Manager, Market Expansion and Public Affairs

Covista; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401k with 6% match

Paid holidays

Job summary

Covista, a leading healthcare education provider, is seeking a Manager of Market Expansion and Public Affairs to lead growth initiatives and government relations work. The role sits in Corporate Affairs and collaborates with campus leadership, community partners, and officials to enable successful openings and sustained engagement.

The position emphasizes project management, stakeholder communications, and policy storytelling to enhance Covista's national footprint in education and healthcare

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in a related field is required.
• 5+ years in public affairs, communications, event/project management, government relations.
• Experience managing complex multi-stakeholder projects with tight deadlines.
• Experience supporting business development, market entry, or expansion initiatives preferred.
• Healthcare, higher education, or mission-driven sectors a plus.
• Some travel required.
• Excellent written communication and relationship-building skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead market expansion activations from project management to stakeholder engagement.
• Plan ribbon cuttings, community events, and in-market activations with partners.
• Coordinate in-market events and briefing materials for leadership.
• Build relationships with campus leaders and local officials.
• Translate policy activity into external narratives and manage communications.
• Support broader GR/PA functions and risk management.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Public affairs

Communications

Education

Bachelor's Degree in a related field

Tools

Quorum

Job description

Manager, Market Expansion and Public Affairs

• Full-time
• Department: Government Relations & Regulatory Affairs

About Covista
Covista (NYSE: CVSA) is America's largest healthcare educator, serving 100,000 students and supported by a community of 400,000 alumni across five accredited institutions. Through personalized, tech-enabled education powered by 10,000 faculty and colleagues, Covista expands access to healthcare careers and addresses the U.S. healthcare workforce shortage at scale. Covista is the parent company of American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Chamberlain University, Ross University School of Medicine, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and Walden University.
Our colleagues come from a wide range of backgrounds, business, academia, healthcare, government and nonprofits, and are part of a culture where doing exceptional work and making a meaningful difference for students and society aren't separate goals—they're one and the same. This means creating an environment where colleagues can develop new skills, build careers that match their ambitions and see the tangible impact of their work on healthcare education and workforce development. Colleagues who deliver results and embrace new tools to work smarter are valued for their contributions. But what makes working at Covista distinctive is our impact. Our faculty and colleagues don't just support healthcare education—they shape it. This isn't abstract purpose work. It's solving real problems for real people in real communities while advancing careers.
We operate on a hybrid schedule with four in-office days per week (Monday–Thursday). This approach enhances creativity, innovation, communication, and relationship-building, fostering a dynamic and collaborative work environment.
For more information, visit covista.com and follow us on LinkedIn , Instagram and YouTube .

This role sits within Covista's Corporate Affairs team and reports to the Director, Federal Government Relations and Public Affairs. You'll operate at the intersection of two of Covista's most forward-facing and important functions — business development and public affairs —the Corporate Affairs lead for execution of Covista's market expansion efforts while contributing to an integrated Government Relations and Public Affairs function that shapes how Covista is perceived and positioned with external stakeholders.

Your primary mandate is supporting the team driving our campus growth strategy and new market entry. You'll be the Corporate Affairs embed for that work — project managing the public-facing elements of new campus locations, coordinating in-market events and community activations in conjunction with agency partners, and ensuring that every expansion moment is executed with the strategic discipline and storytelling quality that Covista's brand demands.

When a new location opens, you'll have been in the room long before opening day, having helped coordinate across campus leaders, community partners, local officials, Government Relations colleagues, and communications teams to make sure the right relationships are set up for success from day one.

Alongside this market expansion mandate, you'll play an ongoing role in the broader Government Relations/Public Affairs function — helping manage the systems, materials, communications, and stakeholder engagement that turn strategy into action. You'll support work that advances Covista's policy positioning and reputation with key stakeholders; translate policy activity and outcomes into narratives that resonate beyond Washington; and support issues preparedness and response in a news and regulatory environment that frequently presents new challenges.

