Director of Enterprise Programs

Position Summary

The Director, Enterprise Programs serves as the Division of Communications and Marketing (MarComm) senior operational leader for complex, high-visibility, and non-routine initiatives that fall outside standard campaign workflows.

This role assesses enterprise-level projects and reputation-driven efforts as they emerge; brings structure and clarity to ambiguous work; assembles and activates cross-functional teams and external partners; and governs execution to ensure delivery with speed, quality, and institutional alignment. Projects assigned to this Director may include global executive engagements, enterprise growth initiatives, reputation-building efforts, and other institutionally significant programs that emerge throughout the year.

Operating without direct supervisory authority, the Director leads through influence, structured governance, and executive alignment to ensure complex initiatives are clearly scoped, properly resourced, and successfully executed. This role does not manage functional teams or a project/program management staff. Instead, it exercises enterprise-level authority through program structure, prioritization discipline, and cross-functional activation.

At the start of each fiscal year, the portfolio of work is largely undefined. This role provides the operational discipline that enables the Division to respond to institutional priorities without creating fragmentation, duplication, or reactive escalation.

About The Work Unit

The Communications and Marketing team at Vanderbilt University is a dynamic and deeply collaborative group. The division, with all of its departments and sub-teams, serves as the institution-wide center of excellence for communications and marketing, developing and executing strategies that inform, engage and inspire others to participate in Vanderbilt University’s global academic and research mission. The division is a key strategic adviser and partner for other divisions in the university, providing comprehensive plans and thoughtful analysis on messaging opportunities and constraints. The Communications and Marketing team continuously seeks innovative solutions to new and emerging challenges in order to deliver results at scale to advance the larger mission, values and priorities of the university.

Key Responsibilities And Expected Performance

Enterprise Initiative Intake and Structuring

• In partnership with MarComm operations, establish structured intake and framing processes for high-impact, non-routine initiatives entering the division.
• Partner with MarComm and institutional leaders to clarify objectives and desired outcomes; define scope, success measures, and sequencing; identify executive sponsorship and decision rights; and assess strategic alignment and portfolio impact.
• Assemble appropriate cross-functional teams and define execution structure.
• Translate ambiguous requests into clearly structured programs before execution begins.
• Reduce reactive or poorly scoped work through disciplined front-end governance.
  
  

Enterprise Program Leadership and Activation

• Serve as the operational program lead for complex, cross-functional initiatives requiring elevated coordination, executive visibility, and disciplined execution.
• Operate effectively in politically sensitive and high-reputation environments.
• Lead enterprise-level reputation and event-driven initiatives, including executive engagements, global forums, institutional announcements, and multi-market activation strategies.
• For assigned enterprise programs:
• Develop program charters, timelines, and governance structures
• Activate teams and resources quickly in response to time-sensitive or surge initiatives
• Sequence work across internal teams(brand, creative, content, PR, media, digital, advancement, etc.)
• Coordinate and integrate external agencies and partners into program structure
• Surface risks, interdependencies, and tradeoffs early
• Facilitate stakeholder alignment and executive updates
• Ensure timely, high-quality delivery aligned to institutional standards
  
  

Portfolio Visibility and Prioritization

• Maintain enterprise-level visibility across strategic, special, and surge initiatives.
• Ensure the division’s highest-impact work is clearly elevated, resourced appropriately, and governed with division.
• Partner with division leadership to:
• Assess portfolio impact and capacity implications
• Facilitate prioritization and tradeoff discussions
• Sequence initiatives based on strategic value and operational feasibility
• Escalate conflicts or constraints requiring executive decision
  
  

External Agency and Partner Governance

• Strengthen external partner management as a scalable capability.
• Establish governance standards for engagement with external agencies and strategic partners.
• Map agency capabilities and clarify role differentiation
• Reduce duplication and fragmentation across agency engagements
• Develop standard operating procedures for briefing, engagement, and evaluation
• In partnership with the MarComm Finance team, improve processes and transparency into billing structures, contracts, and PO ownership
• Ensure agency work integrates seamlessly into enterprise program governance and internal workflows
  
  

Brand and Message Insights and Integration

• Ensure enterprise initiatives reflect cohesive institutional messaging and reinforce established brand strategy.
• Translate research insights(e.g., brand studies, focus groups) into actionable implications for enterprise initiatives.
• Promote alignment across major campaigns and institutional narratives.
• Identify risks to message cohesion within high-visibility initiatives.
  
