The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan is seeking a visionary and strategic marketing leader to be the Director of Marketing & Business Development. This person will be responsible for overseeing, developing, and executing innovative marketing strategies that engage key audiences and elevate the Alumni Association brand. This role also requires leading business development initiatives, identifying and cultivating new growth opportunities, and fostering partnerships that expand and support engagement.

In addition to the responsibilities and qualifications listed below and most importantly, candidates must share and hold to the highest regard, the same values that are uniquely inherent to the Alumni Association:

ALL IN

Believe in our mission

Be trustworthy and loyal to the Alumni Association and each other

Be passionate about what we're doing and be proud to be a part of it

Be an employee who goes above and beyond the call of duty

SERVING HEART

Be open and willing to listen to others and help in whatever way possible

You're dedicated to selflessly following the Platinum Rule: treat others the way they want to be treated

SOLUTION SEEKER

You're a creative problem solver

You're never satisfied with the status quo

You find a way to say yes

You embrace new ideas and approaches from different perspectives 

You're collaborative, flexible and adaptive

We enrich the University of Michigan's impact by serving as an independent gateway for alums of all identities, backgrounds, and experiences across the globe and in our neighborhoods in order to create and deepen belonging to the Michigan Family, the Leaders and Best.

Join the Alumni Association in fostering a global community of belonging. We aim to create spaces where every stakeholder feels connected and valued. Through programs such as clubs, affinity groups, and student support initiatives, we are dedicated to building strong, supportive networks among alumni worldwide. We invite you to explore our impactful work and become a part of our commitment to nurturing a worldwide network of belonging. Discover more about our efforts here: Community of Belonging.

Alumni Association Leadership: 

• With the other members of the Alumni Association's Leadership Group, provide organizational leadership and assist the Executive team by showing visionary thinking and demonstrating expert knowledge to solve complex, organization-wide, or externally facing issues that ensure the Association remains relevant to alumni and the University while delivering its mission to stakeholders.
• Assist in the development, implementation, and evaluation of all programs and activities of the Alumni Association. Build, communicate, and oversee the implementation of overall and program-specific vision.
• Assist in creating a positive organizational culture that fosters the core values and creates a sense of belonging to staff. Evaluate skill and capacity gaps and identify Alumni Association staffing needs.
• Educate and inspire all Association staff to be engaged in building community and belonging efforts.
• Assist in financially stewarding the Association for a better future. Oversee operations, improve organizational processes, and create efficiencies.
• Represent the Association and develop collaborative relationships with constituents including University leadership, the Association's Board of Directors, and corporate partners. Persuasively communicate and demonstrate the Alumni Association's value to the University.
• Assist with engagement and stewardship of the Alumni Association's Board of Directors. Prepare materials and make presentations at board meetings. Administer board committees as needed.
• Represent the Association in industry and professional organizations.

Marketing

• Ensure a culture of collaboration with other teams and leaders in the organization.
• Oversee the creation, planning, development, and implementation of comprehensive marketing strategies for AAUM programs, products, events, and services in order to enhance the brand and support the strategic goal of engaging alumni in more relevant ways through the use of traditional and emerging channels. 
• Oversee the development of short- and long-term strategic marketing plans and budgets.  
• Ensure all marketing efforts are consistent with the AAUM brand and are focused on organizational  goals.
• Ensure campaigns and initiatives are integrated, cohesive, compelling, effective, and consistent across platforms, and deliver a strong ROI.
• Lead the team to write and evaluate Creative Briefs that inspire creatives to conceive and execute strategically sound, compelling marketing materials (print, DM, email, digital, events, video, etc.) that engage alumni in ways that ensure the desired outcome.
• Help manage external parties, such as agencies, consultants or freelancers, as needed.
• Develop an understanding of alumni audiences and key opportunities to reach and engage across segments. 
• Lead the project management function to ensure intake, assignment, and organization of projects is efficient, meets deadlines, and achieves organizational goals.
• Oversee the budget and be financially responsible (e.g., managing monthly spending, forecasting, and stewarding) for the Alumni Association's resources by aligning programs with organizational goals.
• Effectively lead, manage and supervise the team communicating expectations, setting work schedules and priorities, providing opportunities for personal and professional growth through regular performance reviews, guidance, and encouraging training while presenting new techniques, and recruiting/hiring staff as needed.
• Monitor industry trends and best practices, make process, operational, and strategic recommendations, and assist in implementing procedural changes.

