Associate Director, Marketing Operations

Brandeis University is looking to hire an Associate Director, Marketing Operations. The Associate Director, Marketing Operations is a senior-level individual contributor responsible for the systems, workflows, resources, and processes that enable an integrated Marketing Communications division to operate efficiently and effectively. Reporting to the Vice President for Marketing Communications, this role works across teams to translate priorities into actionable plans, align internal and external resources with needs, and provide visibility into workload, capacity, timelines, and resource requirements.

This multifaceted role combines expertise in marketing operations, resource and workflow management, marketing technology, creative and production operations, vendor management, and budget stewardship. The Associate Director, Marketing Operations provides operational leadership across the division, connecting people, processes, technology, and resources to improve collaboration, increase efficiency, and move work effectively from planning through execution. The position requires a high degree of independent judgment, initiative, and the ability to influence and coordinate work across teams without direct supervisory authority.

The salary range for the position is $108.8k-$115k.

Key Responsibilities:

Marketing Operations, Workflow, and Resource Management — 40%

• Partner with team leads and campus partners to translate marketing and communications priorities into actionable workflows and resource plans, aligning work with strategic priorities and available capacity.
• Lead division-wide processes for project intake, prioritization, scheduling, workflow, and resource allocation.
• Maintain a division-wide view of current and upcoming work and capacity; anticipate resource constraints, competing priorities, and bottlenecks and work with team leads to develop solutions.
• Coordinate resources across teams and identify opportunities to share capacity or supplement internal teams with freelance, agency, or other external expertise.
• Manage project and workflow management systems and provide reporting that gives leadership visibility into workload, capacity, project status, and resource needs.

Systems and Operational Optimization — 25%

• Lead the administration and optimization of shared marketing technologies and platforms, including project and workflow management, email communications, brand management, and other systems that support integrated marketing operations.
• Identify and implement opportunities to use AI, automation, and emerging technologies to streamline workflows, reduce manual processes, improve collaboration, and increase capacity.
• Continuously evaluate processes and operating practices to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and make the best use of internal and external resources.
• Lead implementation and adoption of new tools and processes, including development of standards, documentation, best practices, and training.
• Manage shared operational and brand resources, including templates, brand-management tools, production resources, and other materials that support consistent and efficient execution.

External Resources and Production Operations — 25%

• Coordinate the operational flow of creative and production work across channels, working with team leads to support effective scheduling, resourcing, reviews, approvals, and delivery.
• Partner with team leads to assess external resource needs, identify appropriate solutions, and determine the most effective mix of internal and external resources based on expertise, capacity, priorities, and budget.
• Develop and manage a network of agencies, freelancers, production partners, technology providers, and other external resources to provide additional capacity and specialized expertise as needed.
• Manage key vendor relationships, marketing contracts, scopes of work, bids, and renewals in partnership with university Procurement and other appropriate offices.
• Provide expertise on production approaches, specifications, timelines, costs, and vendor capabilities, and recommend solutions that balance quality, effectiveness, budget, and schedule.
• Provide stewardship of marketing operations budgets, including vendor, technology, production, and external-resource spending; monitor expenditures, support forecasting and planning, and recommend resource allocations that maximize effectiveness and value.

Communications Operations — 10%

• Manage the operational delivery of university-wide broadcast email communications, including scheduling, production, audience management, testing, and quality assurance.
• Support the operational production of recurring internal communications and newsletters in partnership with Strategic Communications and Editorial.

Job Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, business, design, or a related field.
• Experience: 7–10 years of progressively responsible experience in marketing operations, creative operations, integrated marketing, project management, production management, or a related field.
• Exceptional project and process management skills, with demonstrated experience managing complex workflows involving multiple teams, priorities, platforms, and deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to assess workload and capacity, align resources with organizational priorities, and identify alternative approaches as business needs change.
• Strong understanding of integrated marketing and creative processes across print, digital, web, email, multimedia, social media, and emerging platforms.
• Experience with project and workflow management platforms and demonstrated ability to improve adoption and consistency of operational systems.
• Familiarity with marketing project management platforms, digital asset management, email communications systems, and emerging AI and automation tools.
• Demonstrated experience managing vendors, contracts, external resources, budgets, bids, and procurement processes.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to use data and operational insights to improve processes and inform decisions.

Pay Range Disclosure

The University's pay ranges represent a good faith estimate of what Brandeis reasonably expects to pay for a position at the time of posting. The pay offered to a selected candidate during hiring will be based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience and education/training, internal peer equity, and applicable legal requirements.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Brandeis University is an equal opportunity employer which does not discriminate against any applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, ancestry, religious creed, gender identity and expression, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, genetic information, disability, caste, military or veteran status or any other category protected by law (also known as membership in a "protected class").