Director, Faculty Affairs & Administration

Director, Faculty Affairs & Administration

The Wharton School - The University of Pennsylvania aims to attract and retain top talent to advance its mission of teaching, research, and scholarship.

The Director of Faculty Affairs provides functional leadership for faculty affairs across Wharton, coordinating and supporting departmental staff responsible for this work and promoting consistent, responsive, and effective practices across the School. Reporting to the Senior Director, Deputy Dean’s Office and working closely with the Deputy Dean, the Director leads and coordinates complex faculty appointments and personnel processes; provides expert guidance on School and University policies and practices; and serves as a trusted resource to faculty, department chairs, senior leadership, and departmental staff.

The Director provides functional leadership to Wharton’s faculty affairs community and promotes a consistent, responsive, and high-quality experience throughout the faculty lifecycle. The role oversees interconnected administrative cycles, faculty governance and recognition activities, faculty systems and records, and related policies and practices, with an ongoing focus on ensuring highly effective faculty affairs operations and services. Working across academic departments and School and University partners, the Director identifies opportunities to strengthen processes, practices, and tools, balancing consistency and administrative effectiveness with the needs of individual faculty and the complexities of the academic environment.

Job Description

Job Responsibilities

• Leadership & Coordination: Provide functional leadership for faculty affairs activities across the school, serving as a dotted-line manager to departmental staff with faculty affairs responsibilities. Coordinate the collective work of faculty affairs and administration across Wharton, delegating and assigning work to relevant colleagues where appropriate and providing guidance, direction, and support. Coordinate work across the Dean’s Office, academic departments, and University offices to ensure effective and consistent administration of faculty affairs activities. Foster collaboration, communication, and shared practices across departments, and serve as a key liaison between the School and University offices on faculty affairs priorities, processes, and initiatives.
• Planning & Administration Oversight: Lead the planning and administration of a complex portfolio of faculty affairs activities and personnel actions supporting approximately 250 standing and 250+ non-standing faculty across the School. Oversee the full range of faculty appointments and personnel actions, including recruitment and hiring, reappointments, tenure and promotion, leaves, tenure-clock extensions, retirements, and related actions. Establish and oversee annual and long-range plans, interconnected administrative cycles, processes, and communications. Develop shared tracking and reporting systems, identifying opportunities to improve workflows and strengthen consistency, and anticipating dependencies and competing priorities to ensure accurate, timely, and compliant execution. Anticipate complex cases and processes across multiple stakeholders and through appropriate School and University review and approval channels, resolving issues as they arise. Represent Wharton on relevant University working groups and committees and translate University-wide initiatives and requirements into effective School-level practices.
• Faculty Experience & Lifecycle Support: In collaboration with the Deputy Dean and Senior Director, provide thoughtful, high-touch support throughout the faculty lifecycle, anticipating faculty needs and promoting a consistent and responsive experience. Develop and execute strategies and programs to educate and support faculty across key career stages and transitions, collaborating with the Events team where appropriate.
• Process & Service Improvement: Identify and lead opportunities to improve and innovate around delivery of faculty affairs services and administrative processes in partnership with academic departments and Wharton colleagues. Leverage existing tools, emerging technologies, and new approaches to improve consistency and effectiveness, streamline work, and reduce administrative burden and risk for the School and University while preserving appropriate flexibility for complex faculty circumstances.
• Policy Interpretation & Advising: Under the direction of the Deputy Dean and Senior Director, serve as the principal resource on School and University policies and procedures related to faculty affairs, applying sound judgment to complex, nuanced, and sensitive matters where policies, practices, or precedents may require interpretation. Advise senior School leadership, department chairs, faculty, and administrators on policy interpretation and application. Evaluate complex issues and develop options for senior leadership consideration, assessing relevant policy, precedent, risks, advantages, and drawbacks and providing recommendations to support informed decision-making. Communicate and implement senior leaders’ decisions with relevant constituents.
• Policy Development & Compliance: Monitor changes in University policy and contribute feedback and suggestions to University-level policy development. Regularly review School-level policies and practices, identify opportunities to clarify, strengthen, and modernize approaches, and oversee implementation across departments. Develop guidance, documentation, communications, and training for senior leadership, department chairs, and departmental staff to promote consistent, effective, and compliant practices across the School.
• Faculty Governance & Recognition: Manage School and University faculty governance and faculty recognition activities for the Wharton School. Direct Wharton Personnel Committee activities and related review processes, and prepare materials and communications for School leadership to represent cases at the Provost’s Staff Conference. Oversee the administration of endowed chairs, partnering with relevant Dean’s office, advancement and financial colleagues to maintain accurate information on chair terms, funding, and availability, and providing analysis and recommendations to support the Deputy Dean’s decisions regarding chair assignments. Oversee faculty awards, honors, nominations, and other recognition activities, collaborating with relevant colleagues in Marketing and Communications to develop and execute strategies for publicizing faculty achievements. Coordinate faculty committee appointments and other service activities, maintain records of School-level faculty service, and advise the Deputy Dean on annual service and committee appointments.
• Faculty Systems & Records: Serve as the School’s faculty affairs lead for University HR and faculty systems such as Workday and Interfolio. Ensure faculty affairs records and administrative processes support accurate and timely personnel actions, compliance with School and University requirements, and effective leadership decision-making. Identify opportunities to better leverage systems, technology, and available tools to improve faculty affairs processes and information management. Partner with the School’s institu