  

Cross-Functional Integration and Workflow Governance

• Ensure enterprise initiatives move effectively across disciplines within MarComm.
• In close collaboration with MarComm operations, define clear handoffs between teams, decision rights and approval pathways, governance cadences for complex work, and escalation mechanisms when priorities conflict.
• Protect teams from unclear scope, shifting authority, or unstructured demand, and continuously refine workflow standards to support scalable, integrated execution.
  
  

Operational Capacity and Risk Management

• Partner with the MarComm operations team to assess the capacity implications of major initiatives, to help ensure enterprise ambition is matched with operational realism.
• Forecast resource strain created by surge or episodic work
• Identify sequencing risks and delivery constraints
• Provide leadership with transparent visibility into tradeoffs
• Surface systemic risks before they escalate into delivery failure
  
  

Technology Enablement and Operational Innovation

• Leverage work management platforms, collaboration tools, and reporting systems to enable visibility, coordination, and execution across complex enterprise programs.
• Demonstrate curiosity and adaptability in evaluating and adopting new technologies and approaches that enhance cross-functional coordination, decision-making, and speed of execution.
• Continuously assess and refine tools, workflows, and systems to improve scalability, reduce fragmentation, and strengthen MarComm’s ability to deliver complex work.
  
  

Supervisory Relationships

This position is an independent contributor with influence and indirect authority across the MarComm projects within the portfolio of work. This position reports administratively and functionally to the Chief Operating Officer, Communications and Marketing.

Education and Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree or commensurate experience is required. Master’s degree(MBA) or commensurate experience is preferred.
  
  

Experience And Skills

• 10 years of experience leading complex enterprise programs, strategic initiatives, or cross-functional operations.
• Proven success activating and leading high-visibility, ambiguous initiatives in matrixed organizations, and translating them into structured, executable plans.
• Experience facilitating executive-level alignment and prioritization discussions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills in politically complex environments.
• Experience integrating multiple functional disciplines and external partners.
• Experience leading high-stakes initiatives where reputational exposure, public visibility, or political sensitivity require both rapid response and disciplined judgment under pressure.
• Demonstrated ability to manage relationships across diverse and often competing stakeholder groups, including executive leadership, external partners, legislative and regulatory bodies, media, and public audiences, in environments where the stakes are high and the margin for misalignment is low.
• Strong skills in project management, vendor negotiation and resource planning.
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships and influence across teams.
• Proficiency with project management tools, workflow platforms, and data reporting systems.
• Comfortable working with ambiguity and bringing structure to loosely defined problems.
• Proven ability to lead with a bias for action, ensuring disciplined execution and operational efficiency.
• Experience maintaining high standards through consistent prioritization, repeatable processes, and attention to detail.
  
  

Core Competencies

• Enterprise systems thinking
• Structured program design and operational judgment
• Executive presence and facilitation skill
• Political acuity and relationship navigation
• Cross-functional leadership without direct authority
• Risk identification and escalation judgment
• Ability to drive execution with speed and quality
• Situational intelligence and contextual judgment: ability to rapidly assess complex organizational environments, identify critical signals across competing priorities, and ensure the right information reaches at the right moment.
  
  

Preferred

• Experience strengthening governance or program maturity in complex environments
• Experience operating across multiple sectors: including government, policy, corporate, and mission-driven organizations, where communications decisions carry reputational consequence.