Marketing Operations Manager

SUMMARY/OBJECTIVE: Reporting to the Senior Vice President of Marketing, the Manager of Marketing Operations is the operational and fiscal lead for the Marketing Division, serving all business units under the Tiber Health corporation, primarily Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU). The Manager directs project management for all marketing and communications functions and manages the department’s budget, contracts, purchasing, and invoicing.

The Manager builds and runs the systems that move work from request to completion, including intake, prioritization, scheduling, resourcing, approvals, and reporting. The Manager is accountable for ensuring that marketing and communications projects supporting enrollment growth, brand awareness, and institutional reputation are delivered on time, within scope, and within budget across the Ponce, San Juan, St. Louis, and Tortola campuses.

Additionally, the Manager serves as the department’s liaison to Finance, ensuring fiduciary and contractual compliance and providing the Senior Vice President with accurate, timely financial and operational data for planning and decision-making.

PRINCIPLE DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

• As a member of the marketing leadership team, collaborate with the Senior Vice President to translate annual marketing and communications plans into an integrated project portfolio, operating budget, and production calendar.

• Serve as the operational point of contact for marketing and communications requests from academic, clinical, research, and administrative units.

Project Management & Workflow

• Own the project intake process for all marketing and communications functions, including creative, digital, web, content, media relations, paid media, and events; ensure requests include scope, audience, timeline, budget, and approver before work begins.

• Prioritize and schedule projects with the Senior Vice President and functional leads using an established prioritization framework aligned to enrollment and institutional goals; resolve scheduling conflicts and resource constraints.

• Develop and manage project plans for major campaigns and initiatives, including scope, milestones, dependencies, assignments, and handoffs; facilitate kickoff, status, and post-project review meetings.

• Monitor progress, approvals, and deliverables; follow up with stakeholders on outstanding materials and escalate risks, delays, and scope changes to department leadership.

• Configure and administer the department’s project management platform (e.g., Asana, Monday.com, Smartsheet), including workflow configuration, templates, user training, and reporting, and maintain the master marketing and communications calendar across campuses and business units.

Fiscal & Budget Management

• Manage the department’s annual operating budget, including budget and spending forecasts, monthly budget-to-actual and variance analysis, and reconciliation with Finance.

• Track expenditures by campus, business unit, program, campaign, and channel; prepare financial reports and recommend reallocation of funds to leadership.

• Ensure fiduciary, operational, and transactional compliance with university financial policies, procurement requirements, approval authorities, and fiscal-year deadlines, including the appropriate use of one-time and recurring funds.

• Develop and maintain cost-allocation or chargeback methods for services, as directed by the Senior Vice President.

• Recommend improvements to financial tools and processes to strengthen forecasting accuracy and the quality of financial information provided to leadership.

Contracts, Procurement & Invoicing

• Manage the full contract lifecycle for agencies, media vendors, freelancers, printers, and technology providers: solicit quotes and proposals, coordinate statements of work, route agreements for Finance review, track renewals and expirations, and monitor vendor performance against contracted scope, cost, and deadlines.

• Prepare purchase requisitions and purchase orders; reconcile invoices against contracts, purchase orders, and delivered work; and route for approval and payment in accordance with established approval authority.

• Maintain vendor onboarding documentation (e.g., W-9s, certificates of insurance) and a centralized, audit-ready repository of contracts, purchases, and payments.

• Manage the department’s inventory of marketing technology subscriptions and licenses, including renewals, utilization, and cost, and serve as department liaison to IT for access, provisioning, and support.

Operations, Reporting & Process Improvement

• Develop, document, and maintain department operating procedures, including intake, approval chains, RACI, and service-level expectations; train staff and internal partners on their use.

• Develop and report operational key performance indicators (e.g., project volume, turnaround time, on-time delivery, budget-to-actual, cost per project) through dashboards for department leadership.

• Assess workflows to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies, and implement scalable improvements, including AI-assisted and automated workflows where appropriate.

Team Leadership & Collaboration

• Supervise, train, mentor, and develop assigned coordination and administrative staff and student assistants; manage performance in accordance with policies and applicable laws.

• Build effective partnerships with academic and administrative units at PHSU, with Finance and Procurement, and with marketing and communication leaders across Tiber Health units.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITES:

• · This position does not have direct supervisory responsibilities.

QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Listed below are the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required for this position, as well as the Physical Demands and Work Environment. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing, communications, project management, finance, or a closely related field required; master’s degree preferred.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations: Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), or equivalent certification preferred.

EXPERIENCE:

• 5+ years of progressive experience in marketing operations, project management, or business operations, including at least 3 years managing budgets, contracts, and vendor payments, preferably in higher education, health care, or an agency setting.

• 2+ years supervising staff or leading cross-functional project teams.

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft 365; experience with project management platforms (e.g., Asana, Monday.com, Smartsheet) and financial or accounting transaction systems; familiarity with CRM and marketing platforms (e.g., Salesforce, Slate, HubSpot).

• Bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish preferred.

COMPETENCIES: To perform this job successfully, an individual must have project and portfolio management skills to plan, schedule, and deliver a high volume of concurrent initiatives across multiple functions and stakeholders; financial acumen to build, monitor, forecast, and reconcile budgets and to manage contracts and payments with accuracy and compliance; process orientation and attention to detail to design, document, and continuously improve workflows, controls, and records; stakeholder management and influence demonstrated through the ability to set expectations, negotiate priorities, hold partners and vendors accountable, and build consensus without direct authority; and analytical problem-solving skills to interpret operational and financial data, anticipate risks, and recommend practical solutions that advance organizational objectives.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Demonstrated experience managing a high volume of concurrent projects across multiple functions, stakeholders, and deadlines in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

• Demonstrated experience developing, monitoring, and reconciling operating budgets and preparing financial forecasts and variance reports.

• Working knowledge of contract administration, procurement, and accounts payable processes, including statements of work, purchase orders, and invoice reconciliation.

• Familiarity with integrated marketing and communications workflows, including creative production, digital, web, media, and event processes.

• Knowledge of project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall) and process improvement frameworks.

• Demonstrated ability to build dashboards and reports and translate data into clear recommendations for leadership.

• Strong communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to maintain productive relationships with internal clients, vendors, and creative professionals.

• High degree of discretion, integrity, and accuracy in handling financial and contractual information.

• Availability to work occasional non-standard hours to support fiscal-year close, campaign launches, and signature events.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: This job operates primarily in an academic and office environment and routinely involves individual consultations, small-group sessions, and collaboration with faculty and staff. The role regularly uses computers, videoconferencing tools, phones, photocopiers, and other standard office equipment. The environment generally has a moderate noise level.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those required to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

The employee is regularly required to sit, stand, walk, speak, hear, use a computer, and handle various office materials. The role may require moving between offices, conference rooms, and campus public spaces. Specific vision abilities include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. Occasionally, product weighing up to 30 lbs may need to be moved or relocated using physical strength or a dolly/cart.

POSITION TYPE/EXPECTED HOURS OF WORK: This is a full-time, exempt position. Days and hours of work are generally Monday through Friday. Availability to work occasional nonstandard hours or weekends may be required to support organizational needs.

TRAVEL: Ability to perform non-local travel up to 15% of the time, including travel between campuses.

NOTE: This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed the employee will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other duties requested by his or her supervisor. An employee is expected to assist and provide coverage for coworkers during peak periods, vacation days or sick days.

Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), as an educational institution and as an employer, values equality of opportunity, human dignity, and racial/ethnic and cultural diversity. Accordingly, the University prohibits and will not engage in discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, political affiliation, disability, or veteran status.