Marketing Manager

University of Southern California; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 114,000 - 156,000; Full time

Job summary

USC Marshall School of Business is seeking a Marketing Manager to lead strategy and operations for graduate program marketing, working with agencies and internal teams to drive awareness and engagement.

The role emphasizes audience-centered planning, data-driven optimization, and collaboration across marketing, communications, and admissions to elevate USC Marshall as a top choice for prospective students.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or combined experience/education in marketing or related field.
• Five years of progressively responsible experience in marketing; experience with creative advertising agency workflows preferred.
• Thorough knowledge of marketing principles and techniques.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and creative judgment.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day marketing operations and develop short- and long-range strategies for brand marketing and demand generation.
• Collaborate with leadership to set goals, identify audiences and translate priorities into actionable plans.
• Supervise staff and external partners, ensuring high-quality campaigns across channels.
• Use data and insights to optimize marketing effectiveness and drive engagement.

Skills

Marketing strategy

Campaign planning

Agency management

Team collaboration

Communication skills

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Job description

USC Marketing Department The Marketing Manager will lead marketing strategy and operations that reach, engage and inspire prospective students for the school’s graduate programs. The Manager will develop integrated, audience-centered advertising, promotional, and experiential program approaches that increase awareness, drive consideration, and elevate the USC Marshall brand to be a prospective graduate student’s first choice among options.

USC Marshall School of Business USC Marketing Department The Marketing Manager will lead marketing strategy and operations that reach, engage and inspire prospective students for the school’s graduate programs. The Manager will develop integrated, audience-centered advertising, promotional, and experiential program approaches that increase awareness, drive consideration, and elevate the USC Marshall brand to be a prospective graduate student’s first choice among options. Working collaboratively with colleagues in the school’s marketing, communications, and admissions departments, the Manager will translate organizational priorities into effective marketing strategies and campaigns, oversee marketing planning and execution, and use data and insights to strengthen results. The Manager will work day-to-day with agency partners to develop and launch compelling creative programs across multiple paid, earned, and owned media channels. The Manager will also lead and develop assigned staff, fostering a collaborative, creative and high-performing team.

Key Responsibilities

Marketing Strategy, Leadership and Operations — 55%

• Lead day-to-day marketing operations and develop short- and long-range strategies that advance brand marketing and demand generation objectives.
• Partner with leadership and key stakeholders to establish marketing goals, identify target audiences and translate organizational priorities into actionable plans.
• Supervise and develop assigned staff, establishing clear priorities and workflows while fostering collaboration and professional growth.
• Thoughtfully leverage emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools, to enhance marketing strategy, audience engagement, content development and operational effectiveness while maintaining appropriate standards for accuracy, privacy, quality and human judgment.
• Efficiently and effectively manage agency partners to align production and creative development efforts with strategic marketing plans.

Integrated Marketing, Planning and Execution — 20%

• Plan and execute integrated marketing initiatives that promote USC Marshall graduate programs, events, services and engagement opportunities across appropriate channels.
• Develop and manage the graduate programs marketing calendar, coordinating priorities, schedules and deadlines across multiple initiatives.
• Oversee the development and distribution of marketing and promotional materials and ensure alignment with USC brand standards.
• Collaborate across teams to deliver coordinated, audience-centered marketing and communications.

Measurement, Research and Optimization — 10%

• Use marketing data, reporting, research and audience feedback to evaluate performance, identify trends and inform strategy.
• Leverage audience insights and segmentation to strengthen targeting, engagement and marketing effectiveness.
• Translate findings into actionable recommendations and continuously optimize marketing approaches based on results.
• Stay current on evolving marketing practices, technologies and audience engagement strategies.

Partnerships, Resources and Brand Stewardship — 10%

• Build strong, collaborative relationships across marketing and communications teams, Marshall Graduate Admissions, academic program teams, and the broader university.
• Manage assigned marketing budgets and oversee vendors and external partners supporting marketing initiatives.
• Provide oversight to ensure consistent and appropriate use of USC brand elements.
• Represent the USC Marshall Marketing team and university at meetings, events and professional activities, as appropriate.

Other Responsibilities — 5%

• Perform other related duties as assigned or requested and fulfill applicable university responsibilities associated with the position.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or combined experience/education as a substitute for the minimum education.
• Five years of progressively responsible experience in marketing or a related field—experience working within a creative advertising agency or managing creative advertising agency workflows strongly preferred.
• Thorough knowledge of marketing principles, practices, methodologies and techniques.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing marketing strategies, plans and campaigns.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and creative judgment.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Ability to build productive relationships and collaborate effectively across teams and organizational levels.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree.
• Experience leading marketing strategy and operations within a complex, mission-driven organization.
• Experience supervising and developing staff and leading teams through both strategic planning and hands-on execution.
• Experience developing integrated, multi-channel marketing campaigns across digital, email, web, social and other audience engagement channels.
• Demonstrated ability to use audience segmentation, performance data and insights to optimize marketing strategies and strengthen engagement.
• Demonstrated ability to build alignment, influence stakeholders and successfully navigate a complex, highly collaborative organization.
• Experience managing marketing budgets, vendors and creative or production partners.
• Experience using AI and other emerging technologies to enhance marketing strategy, content development, audience insights or operational effectiveness, with sound judgment regarding accuracy, privacy and appropriate use.
• Experience working within higher education, alumni engagement, membership, nonprofit or another relationship-based environment.

Anticipated Hiring Range

The annual base salary range for this position is $113,665.71 - $136,314.16 - $156,367.35. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

Required Documents And Additional Information

• Resume and cover letter required (may be uploaded as one file). Please do not submit your application without these documents.
• Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. This job may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended, so please apply on the same business day if interested.
• USC has excellent benefits, including health benefits for staff and their family with access to the renowned university medical network; eligibility for retirement plans with employer contributions*; tuition benefits for staff and their family; free Professional Development classes; central Los Angeles location with easy access to commuter trains, buses and free tram pick up services; discounts to sporting and other campus events.

Why join the USC Marshall School of Business?

The USC Marshall School of Business is ideally positioned to address the challenges of a rapidly changing business environment and is ranked as one of the country’s top schools for accounting, finance, marketing, consulting, entrepreneurship, and international business studies.

USC Marshall builds on the unique opportunities that stem from its Los Angeles location on the Pacific Rim, its interdisciplinary and impactful research, the momentum generated by the University of Southern California, and the unparalleled engagement of the Trojan Alumni Family. With ready access to industries defining the new business frontier, including biotechnology, life sciences, media, entertainment, communications and healthcare, this vast network offers USC Marshall graduates exceptionally strong support for success in the global marketplace. USC Marshall is interested in receiving applications from individuals who enhance the diversity of its workforce.

For more information on the USC Marshall School of Business, visit: www.marshall.usc.edu .