Change Manager lll

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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:

Job Description

Job Summary

The Change Manager will play a key role in ensuring projects (change initiatives) meet objectives on time and on budget by increasing employee adoption and usage. This person will focus on the people side of change - including changes to business processes, systems and technology, job roles and organization structures. The primary responsibility will be creating and implementing change management strategies and plans that maximize employee adoption and usage and minimize resistance. The Change Manager will work to drive faster adoption, higher ultimate utilization and greater proficiency of the changes that impact WGU employees and WGU students at the college or university level to increase benefit realization, value creation, speed of adaption, and improve the achievement of student outcomes. While the Change Manager does not have supervisory responsibility, this person will have to work through many others in the university to succeed. The Change Manager will act as a coach for senior leaders and executives in helping them fulfill the role of change sponsor. The Change Manager may also provide direct support and coaching to frontline managers and supervisors as they help their direct reports through transitions. The Change Manager will also support project teams in integrating change management activities into their project plans.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Apply a structured change management methodology and lead change management activities as defined within the Prosci ADKAR change management framework.
• Assess the change impacts of assigned projects or transformation initiatives.
• Complete change management assessments and present action plans to executive sponsors and senior management stakeholders.
• Create change management strategy and action plans in coordination with the project manager and the executive sponsor aligned with each project or initiative.
• Identify, analyze, prepare, and implement risk mitigation tactics and plans.
• Identify and manage anticipated change resistance within and across organizations.
• Consult and coach project teams using the tools, processes, and outputs of the ADKAR methodology.
• Create actionable deliverables for the five change management levers: (1) communications plan, (2) sponsor roadmap, (3) coaching plan, (4) training plan, (5) resistance management plan
• Directly support communication efforts. Depending on the project, this may include creation of communication content and management of deliverables; as well as, the overall ownership of the communication plan.
• Support and coordinate training efforts as needed.
• Support and engage senior leaders as required to ensure the success of the project(s).
• Support organizational design and definition of new roles and new responsibilities with respect to the future state created by the change initiative.
• Coordinate efforts with other specialists or stakeholders, both internal or external to the university, to ensure successful change outcomes.
• Integrate change management activities into project plans in coordination with project managers.
• Evaluate and ensure user readiness prior to and during change implementation.
• Manage stakeholders and stakeholder expectations in coordination with executive sponsors.
• Proactively track and report issues (risk & risk mitigation) during the project.
• Define and measure success metrics for the project; and, monitor and report change progress.
• Support change management at the organizational level, as defined in the WGU Enterprise Change Management Plan.
• Manage the project portfolio and change management load (change saturation risk) in partnership with management during the annual operations planning and strategic planning cycles.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities

• A solid understanding of how people go through a change and the change process; experience with Prosci ADKAR is a plus.
• Experience and knowledge of change management principles, methodologies, and tools.
• Exceptional communication skills - both written and verbal.
• Excellent active listening skills.
• Ability to clearly articulate messages to a variety of audiences.
• Ability to establish and maintain strong relationships.
• Ability to influence others and move toward a common vision or goal.
• Flexible and adaptable; able to work in ambiguous situations.
• Resilient and tenacious with a propensity to persevere.
• Forward-looking with a holistic approach.
• Organized with a natural inclination for planning strategy and tactics.
• Problem solving and root cause identification skills.
• Able to work effectively at all levels in an organization.
• Must be a team player and able to work collaboratively with and through others.
• Acute business acumen and understanding of organizational issues and challenges.
• Familiarity with project management approaches, tools, and phases of the project life cycle.
• Experience with large-scale organizational change efforts.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor Degree. Education must be from an accredited institution. Education is verified.
• 6 - 10 years of professional experience in roles that required extensive Change Management skills in a large and distributed organization (5000+ employees).
• Excellent understanding of Change Management theory/techniques and the demonstrated ability to implementation implement them into a project plan.
• Must be certified Prosci ADKAR Change Manager.
• Ability of execute Prosci ADKAR Change Management of 1 or more projects simultaneously
• Ability to lead the Change Management function of critical People & Talent initiatives/programs/products through WGU's rigorous annual strategic planning process.
• Excellent understanding and skills in organizational change management processes.
• Professional experience in strategic planning, risk management.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Project and Power BI.
• Ability to mentor new Change Manager

Preferred Qualifications:

• Change Management experience in a Human Resource/People & Talent environment at scale (5000+ employees) is highly desirable.
• Project Management certification (PMP certification).
• Masters Degree. Education must be from an accredited institution. Education is verified.

Position & Application Details

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 recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.