The University of Pennsylvania seeks a highly accomplished leader with proven domain expertise and exceptional strategic, operational, and interpersonal skills to join its leadership team as Vice President, Office of Audit, Compliance and Privacy. The Vice President reports operationally to the University’s Executive Vice President and Penn Medicine’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and also directly reports to the Audit and Finance Committees of the governing boards of the University and of Penn Medicine.

The Vice President (VP) provides institutional leadership in shaping the vision, policy, and strategy for internal audit, compliance, and privacy and oversees the execution of this strategy and the day-to-day operations of the OACP. As Penn navigates the complexities and challenges that surround large, highly ranked institutions with education, research, and patient care missions, the Audit, Compliance, and Privacy areas will make important contributions to the decisions facing executive leadership and governing boards.

The VP also works closely with senior financial and operational leaders to identify and prioritize key audit areas through an annual work plan, engage in special projects, and support broad initiatives such as the assessment of strategic enterprise risks. These efforts inform coordinated responses across functional areas and guide investments in new capabilities and resources.

 The ideal candidate will bring:

• A comprehensive grasp of how audit, compliance, and privacy provide opportunities for a complex, decentralized, and mission-driven organization to understand and manage risk, increase operational integrity, and sustain regulatory compliance.
• The relationship and communication skills to engage and lead through influence and domain expertise at all levels of an organization.
• Wisdom, judgment, integrity, discretion, discernment, and integrity, along with the ability to provide strategic counsel.
• A bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 15 years of experience in internal audit, compliance, or privacy in a complex institutional or corporate environment or equivalent experience in public accounting with relevant clients.
• Professional certifications such as CPA, CIA, CISA, or other relevant credentials.
• A strong commitment to service, demonstrated leadership and relationship-building skills, and excellent communication and presentation abilities.
• Proven experience in leading high-functioning teams with a commitment to the highest professional standards.

Experience in a research university and/or academic medical center is preferred; however, candidates with relevant experience in other highly regulated, decentralized environments will be considered.

The full position description can be viewed here.

TO APPLY

The University of Pennsylvania has retained Opus Partners to support the recruitment of this position. Craig Smith, Senior Partner; Katie Dean, Partner; and Abigail Maynard, Managing Associate, are leading the search. Confidential inquiries, applications, and nominations should be sent by email to Abigail (abigail.maynard@opuspartners.net). The search process will unfold with the greatest possible attention to candidate confidentiality. Required application materials include a resume and letter of interest. The cover letter should reflect how qualifications and experience match those described in this leadership profile.

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.