Job Title: Senior Program Manager (Pre-College)

Department: Pre-College Programs, Collegiate and Professional Group (CPG) 

Reports to: Director of Pre-College

FLSA Status: Exempt

Prepared by: Director of Pre-College

Prepared Date: March 22, 2024

Context

BrandEd is a successful group of education businesses, including Sotheby’s Institute of Art, The School of The New York Times, City Football Leadership Institute and Condé Nast College. Its mission is to build compelling education programs in partnership with the world’s best brands. The Collegiate and Professional Group (CPG) supports its expansion and plans for growth, by working across schools on the development and delivery of non-MA programs.

The Role / Position Purpose 

The Senior Program Manager (SPM) plays an essential role in the running successful delivery of Pre-College programs, and expansion of some key programs for BrandEd. As part of the Operations Team, the Senior Program Manager ensures the successful planning, development, administration, and execution of the program delivery and oversee the overall operations of Pre-College, ensuring a well-organized program. 

This is a leadership role that will work closely with the Director of Pre-College and liaise regularly the Director of Student and Residential Life as well as the Academic Directors of various programs, and work closely with their colleagues to provide a shared and consistent administrative support to students and staff alike. The Senior Program Manager will also work interdepartmentally with Admissions, Marketing, Digital Learning and IT, Finance and Payroll, as well as other Shared Service teams to ensure the successful planning and administration of assigned programs. Additionally, the role may covers a variety of responsibilities in the areas of organization, communication, coordination, student support and pastoral care.

This is a full-time position based in New York, which will require on-site support and will include some nights and weekends and other duties as required with reasonable notice provided. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
 The Senior Program Manager is expected to perform all the necessary duties outline for this role and all the duties necessary which are customarily performed by a person holding this position. Specific duties and responsibilities include the following, but are not exhaustive and other duties may be assigned.

• Work closely with the Director of Pre-College to project manage, coordinate, and deliver programs.
• Work closely with internal cross functional teams as well as outside contractors to plan and execute all operational processes to ensure the smooth execution of programs.
• Manage course budgets for all site visits, guest speakers and materials; work within budget constraints to deliver effective academic content. Ensure effective contractual and fiscal management of Pre-College programs, keeping financial trackers up to date to ensure expenses, receipts, invoices, and petty cash are meticulously recorded to ensure programs are completed within their allotted budget. 
• Oversee the faculty and co-curricular contract and payment process. 
• Manage Program Managers and Program Coordinators reporting to this role, as well as coordinate temporary administration and support team members as well as their work schedules while programs are running.
• Manage the program schedule for the implementation of Canvas, Orah, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams as well as any other Pre-College educational technologies or student engagement/management technologies used.
• Manage the project schedule for programs, coordinating diverse teams in multiple organizations and ensure successful implementation.
• Plan and in some cases, lead staff meetings, in regularly scheduled program planning meetings, weekly one-to-one meetings with supervisor, and other meetings as assigned.
• Oversee the creation and tracking of Pro-College program documentation, including faculty training, policies, feedback surveys, and handbooks. 
• Coordinate events and activities that support the student experience, including student and parent virtual pre-orientation sessions, in-person orientation sessions, and closing ceremonies.
• Conduct research on other programs (e.g. market research) and build relationships as needed in order to understand and implement best practices. 
• Work across internal teams to design, set up and run systems to collect, assess and evaluate program success and continually improve programming.
• Implement technology systems and processes as directed by your line manager.

Knowledge and Abilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and ability necessary to perform this job. Under the ADA, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills - able to communicate directly, concisely and/or diplomatically as required, knowing how, when and what to communicate.
• Demonstrated project management skills, especially working across diverse teams and corporate cultures.
• Strong organizational and administrative skills with the ability to anticipate, improvise and adapt for optimal resolutions.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills/highly collaborative: work well within a team environment to plan, implement, and troubleshoot; as well as maintain composure in stressful situations, make sound judgments, and work under deadline pressure.
• Highly productive, able to work effectively and efficiently on a variety of projects simultaneously and autonomously. 
• Excellent organizational and administrative skills with the ability to anticipate, improvise, and adapt for optimal resolutions: detail-oriented and proactive/self-starter.
• Proficient in/willing to learn the following systems, amongst others:
  1. Canvas Learning Management System
  2. Monday.com
  3. DocuSign electronic signature management systems (or similar)
  4. Survey Monkey
  5. Orah - student engagement/management systems
  6. Accounting management systems
  7. Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Teams

Additionally, the individual must:

• Demonstrate professionalism and diplomacy in interpersonal relationships.
• Support and embrace diversity and inclusiveness.
• Comply with regular weekday (Monday-Friday) attendance/availability during core business hours and be available to work on-site in New York City three days per week.
• Be willing and available to work additional hours, as needed.
• Be willing and available to travel, as needed.
• Foster a positive learning experience for all students, and a positive working environment for staff.
• Pass a background check.

Education, Work Experience and/or Licensure

The Senior Program Manager must have a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, as well as 4 years prior experience working in education.

Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

Language Skills

While no special language skills are required for the position, applicants should be capable of upholding the highest standards of written and spoken English.

Physical Demands

The physical demands listed here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of his/her job. Under the ADA, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Ability to travel extensively within the broader New York City area, and internationally as needed, for the purpose of escorting students on site visits and field trips.
• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Ability to hear, understand, and distinguish speech and/or other sounds. 

Work EnvironmentThe work environment characteristics listed here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job. Under the ADA, reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of a basic office/academic environment.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by an individual assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required of personnel so classified. BrandEd reserves the right to modify this job description in its sole discretion.

BrandEd is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.