Associate Dean for Entrepreneurial Programs

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 Dean for Entrepreneurial Programs

Job Profile Title

Director E, Academic Affairs

Job Description Summary

The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (Penn Carey Law) is shaping the next era of legal education, and it seeks a senior-level, entrepreneurial leader who will help build that future. Around the world, demand for legal knowledge is growing on multiple fronts. Lawyers need continuing education that keeps pace with a rapidly changing profession, and they look to trusted institutions to build these programs. At the same time, business executives, compliance officers, technologists, and policymakers increasingly need fluency in the law, and they are seeking it in new formats, on new timelines, and from institutions they trust. Penn Carey Law is recruiting a senior leader to design and grow the programs that will serve this expanding global audience, carrying the reach of a world-class legal education far beyond the traditional classroom.

Penn Carey Law has retained Criterion Search Group, Inc., an executive search firm specializing in mission-driven leadership, to conduct this national search. Confidential inquiries should be directed to Criterion Search Group at [email protected].

The Opportunity:
Penn Carey Law has the faculty depth, the brand, and the programmatic infrastructure to lead in serving the legal education market. It also enters this work at an opportune moment: through Penn Learning for Life, the University is investing in shared capabilities and streamlined support for program design and delivery, and it is building connections across the schools’ pre-college, professional, and executive offerings. This leader will be positioned to draw on that investment and to build collaborations with sister schools across the University, including the Wharton School, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Perelman School of Medicine, whose professional and online education operations are already running at scale. What Penn Carey Law needs now is a builder: someone who will make the most of University resources where they exist and create what the Law School needs where they do not.

The school seeks a senior leader to establish its next major avenue of growth by extending Penn Carey Law’s teaching to professionals, organizations, and learners around the world, beyond the traditional JD pipeline. This leader will take ownership of an existing portfolio: the Master in Law (ML) degree, continuing legal education, a substantial online course catalog, the pre-college summer academy, executive education, and customized programs. The opportunity is to expand their reach, reputation, and revenue, and, crucially, to help invent what comes next.

This is a start-up role with exceptional support from school leadership. The Dean, Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs and Innovation, and Chief Financial Officer will be active partners, helping to navigate the University and support key relationships. The role will also collaborate frequently with the Dean’s senior leadership team. The ideal candidate will combine strategic vision, entrepreneurial instinct, and operational follow-through, and will be genuinely excited to build something new.

Position Overview:
Reporting to the Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs and Innovation, the senior faculty leader who serves as the Dean’s principal architect of the school’s academic strategy, and with regular direct engagement with the Dean, this position serves as Penn Carey Law’s primary strategic and operational leader for educational innovation and growth. The successful candidate will be a thought partner to the Dean and Deputy Dean on innovation, revenue diversification, and new directions in legal education. The role leads two established teams (the Master in Law staff and the Legal Education Programs staff) and works closely with faculty, administrative colleagues, and cross-university partners. The JD program and the school’s existing graduate degree programs for lawyers (LLM, LLCM, and SJD) sit outside this portfolio, though the school anticipates close collaboration on new program formats as the portfolio evolves. The early emphasis will be on market assessment, organizational capacity, partnerships, and near-term revenue growth.

Job Description

Job Description

 

• Develop and lead the growth strategy
  • Develop and execute a multi-year vision for the school’s ML and non-degree program portfolio: scaling what exists and creating program categories the school does not yet operate.
  • Identify and pursue emerging domestic and international markets for legal and law-adjacent education, including regulated industries, technology, healthcare, financial services, and government.
  • Shape a tiered, premium portfolio: open-enrollment programs for senior professionals, offerings built for groups of employers with shared needs, and fully customized single-organization engagements.
  • Draw on Penn’s cross-university resources and shared infrastructure for scale and efficiency in program design and delivery.
    
    
• Drive revenue
  • In collaboration with the Chief Financial Officer, set and achieve meaningful financial targets across the portfolio, with year-over-year growth in program net revenue as the primary measure of success.
  • Validate market demand before resources are committed, applying pricing floors and minimum enrollment thresholds to every new launch.
  • Develop and monitor performance metrics for all programs, working closely with Business Affairs on planning, reporting, and resource allocation.
    
    
• Build institutional partnerships
  • Cultivate relationships with corporations, law firms, healthcare systems, government agencies, and professional associations in the U.S. and abroad, engaging decision-makers directly in support of program development.
  • Represent Penn Carey Law externally as a spokesperson and advocate for its professional education mission.
  • Ensure the external partnership strategy is well-coordinated across the school.
  • Pursue joint offerings with the Wharton School, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Perelman School of Medicine, and other sister schools where the market supports them.

 

• Lead the existing portfolio
  • Sharpen the ML program’s strategic direction in a shifting market for law-adjacent master’s degrees, including its market positioning, pricing, and whether and how to extend the degree into online or hybrid formats.
  • Build on the online course catalog, a significant content asset with a faculty recruiting pipeline, while leading platform strategy through a migration already underway.
  • Grow the pre-college summer academy and the public-facing continuing legal education channel.
  • Rebuild executive education and customized programs as a major area of focus.
    
    
• Create new programs
  • Identify unmet market needs and develop new concepts, including micro-credentials, employer-facing products, and short-format global offerings, that draw on faculty expertise and institutional assets.
  • Translate faculty scholarship into programs with real market value, providing high-touch support that lifts the administrative burden from faculty.
  • Make programming on artificial intelligence and the changing legal profession an early flagship focus.

 

• Managerial and supervisory
  • Lead, develop, and build confidence within a small, long-tenured team, with direct supervisory responsibility for the Legal Education Programs staff and the Assistant Dean of the Master in Law program.
  • Conduct a first-year organizational assessment, with the school’s support, to structure the team for the mandate and to establish clear goals, benchmarks, and operating infrastructure.

• Other duties as assigned

 Candidate Qualifications 

• Critical skills and qualifications:
  • A demonstrated track record of building or scaling revenue-generating programs, products, or business lines, with direct accountability for growth outcomes and proven business development capability, from market research and pricing through closing.
  • Fluency operating inside a university or comparably complex, consensus-driven institution, characterized by political acumen, the patience to work through process, and the drive to keep things moving.
  • Strong people leadership and emotional intelligence, with experience managing seasoned professionals and leading established teams into new work.
  • The credibility to engage a world-class faculty as a collaborator and thought partner, grounded in genuine respect for academic rigor and the value of legal education, and the presence to represent the school externally with firms, corporations, and peer institutions.
  • An advanced degree; a JD, MBA, or equivalent is strongly preferred.

Additionally valuable: experience in digital and online learning, including platform economics and enrollment marketing; existing networks in corporate learning, executive education, or professional services markets; global program experience; and familiarity with the legal industry, whether through professional development leadership, business development in a law firm or in-house legal department, or prior work in legal education.

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. For clarity, this includes not discriminating on the basis of ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, and military status as required by the American Bar Association Standard 205.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

Law School

Pay Range

$132,275.00 - $238,000.00 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.

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