy.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

Wharton School

Pay Range

$120,000\.00 - $155,000\.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.

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