Project Coordinator, Marketing and Communications

Job ID: 43509

Location: Evanston, Illinois

Department: Alumni Relations & Development

Salary/Grade: EXS/5

Job Summary:

Provides management for marketing and communications projects within Alumni Relations and Development, recommending goals, assessing feasibility, developing action plans, and providing day-to-day oversight of administrative and project management functions.

The project coordinator is responsible for managing communication projects from start to finish, including developing project briefs and schedules; coordinating the work of editorial, design, and digital team members; and presenting work to client partners on time and on budget. The project coordinator also works to ensure all marketing and communications requests and projects move seamlessly from start to on-time completion. This entails entering and tracking projects in the team’s project management system and leading weekly meetings to discuss, prioritize, and assign responsibilities between various marketing and communications team members, internal clients, and external editorial, design, print, and production vendors.

Please highlight areas of responsibility:

• Budget & Financial
• Communications

Specific Responsibilities:

Administration

• Manages day-to-day marketing and communications project operations for the Northwestern Alumni Association, Reunion, and Annual Giving.
• Ensures that project mission, values, guidelines, policies, and procedures are implemented and maintained.
• Utilizes project management software; prepares reports and timelines.
• Reviews processes and recommends ongoing improvements to drive efficiency and quality control.
• Identifies service improvement opportunities that will better enable program/project to achieve its goals and objectives.
• Acts as liaison to IT to ensure project management software is properly installed and maintained.
• Acts as liaison with University licensing to submit and gain approval on trademark usage.

Budget & Financial

• Participates in vendor budget preparation.
• Maintains freelance/contractor budget and associated analysis and reports.

Communication, Outreach, and Recruitment

• Manages development of coordinated, consistent marketing and brand messages.
• Takes meeting notes and develops and distributes conference reports in timely manner.
• Manages communication projects from start to finish, working with editorial, design, and digital team members to deliver quality communications to internal clients—on time and on budget.
• Creates and nurtures relationships with University departments and external organizations to develop a network of enthusiastic partners/vendors engaged via active participation in the success of project.
• Reviews market trends to recommend future plans to increase revenue, participation, engagement, etc.

Evaluation

• Observes program sessions and interacts with participants for purpose of gaining consumer insight, growing and strengthening program knowledge, and optimizing client satisfaction.

Grants and Contracts

• Prepares requests for proposals and oversees the RFP process and invoicing for printers and mail house production firms.

Program Development

• Manages program/project curriculum, seminars, presentations, workshops, learning experiences, chat rooms, websites, social networking, etc. based on goals/objectives.
• Identifies and obtains external expertise as needed and works with content experts for current and new programs.
• Reviews programs/projects to increase efficiencies to support growth.
• Leads program/project updates and improvements.

Supervision

• Performs other duties as assigned, including secondary research.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s in business, marketing, communications, or a related field plus one year of program administration or similar experience, or three years of program administration or similar experience.

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• Detail-oriented, proactive, resourceful, ability to break large efforts into smaller tasks for prioritization and completion, ability to multi-task, strong communication and business writing skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 1–2 years project management or marketing communications experience. 
• Experience at a communications agency with exposure to copy and design is a plus.

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

• Curiosity, good listener/synthesizer of information, strong collaborator

Benefits:

At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:

Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life’s challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development:

Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you’re interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.

Northwestern requires all staff and faculty to be vaccinated against COVID-19, subject to limited exceptions. For more information, please visit our COVID-19 and Campus Updates website.

The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. We acknowledge and honor the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Click for information on EEO is the Law.