Responsibilities

• Campus Partner Relationship Management
• Build and sustain working relationships with colleges, auxiliary units, and administrative offices whose marketing activity intersects with enterprise brand strategy.
• Establish clear intake processes, service expectations, and escalation paths so campus partners have a consistent and predictable point of entry to UMC .
• Convene recurring planning and review forums with partner organizations to surface conflicts early, resolve competing priorities, and keep joint work on track.
• Represent the interests of the academic campus in partner planning discussions and carry partner constraints and objectives back to UMC leadership.
• Anticipate friction between units and intervene before it affects partner relationships, the University’s brand, audiences, or shared timelines.
• Affiliated Entity Coordination
• Coordinate brand and marketing activity with Crimson Brand Partners across branding, licensing and sponsorship, ticketing, venue events, and digital media, ensuring alignment with University brand standards and institutional priorities.
• Maintain a shared understanding of roles, decision rights, and approval paths between UMC , Athletics, and affiliated commercial entities.
• Review proposed partner and commercial initiatives for brand fit, audience impact, and reputational risk, and advise leadership on concerns before commitments are made.

Requirements

• EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT : 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor’s degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).
• Associate Director, Strategic Partnership Management: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 10 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 8 years of directly related work experience.

Preferred

• Experience in higher education, academic medicine, collegiate athletics, or another large, decentralized enterprise with multiple brand stakeholders.
• Experience serving as a liaison between a central marketing function and semi-autonomous units, affiliated entities, or external rights holders.
• Working knowledge of trademark licensing, brand governance, and current collegiate athletics considerations, including name, image, and likeness.
• Experience establishing shared-service models, intake processes, or service-level agreements between internal units.
• Experience leading creative execution teams.
• Experience leading managers and supervisors across more than one marketing discipline.
• Experience developing integrated marketing plans with partners across paid, owned, and earned channels.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting to executive leadership and governing boards.