Responsibilities

Market Expansion Activation

• Serve as the Corporate Affairs project manager for new campus openings and market expansion activations — owning timelines, coordinating stakeholders, and ensuring every public-facing moment is executed with quality and strategic intent
• Plan and execute ribbon cuttings, community events, campus launch activities, and in-market convenings in coordination with the business development team, institutional leaders, local officials, and community partners
• Coordinate in-market event attendance for Covista and institutional leadership — preparing briefing materials, managing logistics, and ensuring principals are set up for productive engagement with local stakeholders
• Build and maintain relationships with campus leaders in expansion markets, serving as their primary Corporate Affairs point of contact during the pre-opening and launch phases
• Partner with the business development team and their agency support partners on stakeholder mapping in new markets — identifying community organizations, healthcare system partners, elected officials, and civic leaders whose early engagement strengthens Covista's market entry
• Track and manage project timelines, deliverables, and dependencies across expansion activations; flag risks early and keep the right leaders informed.
• Serve as a bridge between Covista’s market expansion efforts and the broader GR/PA function, partnering closely with the regional Senior Managers of State Government Relations, who lead state and local government engagement, to ensure expansion activations reflect the political and policy landscape and that appropriate Government Relations groundwork is in place well in advance of public-facing launch moments.

Government Relations and Public Affairs

• Support the GR/PA function's public affairs work by developing and distributing stakeholder communications, policymaker newsletters, briefing materials, one-pagers, and event communications; partnering with colleagues on earned media and thought leadership opportunities; and helping translate policy and advocacy priorities and outcomes into external narratives that reach the right audiences.
• Help identify opportunities to connect Covista's market expansion narrative to its broader healthcare workforce story in Washington and beyond — ensuring that new campus openings are positioned not just as business milestones but as meaningful additions to the communities and healthcare systems they serve.
• Leverage the Covista Foundation's Open Doors programming and community partnerships as assets in market activation work — connecting expansion moments to Covista's broader community investment story.
• Support engagement with third-party stakeholders, including policy organizations, associations, community partners, and other external validators, as appropriate to GR/PA priorities.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Complies with all policies and standards.

Bachelor's Degree in a related field required

• 5+ years public affairs, communications, event/project management, government relations, or a closely related field required
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects with multiple workstreams and tight deadlines
• Experience working with or supporting business development, market entry, or expansion initiatives preferred
• Background in healthcare, higher education, or a similarly mission-driven industry a plus
• Experience engaging external stakeholders — including government, civic, community, healthcare, or other institutional partners — strongly preferred.
• Some travel required, particularly during active campus launch periods
• Exceptional project manager: builds timelines, tracks dependencies, coordinates across teams, and delivers on deadline without losing quality
• Strong written communicator: able to develop event materials, stakeholder correspondence, briefing documents, executive talking points and public affairs content
• Builds relationships quickly and credibly with campus leaders, community partners, local officials, and internal stakeholders across functions
• Brings a public affairs sensibility to activation work — understands that how a campus opens matters as much as that it opens
• Comfortable operating across two distinct functional mandates and shifting focus based on organizational priorities
• Resourceful and proactive; identifies what needs to happen next without waiting to be told
• Collaborative instincts: works well in a matrixed environment where multiple stakeholders have different but legitimate claims on their time
• Familiarity with project management tools and communications platforms; experience with stakeholder or relationship-management platforms such as Quorum is a plus; comfortable with data and metrics as part of reporting on outcomes.

In support of the pay transparency laws enacted across the country, the expected salary range for this position is between $95,000 and $120,000. Actual pay will be adjusted based on job-related factors permitted by law, such as experience and training; geographic location; licensure and certifications; market factors; departmental budgets; and responsibility. Our Talent Acquisition Team will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and we look forward to learning more about your salary requirements. The position qualifies for the below benefits.
Covista offers a robust suite of benefits including:

• Health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance
• 401k Retirement Program + 6% employer match

12 Paid Holidays
For more information related to our benefits please visit:
https://careers.covista.com/benefits
You are also eligible to participate in an annual incentive program, subject to the rules governing the program, whereby an award, if any, depends on various factors, including, without limitation, individual and organization performance.

Equal Opportunity – Minority / Female / Disability / V / Gender Identity / Sexual Orientation

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