Business Development

• Oversee the creation, planning, development, and implementation of comprehensive business development strategies to grow existing and identify new sources of revenue for the Alumni Association.
• Oversee the partnership with Learfield to grow sponsorship and advertising opportunities, and ensure growing and valuable relationships with existing corporate partners.
• Oversee the relationship with corporate partners that are managed directly by the Alumni Association, to ensure growing and valuable relationships.
• Drive collaboration across the Alumni Association to ensure corporate partnerships and activation activities are supportive of engagement initiatives.

General Responsibilities:

• Provide organizational leadership by demonstrating AAUM core values: All In, Serving Heart and Solution Seeker, and helping other staff members demonstrate those values.
• Value and embrace different identities and perspectives recognizing that everyone has unique and different experiences that contribute to the best solution seeking and success for AAUM. 
• Work with AAUM staff members to gain a clear and consistent understanding of the details of the strategic plan and feel equal ownership of every piece of it, including pieces for which there is no direct responsibility.
• Be collaborative with all AAUM staff and teams. Operate as a critical contributing member of the staff to complete objectives in many different areas in order to move the whole organization toward the strategic plan.
• Support University Relations efforts by demonstrating AAUM value to campus units/partners (i.e., schools/colleges, campuses).
• Continually build digital skill sets in order to implement into work.
• Staff and participate in team meetings, Alumni Association events that may be during evenings or weekends, and staff retreats including offsite, overnight staff retreats at Camp Michigania.
• Provide staff support to the Alumni Association's Board of Directors, its committees, and other volunteers as needed.
• Coordinate special projects as assigned or required.
• Participate in Alumni Association and other University committees as required.
• Share knowledge through internal communication.
• Support the Alumni Association's vision of creating a place of belonging for all alumni.
• Remain current with respect to technology and the University's educational resources.

Supervision Received

Direct supervision is received from the Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Supervision Exercised

Supervision exercised over the marketing managers and marketing project manager. 

• 8-10 years experience marketing experience managing brands or within a university marketing department
• Ability to think and develop strategically sound plans, including analyzing data, extracting trends and applying findings to improve marketing and our membership value proposition.
• Must be able to meet flexible deadlines consistently and work well under pressure.
• Must be highly pro-active and have a 'can-do' attitude managing projects and the team as an enterprise leader with an entrepreneurial spirit.
• Understanding and demonstrated project management skills and the ability to deliver a project from concept to completion.
• Strong partnership skills being able to develop these relationships internally across functions, the university, and externally with vendors and corporate partners.
• Experience with Microsoft Office, including Excel skills.
• Ability to utilize Google suite including mail, sheets, docs, slides, chat, etc.
• Demonstrated ability and passion to build your own digital skill set.
• Team player and a strong attitude for collaboration across different functions and programs to build consensus around plans.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A proven ability to generate creative, innovative solutions to issues with a can-do attitude with a mindset to be results-driven.
• Ability to work effectively with leaders and colleagues in a multicultural and diverse environment.

• Experience with the primary elements of Salesforce and marketing cloud to track results for campaigns utilizing a dashboard or similar software
• Understanding of marketing ROI models in order to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns
• Experience with A/B testing in order to test new campaigns and membership propositions
• Comprehension of managing paid mixed media inclusive of digital, direct mail, radio, etc.
• 3-5 years experience working within a membership driven organization with full knowledge of developing membership propositions, benefits, plans for acquisition and loyalty
• 5 years of event marketing experience from planning to execution

This is a hybrid position is located at the Alumni Center in Ann Arbor, MI with two required days a week in the office, including Tuesday. Starting September 3rd, staff will be required to be in the office 3 days a week.

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

• May require evening and weekend work to support Alumni Association events and programs

   

• May require travel

The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.