Director, Marketing Strategy & Operations

Job Description

Together we are powering the future of Higher Education

Here at Ellucian, we are motivated by a mission. Higher education is facing a profound change what with the shifting demographics and cultural perceptions, combined with declining support and rising expectations. This is forcing colleges and universities to do more with less and that is where we come in.

As true believers in the power of education to transform lives, we are dedicated to helping all of our customers thrive—not just survive—by transforming their institutions from the traditional paper-based colleges of yesterday to the agile, connected campuses of today.

Working with cloud solutions built on a world-class infrastructure to powerful analytics that drive successful planning, we lead the industry in building enterprise solutions tailored to institutions around the world.

The Director, Marketing Strategy & Operations will serve as a “right hand” to Ellucian’s Chief Marketing Officer and provide thought partnership on critical Marketing initiatives and milestones. Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, you’ll help evolve and optimize the Ellucian Marketing function, bringing to bear your deep expertise in both defining and operationalizing strategy, combined with your understanding and experience in driving Marketing effectiveness. Working jointly with the CMO and other senior Marketing leaders, you will help define and execute a cohesive Marketing strategy, aligned to Ellucian corporate strategy, that incorporates internal insights, external trends, and Marketing best practices. And, you will be responsible for building an operating model and process infrastructure that delivers high-impact campaigns and unlocks the full potential of our talented teams.
The ideal candidate will be a natural collaborator and consultative problem solver who possesses a high intellectual curiosity and thrives in a dynamic, fast paced environment. Exceptional candidates will bring a unique blend of strategy and Marketing domain expertise, enabling them to help optimize Marketing processes, uncover customer insights to drive Marketing impact and ROI while measuring and growing Marketing contribution to overall Ellucian business goals.

Responsibilities:

• Form a deep understanding of Ellucian’s strategic goals and corporate strategy, to help shape and execute Marketing strategy and operations roadmap
• Partner with CMO and Marketing Senior Leadership Team to identify, prioritize, and lead strategic projects that will move the needle in Marketing organization; projects will include framing problem statement and approach, conducting analysis, synthesizing insights and implications, engaging with stakeholders to drive recommendations through to execution, and presenting to senior audiences
• Develop integral operations plans to drive goal clarity and prioritization within the team
• Collaborate on a measurement framework that enables optimization of Marketing ROI
• Create common infrastructure and capabilities around reporting and planning to drive efficiency and effectiveness
• Coordinate quarterly and monthly executive management deliverables, reporting to the Marketing senior leadership team
• Improve Marketing process discipline by defining and driving implementation and maintenance of key Marketing processes and fostering continual improvement, collaboration, and communication
• Utilize strong project management skills to track and deliver critical marketing projects and initiatives on time
• Oversee collection and aggregation of marketing budget and spend, in partnership with Finance, to ensure proper tracking and attribution of campaign dollars
• Formulate and oversee market research agencies and efforts
• Forge strong relationships with senior Marketing leaders and drive alignment across key “interlock” areas such as strategy, business goals, campaign planning, execution, and measurement
• Partner with CMO and other Marketing and HR leaders to assess and improve employee engagement
• Maintain an in-depth understanding of the industry and competitive landscape
• Stay abreast of Marketing trends and best practices and integrate into ongoing strategy evolution
• Work with and occasionally lead cross-functional teams and efforts, especially with other functional/BU Operations leaders
• Juggle multiple projects in a dynamic, high-pressure environment
• Serve as "Right Hand" / Chief of Staff (CoS) to CMO

Position Requirements:

• BA/BS degree with top-tier academic background; MBA a plus
• Minimum of 4 years previous management consulting and/or strategy experience at a top tier consulting firm or equivalent experience at a technology, media, or education firm
• Experience in B2B Marketing environments, with understanding of demand generation principles (sales pipeline and lead management, nurturing, analytics, optimizing conversion through funnel)
• Strategic mindset – be able to tell a story through analysis, develop innovative strategies and drive value add throughout each and every project
• Ability to structure and execute quantitative and qualitative analysis and deliver data-driven insights
• Demonstrated written and verbal skills and ability to prepare and present information and recommendations to a diverse and often senior audience
• Strong business acumen (e.g. ability to understand financial models, and other business case elements)
• Collaborative problem solving and working style to drive change through influence
• Able to self-manage progress against milestones and deliverables with a high degree of accountability and personal urgency
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously transparently, ensuring that all internal and external stakeholders understand the projects’ goals and deliverables
• Interest and/or experience in education, software, and/or information services industries a plus
• #LI-JM1

Ellucian provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Ellucian complies with all laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. Ellucian expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of Ellucian employees to perform their job duties may result in discipline up to and including discharge.