Marketing & Communications Project Manager

Job Overview

Reporting to the Executive Director of Marketing and Communications, the Project Manager position is responsible for continuously managing, monitoring, and streamlining the department’s processes and workflows in the execution of a marketing strategy that positions ATD as a thought leader, supports the successful engagement and retention of colleges’ in-Network services, ensures strong stewardship of philanthropic investments, and that promotes, enhances, and protects the organization’s brand. The Project Manager drives the planning, process, tracking, and communication alignment within the department, including vetting the intake and prioritization of projects so assets are delivered on time, within scope, and within budget. Please include a cover letter along with the resume to be considered for this position.

Duties and Responsibilities

Traffic Management (70%)

• This role serves as the lead point-of-contact for internal ATD teams requesting marketing and communications support and is responsible for managing Marcom workflows between ATD teams and the marketing and communications department.
• Manages and reports out on the flow of projects from intake to delivery including creating timelines, tracking deliverables, and monitoring workloads and resources.
• Responsible for the efficient delivery of services for marketing initiatives and activities for ATD’s brand. Including campaigns for print, web, social media, broadcast, events, corporate responsibility programs and sponsorships, etc.
• Lead and execute day-to-day marketing operation activities to ensure seamless execution and workflow management for department projects.
• Drive team productivity by optimizing marketing processes and efficiently managing resources to balance workload.
• Build master timelines for each project considering all phases, contingencies, and dependencies.
• Manage all initiatives within project management software to make sure all tasks and projects are up to date daily and that all changes/updates are tracked within the system.
• Recognize areas for improvement and facilitate change by building partnerships and strong relationships across the ATD organization.
• Hold organizational teams accountable for delivering on project plans and remove daily blockers that interfere with project success factors.

Vendor Relationship Management (20%)

• Manage external vendors and freelancers as necessary, and ensure they have the information and resources needed to complete assignments within agreed-upon timelines.
• Coordinate with ATD project leads to provide progress updates on existing jobs and communicate any issues or anticipated problems.
• Is responsible for quality assurance (QA) of all creative assets for content and brand continuity.
• Manage final review and approval process.

Other Responsibilities (10%)

• Monitors and tracks department and program expenditures for marketing and communication contracted services.
• Works closely with the accounting and contracts departments on invoicing, contract agreements, and amendments.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills/Qualifications/Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing or related field required and 5 years of experience in project management or operations, preferably in an advertising agency, media, or marketing.
• Experience working with creative teams (e.g., designers, copywriters, photographers, etc.) resulting in a strong understanding of asset development and the thinking and processes surrounding it.
• Expertise with project management and CRM software and how to use it to drive transparency around goals, deliverables, and due dates (e.g., Wrike, Salesforce, Smartsheet, Air Table).
• Excellent organizational, prioritization, and decision-making skills with the ability to work autonomously and take strong accountability and ownership of multiple customer-facing projects.
• Ability to oversee department workflow, manage multiple projects and adapt to shifting deadlines and priorities.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills, with excellent attention to detail across all work.
• Proven experience in managing the flow of creative projects, deliverables, deadlines, and resources.
• Firm understanding of media plan, specifications, and standards of deliverables including print, digital, video, and social assets.
• Deep knowledge of deliverables and specifications for marketing campaigns: video, social graphics, print, digital marketing.
• Ability to demonstrate analytical and conceptual thought while developing a structured project plan.
• Recognize areas for improvement and facilitate change by working with others across the organization so that the team is highly efficient, well organized, and has seamless project execution.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software.

Position Details

Position Type: Full Time, Exempt

Salary Grade: 6

Reports To: Executive Director, Marketing & Communications

Work Location: Silver Spring, Maryland

Travel: Minimal

Core Competencies

Collaboration: Demonstrates respect, humility, and willingness to collaborate when seeking to understand others and making decisions.

• Disciplined Execution: Has the ability to break down big picture work goals into management tasks; has the foresight to anticipate potential roadblocks to ensure timely completion of tasks and projects.
• Effective Communication: Ability to actively listen and thoughtfully question to create greater understanding and to offer insights that advance problem-solving.
• Learning Orientation: Embraces challenges, new ideas and different perspectives as an opportunity to learn; continually seeks out and applies new learning to activate change or improvements.
• Systems Thinking: Defines the system and one’s role in the system. Sees relationships and the dynamic elements of the holistic system and executes work accordingly. Influences the system and maps connections to ATD’s external landscape.
• Change Agent: Serves as an agent of change at a personal, team, and organizational level to pursue outcomes for students. Adapts as the environment changes, while managing associated risks. Motivates staff, team, organization, and partners to activate the change needed to advance defined priorities.
• Equity Mind-Set: Awareness of inequities that exist at multiple levels (personal, interpersonal, organizational, and systemic). Understands and is committed to goals of equity; consistently brings an equity mindset to the organization’s work and workplace.
• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates self-awareness and self-regulation and recognizes the impact of personal behavior on others.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties of this position.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Achieving the Dream is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Employment policies and decisions at ATD are based upon merit, qualifications, performance, and business needs. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), gender identity or expression, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, legally protected genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.