Project Manager

The Project Manager for Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) plays a critical role in the daily operations of the department. The Project Manager is responsible for coordinating, administering, and supporting projects and initiatives within the department. The position provides leadership in the areas of stakeholder communications, and project workflow processes and systems. This role will use project management principles and tools to review, prioritize and source projects to meet business objectives and timelines throughout Pepperdine. The Project Manager reports to the Director of Operations for Integrated Marketing Communications.

Integrated Marketing Communications is directly tasked with supporting the University's mission and strategic plan by building brand equity, elevating the University's national reputation, providing strong and consistent institutional message leadership, and implementing effective integrated marketing and communication strategies. The Project Manager fulfills a central role in helping the department accomplish its goals.

Duties

• Project Intake, Planning, and Administration
  • Serves as an administrator and coordinator of the department's project management platform and project intake processes.
  • Creates and maintains project records, ensuring all requests contain complete and accurate information, defined objectives, timelines, deliverables, approvals, and stakeholder contacts.
  • Reviews incoming requests for completeness, facilitates project scoping conversations, assists stakeholders in identifying project requirements, and ensures projects are properly categorized and prioritized according to departmental standards.
  • Monitors project schedules, deadlines, dependencies, and milestones to support efficient project execution across the department.
  • Provides user support, training, and guidance to faculty, staff, and project teams regarding project submission processes and system functionality.
• Project Workflow and Resource Coordination
  • Coordinates project workflow and traffic management across Integrated Marketing Communications.
  • Works closely with department leadership, project managers, creative teams, writers, digital specialists, print production personnel, and external partners to facilitate efficient project movement through all phases of development.
  • Assists with workload balancing, resource allocation, timeline management, and prioritization of projects to maximize departmental capacity and effectiveness.
  • Identifies workflow bottlenecks, scheduling conflicts, and resource constraints and collaborates with team leads to develop solutions.
  • Maintains production calendars, project schedules, and milestone tracking to ensure projects remain on schedule and aligned with stakeholder expectations.
• Stakeholder Communications and Vendor Management
  • Serves as a primary point of contact for project-related communications with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Provides proactive updates regarding project status, timelines, deliverables, approvals, and resource availability.
  • Facilitates communication between stakeholders and IMC team members to ensure project objectives, expectations, and deadlines are clearly understood.
  • Coordinates vendor outreach, requests for quotes, production schedules, and project deliverables.
  • Maintains positive working relationships with external vendors, consultants, freelancers, and campus partners while ensuring adherence to University policies, contractual obligations, and project requirements.
  • Escalates issues, risks, or delays as appropriate and recommends solutions to maintain project momentum.
• Reporting, Analytics, and Process Improvement
  • Develops, maintains, and distributes project status reports, workload reports, resource utilization reports, and other operational metrics used by department leadership.
  • Analyzes project data and workflow trends to identify opportunities for improved efficiency, service levels, and resource management.
  • Tracks key performance indicators related to project volume, turnaround times, capacity utilization, and stakeholder service.
  • Makes recommendations for process improvements, workflow enhancements, and system optimizations that support operational excellence and continuous improvement within Integrated Marketing Communications.
• Project Documentation, Training, and Knowledge Management
  • Creates, maintains, and updates project management documentation, operational procedures, workflow standards, training materials, user guides, and departmental best practices.
  • Ensures project records, approvals, and supporting documentation are organized and retained according to University and departmental standards.
  • Assists with onboarding and training of new staff members, student workers, and stakeholders on project management processes and systems.
  • Supports the development of consistent project management methodologies and standards across the department.
• Project Budget and Financial Coordination
  • Assists project owners, department leaders, and stakeholders in monitoring project-related budgets and expenditures.
  • Tracks project estimates, vendor costs, purchase requests, invoices, and financial commitments to help ensure projects remain within approved budget parameters.
  • Coordinates with departmental operations and finance personnel to support purchasing, vendor payments, and financial reporting activities related to marketing and communications initiatives.
  • Maintains accurate budget records and provides financial status updates as requested.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Uphold University mission through work performed.

The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Skills and Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor's degree.
• 3+ years in project management or marketing and communications.
• Workfront or Equivalent Project Management Systems experience.
• Strong communication skills, excellent writing and editing skills, strong personal presence when communicating by phone and email.
• Must be proficient with MS Office, especially Word and Excel.
• PC, Mac, Phone, Printers, Copiers, Media/Presentation Equipment.

Preferred:

• Google Docs, PeopleSoft, Asset Bank Image Archiving Software or Equivalent Systems.
• Excellent project management and prioritization skills and ability to align efforts across multiple departments.
• Very strong organization, problem solving, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work well with others and experience pulling internal resources together to ensure timely results, overseeing several projects at once.
• Ability to work across several projects and adapt to shifting priorities.
• Ability to work with tight and aggressive deadlines while being extremely detail oriented and organized for accurate and timely delivery of projects.
• Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft and Google suites, Slack, Modern Campus or website CMS software.

This is a Regular, Nonexempt, 40 hour per week position that may be considered for hybrid work in accordance with the University Policy Manual. 

Expected Pay Range: $30.50 - $33.89 per hour 

The above pay range reflects what Pepperdine University reasonably expects to pay for this position at time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on relevant factors such as work experience, market conditions, education/training, and skill level. In addition to base pay, Pepperdine offers a robust and highly competitive benefits package.

Pepperdine is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of any status or condition protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Pepperdine is committed to providing a work environment free from all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment. Engaging in unlawful discrimination or harassment will result in appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal from the University.

Pepperdine is religiously affiliated with the Churches of Christ. It is the purpose of Pepperdine to pursue the very highest employment and academic standards within a context that celebrates and extends the spiritual and ethical ideals of the Christian faith. While students, faculty, and staff represent many religious backgrounds, Pepperdine is permitted under applicable law and reserves the right to seek, hire, and promote persons who support the goals and mission of the institution, including the right to prefer co-religionists who support Pepperdine's Christian mission.

Qualified individuals should be able to show respect for workplace differences, and have the ability to work effectively with individuals from different backgrounds.

Offers of employment are contingent upon successful completion of a criminal, education, and employment screening. The University conducts such screenings in compliance with applicable laws and with the objectives of evaluating risk and supporting a safe environment for students, faculty, staff, and guests; safeguarding key University assets including people, property, information, and the University’s reputation; and providing comprehensive job-related information to University leaders to enable them to make prudent hiring decisions. Individuals will be required to disclose any criminal convictions on a designated form after receiving a conditional offer of employment; failure to disclose accurate information may result in withdrawal of the offer or termination of employment. Qualified individuals with criminal histories will be considered for employment in compliance with applicable laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance.