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:
Grade: Management_Executive 609
Pay Range: $116,600.00 - $209,900.00
Job Description
The Associate Dean of Social Work and Behavioral Health Programs provides strategic, academic, operational, and business leadership for WGU’s social work and behavioral health portfolio. This role is responsible for building, launching, scaling, and continuously improving high-quality, workforce-aligned programs that prepare students for careers in social work, behavioral health, mental health, substance use, community health, and human services.
The Associate Dean serves as both academic leader and business owner — with P&L responsibility for program performance, student outcomes, workforce relevance, regulatory and accreditation alignment, faculty leadership, and financial sustainability. This role partners across the Leavitt School of Health and university functions including enrollment, marketing, product, academic delivery, assessment, accreditation, finance, and student support to ensure programs meet student, employer, community, and professional needs.
Success in this role is measured by the ability to grow and sustain high-quality programs, improve retention and completion, support licensure and workforce outcomes, meet accreditation and regulatory expectations, and deliver strong return on investment for students and the university — while managing the portfolio’s budget, enrollment growth, and contribution margin.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities
Provides strategic leadership and end-to-end ownership for social work and behavioral health programs, including program strategy, growth, student outcomes, financial performance, academic quality, and workforce alignment.
Owns P&L for the portfolio, managing budget, enrollment assumptions, staffing plans, and contribution margin against university growth targets.
Leads the development, launch, revision, and scaling of market-relevant, competency-based programs addressing national and regional workforce needs across social work, behavioral health, mental health, substance use, community health, and human services.
Maintains primary accountability for CSWE accreditation activities — self-study development, candidacy, reaffirmation, site visits, assessment plans, reporting, and continuous improvement — and for any other relevant regulatory or professional approval processes.
Partners with academic, operational, and regulatory teams to ensure field education, practicum, clinical placement, supervision, and experiential learning models meet accreditation, student, and workforce needs.
Ensures programs remain aligned with professional standards, employer expectations, licensure pathways, and evolving workforce trends, including monitoring multi-state licensure requirements and scope-of-practice variation.
Serves as a credible academic and industry voice for social work and behavioral health — representing the school in strategy discussions, external partnerships, professional associations, conferences, and workforce development opportunities.
Builds and strengthens relationships with healthcare organizations, behavioral health providers, social service agencies, community organizations, government entities, professional associations, and employer partners.
Leads and develops diverse, distributed teams — program leaders, faculty, program managers, instructional teams, and cross-functional partners — fostering accountability, collaboration, inclusion, and continuous improvement.
Uses data and analytics to monitor program health: student progression, retention, completion, field placement outcomes, licensure outcomes, employment outcomes, student satisfaction, and faculty performance.
Drives a culture of experimentation, measurement, and learning to improve academic quality, student support, and operational effectiveness.
Partners with enrollment, marketing, and workforce teams on go-to-market strategies that connect programs to the right students and employer/community needs.
Leads through ambiguity and makes sound decisions in a rapidly changing academic, regulatory, and workforce environment.
Supports innovation in curriculum, assessment, field education, student support, technology, and artificial intelligence to improve learning and operational outcomes.
Performs other job-related duties as assigned.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Deep commitment to student success, workforce readiness, and improving access for underserved and working-adult learners.
Strong knowledge of social work education, behavioral health workforce needs, licensure pathways, field education, and professional standards.
Demonstrated understanding of CSWE accreditation standards and expectations.
Knowledge of trends in social work, behavioral health, mental health, substance use, integrated care, community health, and human services.
Ability to lead academic programs with both strategic vision and operational discipline.
Strong business acumen, including budget management, resource planning, enrollment growth, and financial stewardship.
Ability to use data to identify trends, solve problems, improve outcomes, and drive innovation.
Strong people-leadership skills, including hiring, developing, coaching, and managing high-performing teams — including remote/distributed teams — with excellence, integrity, and respect.
Ability to lead and influence in a highly matrixed organization without relying on direct authority.
Strong collaboration skills and ability to build trusted relationships internally and externally, including with accreditors and licensure boards.
Demonstrated ability to manage change, bring structure to complex situations, and execute in a fast-paced environment.
Strong oral and written communication skills, including representing programs with executive leaders, faculty, students, regulators, accreditors, employers, and professional organizations.
Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and culturally responsive social work and behavioral health education.
Master’s degree in Social Work, Behavioral Health, Counseling, Psychology, or a related field.
5 years of relevant experience in social work, behavioral health, counseling, or a related field.
5 years of leadership experience, including hiring, managing, developing, and scaling teams.
Experience leading academic programs, workforce initiatives, professional practice teams, or complex cross-functional initiatives.
Experience using data to evaluate performance, improve outcomes, and guide decision-making.
Equivalent relevant experience may substitute for education requirements, at the discretion of the hiring manager (generally 1 year of experience per 1 year of education).
Doctorate in Social Work, Behavioral Health, Counseling, Psychology, or a related field.
Master of Social Work from a CSWE-accredited program.
Licensed social worker (LCSW) or other relevant behavioral health professional credential.
Experience leading BSW, MSW, behavioral health, counseling, human services, or related academic programs, preferably in a campus, online or competency-based environment.
Experience with CSWE accreditation, including self-study development, candidacy, reaffirmation, site visits, assessment, and continuous improvement.
Experience building or leading field education, practicum, clinical placement, supervision, or experiential learning models.
Experience developing curriculum, competency frameworks, assessments, and student success strategies.
Experience building partnerships with healthcare systems, behavioral health providers, social service agencies, community organizations, government agencies, and employers.
Knowledge of social work licensure requirements and workforce trends across multiple states.
Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, accreditation-related activities, partner visits, company locations, and other business-related events as needed.
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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 [email protected].
Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.
