Associate HR Business Partner, Wharton Human Resources & People Operations
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 HR Business Partner, Wharton Human Resources & People Operations
Job Profile Title
Human Resources Administrator School/Center B
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 the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With campuses in both Philadelphia and San Francisco, Wharton has over 850 staff, a faculty population of more than 235 renowned professors, and 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 13,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education's individual, company-customized, and online programs. More than 104,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day. Wharton is home to a diverse population of staff, representing a rich array of backgrounds, expertise, and cultures. To learn more, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.
Job Description
Job Responsibilities
Wharton Human Resources & People Operations is seeking an HR Associate Business Partner to support a high-performing, inclusive workplace that fosters employee engagement, productivity, and success. The HR Associate Business Partner (HR ABP) role will serve as the primary HR contact for designated stakeholder groups, delivering a comprehensive range of HR generalist services across the employee lifecycle. In addition to supporting assigned groups, the HR Associate BP will partner closely with other Wharton HR Business Partners to ensure seamless, consistent delivery of tier 1 and 2 HR services across the broader school community.
This role encompasses a full spectrum of HR activities, with a focus on data-driven insights, people-centric approaches, and operational improvements. The HR ABP contributes to our School's mission by managing employee relations, supporting people management, talent acquisition, and HR operations with a focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) principles.
Key Responsibilities Include:
Primary Stakeholder Support: Act as the dedicated HR contact for assigned stakeholder groups, providing comprehensive HR generalist support, including employee relations, talent management, and engagement strategies.
Partner with other Wharton HR Business Partners to deliver Tier 1 & 2 HR services for all stakeholder groups, ensuring consistent, high-quality support that spans all HR services. Serve as a trusted advisor on a wide range of HR policy/procedural compliance, interpreting and communicating Penn policies, legal requirements, and best practices to ensure alignment with evolving HR practices/topics. Collaborate effectively with partners across the school and Core HR to facilitate the adoption of new practices and operational improvements.
Talent Management: Provide talent acquisition services to attract and retain top talent. This includes, but is not limited to, job description reviews, recruitment, selection, and compensation reviews. Drive robust hiring practices to ensure objectivity, diverse candidate pools, and successful onboarding and offboarding. Manage compensation requests related to new hires, reclassifications, salary adjustments, equity reviews, additional pay, etc. Support the creation of materials and resources to support consistent and robust recruitment practices. Lead and support searches as needed.
Employee Relations: Manage tier 1 & 2 employee relations cases, providing guidance on performance management, interpersonal/workplace challenges, conflict resolution, and other ER topics, elevating sensitive cases as needed. Partner on investigations and provide support for complex employee relations cases led by HR BPs, assisting with case documentation, notetaking, and follow-up actions to ensure timely and thorough case resolution. Provide coaching on FMLA/LOA topics.
HR Data Management & Analysis: Gather, analyze, and interpret HR data to support operational improvements, workforce planning, and strategic decision-making. Generate and interpret core HR reports (headcount, turnover, time-to-fill, exit data, etc.), summarizing key findings, making recommendations, and identifying trends that inform HR and leadership strategies. Ensure data accuracy and integrity across all HR processes and reporting.
HR Operations Optimization: Support the ongoing development and implementation of HR tools, resources, and internal playbooks/SOPs that enhance operational efficiency within the HR function. Collaborate with the Wharton HR team to create, streamline, and document best practices, promoting continuous improvement and strategic alignment.
Employee Engagement: Support the implementation of engagement initiatives that build connection, well-being, and recognition. Act as a thought partner and project manager for implementing professional development opportunities. Support readiness plans for school and university-wide changes.
Qualifications
A Bachelor's degree and 3 to 5 years of HR experience is required, or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
Required experience includes:
HR Generalist Expertise: Demonstrated experience managing employee relations, talent acquisition, and compensation reviews, with the ability to provide strategic support on recruitment and engagement initiatives.
Experience supporting and leading recruitment efforts, including screening applications, developing recruitment roadmaps, developing interview questions, interviewing candidates, conducting references, and finalizing offers. - Robust experience managing complex and sensitive employee relations issues, including demonstrated experience in coaching managers, conducting investigations/inquiries, performance management, disciplinary actions, terminations, and engaging productively with employees on a wide variety of workplace challenges. Ability to discern when to escalate sensitive or complex matters.
Experience with case management, including thorough documentation and related action items.
Compliance & Policy Knowledge: Solid understanding of HR policy compliance, legal requirements, and navigating employer policies, with the ability to apply this knowledge effectively to workplace challenges.
Interpersonal & Communication Skills: Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with a proven ability to build trusted relationships with stakeholders and provide practical, empathetic HR coaching and support.
DEIB Focus: Strong competency in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), with experience embedding inclusive practices into recruitment, employee relations, and HR operations.
Collaboration & Teamwork: Experience working within a matrixed environment and willingness to support Wharton HR colleagues when additional support is needed.
Demonstrated ability to gather, analyze, and report on HR analytics (e.g. turnover, headcount, time-to-fill, and exit data) to inform strategic decisions. Experience in managing data integrity and utilizing analytics for workforce planning and operational improvement.
Experience creating enhanced/optimized processes, resources, tools, and/or workflows to support internal operations and stakeholder experiences.
Preferred qualifications include:
HR Certification: PHR or SHRM-CP certification.
Project Management Experience: Demonstrated ability to lead and manage HR-related projects and initiatives, including wellness initiatives, employee engagement programs, or organizational development efforts.
Technology Skills: Experience using HR systems and technology platforms such as Workday, Qualtrics, intelligent automation, and AI-driven tools to enhance HR operations and employee experience.
Compensation Knowledge: Understanding of job classification and compensation reviews.
Survey Design & Analytics: Experience with survey design and analysis to gather insights on employee engagement and workplace culture.
Job Location - City, State
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Department / School
Wharton School
Pay Range
$51,824.00 - $85,000.00 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, as well as internal and market factors and grade profile.
Affirmative Action Statement
Penn adheres to a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.
Special Requirements
Background check 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.
