Director of Project Strategy

About ACU

ACU is affiliated with the fellowship of the Church of Christ. All applicants must be professing Christians and willing to support the Christian mission and purpose of Abilene Christian University while employed by the university.

Title of Position Director of Project Strategy Posting Location Abilene Department Marketing Employee Class Exempt Full-time Basic Responsibilities

Strategic Marketing Planning

Develop Project Management

Change Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Project Portfolio Management Essential Duties

Overall, this role would spend approximately 50% of time on strategic marketing planning and 50% on project management. Once project management best practices and resources are established, time spent would shift to approximately 60% strategic marketing planning and 40% project management.

1. Strategic Marketing Planning

Lead projects from strategy development and requirements definition through deployment, identifying schedules, scope, resource allocation, and implementation plans, including risk management

Develop strong annual marketing strategy and plan for driving enrollment growth

Collaborate with VP of Marketing and team members to develop strategic plans for projects, ensuring each task contributes to larger, strategic objectives

Collaborate with key stakeholders to develop comprehensive marketing strategies aligned with organizational goals and objectives.

Conduct market research, analyze trends, and identify opportunities to differentiate our brand and capture target audience attention.

2. Develop Project Management

Ensure an 80% / 20% Marketing project load split : 80% : tasks and projects derived from strategic priorities and goals, and projects that drive student enrollment and / or tuition revenue.

20% : production requests from campus partners not in strategy

Implement and lead strategic prioritization of work by transforming the current client-task-oriented approach to one where deliverables arise from well-thought-through strategies.

Transform the approach to business / results prioritization, ensuring tasks and projects are derived from strategic priorities and goals rather than individual tasks that do not align with overall strategy, do not drive student enrollment, or do not drive tuition revenue

Implement and manage a new project management processes and system. Lead the seamless integration of the chosen system with existing tools;

develop and lead a training program to educate team members on new project management framework, process, and utilizing the new project management system effectively

Develop and implement proactive risk mitigation strategies, with a focus on maintaining project timelines and quality

Cultivate a culture of continuous improvement by identifying areas for optimization and efficiency gains within project management

Manage Project Coordinator who will play a vital role in supporting the director of Project Strategy and team members by monitoring project progress, providing updates, managing resources, and organizing project documentation.

3. Change Management :

Conduct a comprehensive organizational culture assessment within the Marketing Department, identifying cultural barriers to change

Develop a strategic change management plan, including targeted communication campaigns inside and outside the team, workshops, and incentives

Develop and deliver a hands-on training program to educate key stakeholders on new project management approach and framework, including new approach to the prioritization of work within the Marketing Department

Implement a feedback loop by monitoring, documenting, measuring, and communicating the success of change initiatives, making adjustments based on real-time insights

4. Stakeholder Engagement :

Foster strong relationships with key stakeholders through regular check-ins and collaborative workshops

Implement a robust communication plan, ensuring transparency and alignment between project goals and organizational objectives

Establish a feedback mechanism to capture stakeholder input and integrate it into project planning and execution

Collaborate with departmental leaders to define and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) for project success

5. Project Portfolio Management :

Develop a dynamic project prioritization framework, incorporating input from key departmental leaders to align projects with the overarching goal of driving enrollment

Implement a real-time project tracking and reporting system for enhanced visibility into project status and resource allocation

Implement a system for tracking and measuring the strategic impact of individual tasks and projects

Report out to VP of Marketing and advise on alignment of team resource allocation to strategic priorities

Professional Development Requirements

Skills

Strong project management experience, PMP or other project management certification preferred

A bridge-building mentality, a strong relational leader

Strong organizational and management skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Training Required

Ongoing CPE

Regular reading in higher education and marketing publications

ACU network programs : Concur, Banner, etc.

Qualifications

Professional

Bachelor's degree in Project Management, Business Administration, Marketing, or a related field

Proven experience (5+ years) in project management, including building project management functions

Strong experience with project management tools and software

Strong understanding of change management principles

Personal

Ability to navigate complex organizational politics and foster positive relationships

Experience managing priorities and work without direct supervision of team members

Physical Demands

Work is performed in an office environment; must have the ability to sit for long periods of time (4-6 hours)

The strong preference for this role is that it would be in-person on the Abilene campus. A hybrid role may be considered for extremely strong candidates.