Employment Opportunities at 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.

● Strategic Marketing Planning 

● Develop Project Management 

● Change Management 

● Stakeholder Engagement 

 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 

● 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.

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

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

ACU does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, disability, genetic information, national or ethnic origin in employment opportunities, in keeping with applicable state and federal law.

ACU is committed to maintaining a safe and secure campus environment and protecting the university's financial and physical assets.  Therefore, Abilene Christian University conducts background checks on all candidates for employment in security sensitive positions.