Program Launch Manager Jobs in Lexington, NC (NOW HIRING)

Posting Details
Position Information
Classification Title
University Program Associate III
Working Title
Project Manager
Position Type
EPS
Position Number
001123
Full/Part Time
Full-time
School/Department Information
The Office of Strategic Communications bears primary responsibility for maintaining and safeguarding the university's public image through strategic marketing practices, public relations, media relations, news services, publications, executive messaging and crisis/emergency communications. The staff establishes standards for articulating the University's mission, vision, core values, strategic goals and visual identity, for promoting the University's performances, events, philanthropic opportunities and the accomplishments of its students, alumni, and faculty and staff to external audiences that include potential students and parents, alumni, supporters, and the general public.
Additional departmental responsibilities include maintaining all the University's external communications, including the website, social media, print publications, and fundraising materials and ensuring that all communications adhere to branding guidelines, standards of writing style, and institutional messaging. With a primary focus on external communications, the Office of Strategic Communications also offers expertise, insight and strategic planning to the Chancellor and other senior-level administrators on communications issues and events within the campus community.
The Office of Advancement directly supports UNCSA's mission and strategic priorities by building meaningful relationships with a variety of constituents and developing opportunities at all levels of alumni, volunteer, and philanthropic engagement. The Office of Advancement works closely with campus leadership, the UNCSA Foundation, and Strategic Communications.
UNCSA Advancement is an exciting, fast-paced team made up of talented colleagues who are passionate about their work, strive for excellence and best practices in all areas of Advancement, care deeply about our alumni, donors, and volunteers, and support and care about each other. This office is committed to providing regular, meaningful, top-quality professional development, training and coaching opportunities for all members of the team. UNCSA's next comprehensive campaign, tentatively planned for public launch in Fall 2027, will secure transformational resources for the campus, build UNCSA's reputation, and enable the realization of campaign ideas and priorities. This exciting initiative will play a pivotal role in UNCSA's future, and campaign development is a key focus for the Office of Advancement. With a best-in-class team in place and the development of a visionary campaign underway, there has never been a more exciting time to join the Advancement team at UNCSA.
Primary Description of Work
Reporting to the Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communication, the project manager orchestrates the daily operations of the department and works closely with the Strategic Communications Team to ensure successful execution of both internal and external projects, and to establish, document, and continuously improve project intake, prioritization, tracking, and communication processes. For internal projects, the project manager supports the team by providing structure and project support to ensure smooth departmental operations. For external projects requested by the Advancement, other departments or conservatories, the project manager functions as the primary contact and project lead from intake to completion - assessing requests, recommending priority, identifying constraints, and escalating conflicts when needed. This includes working with StratComm leadership in guiding strategy creation, planning timelines, projecting costs, providing proactive communications, managing workflows, sending timely status reports, and effectively trafficking information. This position is responsible for managing relationships with vendors, printers, and partners, among others.
More specifically, the project manager is responsible for communication on multiple platforms, providing strategic solutions to communications issues as well as managing the intake and workflow of project requests, holding new project consults with clients and ensuring projects are delivered on time. This role will be responsible for drafting plans, offering solutions, and providing backup support for the team as required. The Project Manager will help prioritize design projects, assess the appropriateness of incoming requests, and bring recommendations to the team. The Project Manager will define, update and implement processes, and work to safeguard productivity and efficiency throughout all projects.
The ideal candidate is someone who takes initiative and enjoys organizing and supporting a team. They are equally comfortable developing strategies related to project planning and driving day-to-day deliverables or projects. They have a knack for clarifying deliverables, anticipating needs, understanding timelines, organizing assets, managing stakeholders, and building relationships.
Work Schedule and hours
M-F 8am-5pm
Description of Responsibilities and Duties
Percentage of Total Time: 60%

• Drive planning, process, tracking, and communication alignment.
• Vet intake and prioritization of projects, so assets are delivered on time and within scope.
• Act as the point of contact between clients and Strategic Communications .
• Runs consultation meetings with clients for new projects to clarify the objectives, deliverables, audiences, deadlines, dependencies, etc.
• Communicate and notify teams of updates in the production calendar, final asset deliveries, and launch/usage plans.
• Communicate project needs with StratComm Directors and Managers.
• Follow and communicate StratComm service policies and procedures.
• Provide weekly project updates via email and/or project status meetings.
• Ensure seamless workflow of all the marketing services requests including creative reviews and internal reviews.
• Help the StratComm team by facilitating questions regarding the assigned projects.
• Manage stakeholder expectations.

Percentage of Total Time: 40%

• Lead day-to-day operation activities of StratComm to ensure seamless execution and workflow management for cross-functional projects.
• Improve team productivity by optimizing processes and efficiently managing resources to balance workload.
• Lead the drafting of project initiative forms and project charters, and the formulation of positioning statements and creative strategy, making sure goals are clear and actionable.
• Drive short term and long-term planning through development of timelines and processes
• Take a proactive approach to process development and workflow optimization.
• Create and oversee the master timeline for all projects to track, follow up and appropriately communicate all changes for projects on an ongoing/daily basis.
• Track and coordinate all project deliverables, prioritizing the team's workload based on deadlines.
• Assist with the workflow and prioritization of creative services projects, review project needs and scope, and work with the internal team, clients and vendors for additional clarification as needed.

Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's degree; or equivalent combination of training and experience. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.
Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in project management, project management certification, or five or more years of comparable/related experience.
• Record of teamwork and collaboration required.
• Deadline- and detail-oriented thinking focused on process and outcome.
• Strong oral, written, and interpersonal skills that demonstrate diplomacy, including the ability to accurately and thoroughly communicate using logic, clarity of thought, persuasiveness, and creativity.
• Excellent project/time management skills including project intake, cross-functional partner management, and workflow coordination.
• The ability to prioritize, consistently handle multiple tasks across multiple clients, and communicate effectively with stakeholders and teams, while managing partner expectations.
• Flexibility in changing priorities, while still meeting deadlines
• Experience in strategic communications and marketing
• Advertising agency and account/traffic management experience
• Experience working with project management platforms such as ClickUp, Asana, or similar.

Terms of Employment
P1 PrsnlLv EHRA 17.33 12 Month
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Teamwork and collaboration.
• Deadline- and detail-oriented, a creative and logical thinker.
• Strong oral, written, and interpersonal skills that demonstrate the ability to accurately and thoroughly communicate using logic, clarity of thought, persuasiveness, and creativity.
• Great communication, people, leadership, organizational, and project/time management skills.
• The ability to prioritize and consistently handle multiple tasks across multiple clients and teams.
• Comfortable with adapting to technology including Microsoft 365, Generative AI, Google Suite, etc.
• Flexibility when it comes to changing priorities, while still meeting deadlines
• Ability to present creative solutions and express creative rationale.

Special Conditions for Eligibility
Posting Detail Information
Posting Number
Open Date
04/30/2026
Close Date
Open Until Filled
Yes
Salary Range
Recruitment Range, if applicable
$55,000 - $75,000
Special Instructions to Applicants
Please see Special Instructions for more details.
This is an Exempt Professional Staff (EPS) position. The application must be completed in full detail (including work history) for your qualifications to be considered. Failure to complete the application process as required by state regulations will result in your application being rejected for the vacancy, and you will not be considered for the position. The UNCSA participates in E-Verify. Federal law requires all employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States. Final candidates are subject to criminal background checks.
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination, harassment, or retaliation based on race, religion, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation, National Guard or veteran status, genetic information, or disability.
EEO Contact Information
Applicants needing assistance with the application process are asked to contact: suttonar@uncsa.edu