Director of Business Development, Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS)

University of Pennsylvania; United (PA); On-site; USD 132,000 - 233,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Tuition benefits

Retirement plans

Wellness programs

Flexible work hours

Job summary

University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, seeks a Director of Business Development for WRDS. This role drives global market expansion, manages high-value partnerships, and leads revenue and CRM strategy across international universities and corporate clients.

The position reports to Wharton School, Philadelphia, PA, with travel up to 20% and a focus on data-as-a-service, licensing, and enterprise relationships.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or comparable experience preferred.
• Proven leadership and experience in business development or commercial strategy.
• Experience expanding into new markets and managing strategic partnerships.
• Experience owning enterprise CRM systems, preferably Salesforce.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end global sales lifecycle to expand WRDS adoption in international universities and commercial sectors.
• Align Customer Experience, Marketing & Sales, and Revenue Management for cohesive client lifecycle execution.
• Manage international sales teams and coach direct reports.
• Oversee revenue management and complex procurement processes to protect revenue.

Skills

Leadership

Business development

Commercial strategy

Salesforce

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA or advanced degree

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Director of Business Development, Wharton Research Data Services(WRDS)

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer inPhiladelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research,and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranksamong the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & WorldReport survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provideopportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education,all influenced by Penn's distinctive interdisciplinary approach toscholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been rankednationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbeswho named Penn one of America's Best Large Employers in 2023.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city ofPhiladelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urbancampus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance andlandmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety ofatmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home forwork and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includesexcellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and theirfamilies, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety ofprofessional development opportunities, supportive work and familybenefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources,and much more.

Job Profile Title

Director E, Academic Affairs, Academic Administration

Job Description Summary

Wharton School Overview Founded in 1881 as the world's first collegiate business school,the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping thefuture of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, andcreating leaders who change the world. With campuses in bothPhiladelphia and San Francisco, Wharton has over 850 staff, afaculty population of more than 235 renowned professors, and 5,000undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year13,000 professionals from around the world advance their careersthrough Wharton Executive Education's individual,company-customized, and online programs. More than 104,000 Whartonalumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transformbusiness every day. Wharton is home to a dynamic community ofstaff, bringing a wide range of skills, experiences, andperspectives. To learn more, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.

Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) is a globally recognized dataresearch platform trusted by more than 500 institutions in over 35countries to drive high-impact academic and institutional research.It serves as the global standard for business intelligence,providing millions of users worldwide with centralized, high-speedaccess to massive datasets across finance, accounting, andeconomics.

Position Summary Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) is seeking a highly strategicand operationally proven executive for the role of Director ofBusiness Development (Director E). Operating at the intersection ofB2B data-as-a-service (DaaS), financial technology, and globalacademic research, this executive leader is responsible for theoverarching market growth, client retention framework, andoperational excellence of the world's leading academic researchdata platform.

This position carries substantial institutional accountability,directly influencing WRDS' global revenue and partnership ecosystemacross leading universities, corporations, and quantitativeinvestment firms. The Director will lead high-priority businessdevelopment initiatives, including managing relationships withapproximately 60 data vendors, expanding into new global markets,coordinating complex agreements across multiple exchanges, andidentifying opportunities to reposition the WRDS Marketplace todrive revenue growth.

The Director will also oversee the Customer Experience, RevenueManagement, and Marketing and Sales teams, ensuring that businessdevelopment, marketing, client retention, Salesforce CRMoperations, and revenue collection function as a coordinated andeffective global operation.

Key Responsibilities

• Global Market Expansion & Strategic Deals (30%): Lead the end-to-end global sales lifecycle to expand WRDS adoptionwithin international universities and commercial sectors (e.g.,hedge funds, asset managers); negotiate complex enterprisecontracts and present high-level technical value propositions touniversity deans, corporate executives, and CIOs. Utilize your deepunderstanding of the academic ecosystem to help determine productpositioning and pricing; work with the other WRDS teams to helpidentify opportunities for expansion and net-new features andproducts.


• Commercial Operations & Cross-Functional Strategy(15%): Lead alignment across the Customer Experience (CX),Marketing and Sales, and Revenue Management functions to ensurecohesive strategy and execution across the client lifecycle.Provide strategic oversight and direction for international teamssupporting WRDS across Europe and Asia-Pacific, aligning theirrelationships and engagement within local markets with WRDS'broader commercial priorities. Integrate brand positioning, clientonboarding, regional market engagement, and client usage insightsto support retention and global subscription renewals.


• Leadership & People Management (10%): Leads andsupports 6 direct reports, including international sales teams,through coaching, regular feedback, goal-setting, and day-to-dayguidance. Invests in their growth, helps remove obstacles, andfosters a positive, inclusive, and high-performing environment.Holds individuals accountable to expectations and standards whileensuring fairness, clarity, and follow-through.


• Financial Operations & Revenue Protection (20%): Oversee the end-to-end revenue management process. Monitorinstitutional account aging reports and strategically intervene toclear complex procurement, legal, or administrativebottlenecks


• Data Vendor Partnerships & Ecosystem Alignment(15%): Cultivate strategic relationships and negotiatejoint-licensing frameworks with leading global data providers(e.g., S&P Global, Morningstar/CRSP, and LSEG). Developinstitution-wide licensing opportunities that position WRDS as aresearch data provider for scholars across academic disciplineswhile protecting and expanding the WRDS data ecosystem.


• Salesforce Platform Ownership & Analytics (10%): Serve as the strategic business owner for an established, stableSalesforce CRM environment, ensuring high data integrity, pipelinevisibility, and predictable revenue forecasting for seniorleadership.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree required (preferably inBusiness, Finance, Economics, Marketing, or a related quantitativefield). MBA, advanced degree, or comparable experiencepreferred.


• Leadership & Commercial Experience: Minimum of 7years of progressively responsible leadership experience, includingoversight of multidisciplinary teams or multiple functional areas,direct people management, organizational planning, andaccountability for team and operational performance. Demonstratedexperience leading business development, commercial strategy, orcomparable market-facing initiatives is required.


• Strongly Preferred Experience: A proven record ofexpanding into new markets, cultivating strategic partnerships, andmanaging complex institutional or enterprise relationships.


• Industry Background: Strongly preferred background infinancial data marketing or sales, with a deep, sophisticatedunderstanding of the higher education ecosystem, universitylicensing frameworks, and academic administration.


• Technology & Systems Experience: Experience servingas the business owner of an enterprise CRM, preferably Salesforce,to support data integrity, pipeline visibility, client management,and revenue forecasting. Working knowledge of subscription-basedbusiness models, data-as-a-service (DaaS) frameworks, andcloud-based data delivery is strongly preferred.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Travel

Ability to travel up to 20% (domestic andinternational) to represent WRDS at major academic conferences,vendor symposiums, and high-value client renewals.

Department / School

Wharton School

Pay Range

$132,275.00 - $233,000.00 Annual Rate

Salary offers are made based on the candidate's qualifications,experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to therequirements of the position, and in alignment with salary rangesbased on external market data for the job's level. Internalorganization 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), citizenshipstatus, age, disability, veteran status or any class protectedunder applicable federal, state or local law.

Special Requirements

Background checks may be required after a conditional job offer ismade. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to therequirements of the job.

University Benefits

• Health, Life, and Flexible Spending Accounts: Pennoffers comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health,dental, vision, and life insurance benefits to protect you and yourfamily's health and welfare. You can also use flexible spendingaccounts to pay for eligible health care and dependent careexpenses with pre-tax dollars.


• Tuition: Take advantage of Penn's exceptional tuitionbenefits. You, your spouse, and your dependent children can gettuition assistance here at Penn. Your dependent children are alsoeligible for tuition assistance at other institutions.


• Retirement: Penn offers generous retirement plans tohelp you save for your future. Penn's Basic, Matching, andSupplemental retirement plans allow you to save for retirement on apre-tax or Roth basis. Choose from a wide variety of investmentoptions through TIAA and Vanguard.


• Time Away from Work: Penn provides you with asubstantial amount of time away from work during the course of theyear. This allows you to relax, take vacations, attend to personalaffairs, recover from illness or injury, spend time withfamily-whatever your personal needs may be.


• Long-Term Care Insurance: In partnership with GenworthFinancial, Penn offers faculty and staff (and your eligible familymembers) long-term care insurance to help you cover some of thecosts of long-term care services received at home, in the communityor in a nursing facility. If you apply when you're newly hired, youwon't have to provide proof of good health or be subject tounderwriting requirements. Eligible family members must alwaysprovide proof of good health and are subject to underwriting.


• Wellness and Work-life Resources: Penn is committed tosupporting our faculty and staff as they balance the competingdemands of work and personal life. That's why we offer a widevariety of programs and resources to help you care for your health,your family, and your work-life balance.


• Professional and Personal Development: Penn provides anarray of resources to help you advance yourself personally andprofessionally.


• University Resources: As a member of the Penn community,you have access to a wide range of University resources as well ascultural and recreational activities. Take advantage of theUniversity's libraries and athletic facilities, or visit ourarboretum and art galleries. There's always something going on atPenn, whether it's a new exhibit at the Penn Museum, the latestmusic or theater presentation at the Annenberg Center, or the PennRelays at Franklin Field to name just a few examples. As a memberof the Penn community, you're right in the middle of theexcitement-and you and your family can enjoy many of theseactivities for free.


• Discounts and Special Services: From arts andentertainment to transportation and mortgages, you'll find greatdeals for University faculty and staff. Not only do Penn arts andcultural centers and museums offer free and discounted admissionand memberships to faculty and staff. You can also enjoysubstantial savings on other goods and services such as new carsfrom Ford and General Motors, cellular phone service plans, movietickets, and admission to theme parks.


• Flexible Work Hours: Flexible work options offercreative approaches for completing work while promoting balancebetween work and personal commitments. These approaches involve useof non-traditional work hours, locations, and/or jobstructures.


• Penn Home Ownership Services: Penn offers a forgivableloan for eligible employees interested in buying a home orcurrently residing in West Philadelphia, which can be used forclosing costs or home improvements.


• Adoption Assistance: Penn will reimburse eligibleemployees on qualified expenses in connection with the legaladoption of an eligible child, such as travel or court fees, for upto two adoptions in your household.

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