Director of LMS Administration

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 LMS Administration

Job Profile Title

Associate Director D, Information Technology

Job Description Summary

About the Penn Libraries:
The Penn Libraries provides a network of information resources and knowledge services that are vital to teaching, research, and learning at the University of Pennsylvania. This network includes 19 physical libraries, recognized for their collections, and a digital library known for innovation and richness of content. Through dynamic programming and exhibitions, and through the acquisition and preservation of literary and artistic artifacts, the Penn Libraries documents a wealth of social and historical periods, bringing scholarship to life at the University and in the various communities it serves.

The Director of LMS Administration is situated within the Penn Libraries' technology organization, which provides an administrative and technical home for this enterprise academic technology function. While embedded in the Libraries, the role is institution-wide in scope and is focused on the stewardship, reliability, governance, and strategic development of Penn's learning management ecosystem, including Canvas and closely integrated teaching and learning technologies.

This position reports to the Associate Vice Provost for Technology & Digital Initiatives and leads a small team responsible for the core Canvas platform, associated external tools, data integrations, and related risk-management practices. The role requires substantial technical fluency with Canvas, learning-tool interoperability, authentication and authorization, SIS and data integrations, accessibility requirements, vendor platforms, and the operational practices necessary to manage a mission-critical educational system in a responsive, secure, and compliant manner.

The position will work in especially close partnership with the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Innovation (CETLI), collaborating with CETLI to enact its vision for the role of technology in supporting teaching and learning  this partnership, CETLI provides leadership for pedagogical strategy, faculty development, and educational innovation, while this role provides the technical, operational, and platform leadership necessary to translate that vision into reliable, scalable, and sustainable services.

Penn's schools have a complementary role in providing local support to their user communities and their faculty and staff are important stakeholders in the instructional technology ecosystem.

The Director will participate in institutional governance for learning technologies and will help shape Penn's approach to emerging educational technology, including AI-enabled tools, learning analytics, third-party integrations, data governance, privacy, accessibility, and vendor risk. The role will work across academic, administrative, and technical stakeholders to evaluate opportunities, manage risks, and ensure that Canvas and related systems continue to support both Penn's current instructional needs and its evolving educational ambitions.

Job Description

Job Responsibilities

+ Manage operations of the courseware team and its services for users and school-based stakeholders. Coordinate courseware support activities (help desk, training workshops, documentation). Liaise with the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Innovation.

+ Provide technical administration of Canvas learning environment, including management of account and subaccount structure, permissions, and data loading. Prioritize and schedule updates and changes to coordinate with the…