Director of Growth Marketing - Penn Engineering Online

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

Director of Growth Marketing - Penn Engineering Online

Job Profile Title

Director A, Business and Finance, Communications and Marketing

Job Description Summary

The Office of Academic Innovation is expanding how Penn Engineering delivers world-class education beyond the traditional campus experience. Through Penn Engineering Online, the Office is building a portfolio of online graduate programs that bring Penn Engineering’s academic excellence to learners worldwide.

The Director of Growth Marketing, Penn Engineering Online, is a senior member of the Office of Academic Innovation’s Growth Marketing team and plays a key role in driving the continued growth of Penn Engineering Online. The Director translates established growth and enrollment priorities into integrated marketing programs, strong execution, and measurable results.

Working within the broader growth strategy established by the Office of Academic Innovation leadership, the Director manages growth marketing staff and coordinates the day-to-day marketing activities that bring that strategy to life. The role works across acquisition, lifecycle marketing, digital experience, content, SEO/GEO, analytics, and conversion optimization to create a cohesive prospective student journey and continually improve marketing and enrollment performance.

The Director coordinates day-to-day work with agency and vendor partners, monitors performance across the enrollment funnel, and uses data, experimentation, and emerging technologies to improve marketing effectiveness.

The Director works closely with Penn Engineering Online admissions and enrollment teams, academic and program leaders, Penn Engineering Marketing & Communications, and other University partners to support continued growth across the Penn Engineering Online portfolio.

Job Description

Job Responsibilities

Growth Marketing Planning & Performance

• Translate established enrollment and growth priorities into integrated marketing plans, campaign calendars, channel strategies, and performance targets.

• Develop and manage growth marketing plans across Penn Engineering Online programs.

• Monitor market demand, prospective student behavior, competitive activity, enrollment pacing, and marketing performance to identify opportunities, risks, and needed adjustments.

• Partner with admissions, academic programs, finance, and other stakeholders to align marketing activities with program goals and enrollment forecasts.

• Support go-to-market planning for new online programs and offerings, including audience strategy, positioning, launch planning, and measurement.

• Provide leadership with clear insights and recommendations based on marketing and enrollment performance.

Integrated Acquisition & Enrollment Marketing

• Coordinate integrated marketing execution across paid media, lifecycle communications, CRM, content, web, SEO/GEO, and other acquisition and engagement channels.

• Manage day-to-day paid media and demand generation activities, including agency coordination, audience strategy, testing, optimization, pacing, and budget management within established priorities.

• Ensure campaigns and communications work together across the prospective student journey, from initial awareness through application and enrollment.

• Partner closely with admissions and enrollment teams to strengthen lead nurturing, applicant engagement, conversion, and yield.

• Drive ongoing testing of audiences, creative, messaging, channels, landing experiences, and communications to improve marketing efficiency and enrollment outcomes.

• Ensure growth marketing activities align with Penn and Penn Engineering brand standards.

Analytics, Digital Experience & Innovation

• Monitor performance across traffic, inquiries, applications, enrollments, conversion rates, acquisition costs, and marketing return.

• Maintain dashboards and reporting that provide leadership and key stakeholders with clear visibility into funnel health, campaign performance, enrollment pacing, and marketing efficiency.

• Use performance data and prospective student insights to identify friction, drop-off, and opportunities to improve the digital experience and enrollment journey.

• Guide ongoing optimization of program discovery, landing pages, conversion paths, lead capture, and application handoffs.

• Support segmentation, personalization, automation, and testing across CRM and marketing technology platforms.

• Identify and test practical applications of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies that can improve marketing effectiveness, personalization, search and discovery, team efficiency, and prospective student engagement.

• Translate successful experiments and insights into repeatable marketing practices.

Team, Agency & Resource Management

• Manage, coach, and develop growth marketing staff, establishing clear priorities, expectations, operating rhythms, and accountability.

• Coordinate work across internal staff, consultants, agencies, vendors, and cross-functional partners to ensure high-quality and timely execution.

• Create effective workflows that connect acquisition, lifecycle marketing, digital experience, content, analytics, and campaign execution.

• Coordinate day-to-day agency and vendor relationships, scopes of work, budgets, and deliverables within established priorities and approved parameters.

• Monitor partner performance and ensure internal teams and external partners meet agreed-upon expectations and deliverables.

• Foster a team culture centered on collaboration, responsiveness, experimentation, transparency, continuous improvement, and shared accountability.

Innovation Emphasis

As part of the Office of Academic Innovation, the Director helps build modern, scalable growth marketing capabilities for Penn Engineering Online. The role brings together data, experimentation, emerging technology, and learner-centered marketing to improve how Penn Engineering reaches and engages prospective students.

The Director is expected to stay current on evolving approaches to performance marketing, artificial intelligence, personalization, search and discovery, automation, digital experience, and enrollment marketing, and to identify opportunities to thoughtfully test and apply new approaches within Penn Engineering Online.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and three to five years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Demonstrated success in growth, performance, digital, or enrollment marketing with measurable results.

• Experience managing people and coordinating agencies, vendors, and cross-functional partners.

• Strong analytical skills and ability to use data to improve marketing and enrollment performance.

• Experience across digital acquisition, CRM/lifecycle marketing, web, content, and conversion optimization.

• Strong communication, judgment, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

• Experience in online education, education technology, or another digitally driven organization is preferred.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Pay Range

$77,330.00 - $100,000.00 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