Project Manager, Creative Operations (2 Year Fixed-Term)

Stanford University; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 104,000 - 128,000; Full time

Job summary

Stanford University is seeking a Project Manager for the Office of Development, driving planning, coordination, and delivery of creative fundraising materials. You will bridge fundraising strategy with creative execution alongside writers, designers and external vendors.

The role emphasizes organizational rigor, clear communication, and the ability to manage multiple complex projects while maintaining brand standards and timely delivery.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and three years of relevant experience, or combination of education and relevant experience.
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Responsibilities

• Independently implement, administer and evaluate day-to-day activities of the unit, function or program by identifying and executing tasks and objectives, making recommendations that impact policies and programs, and assigning resources to achieve the goals of the program.
• Collect and analyze data, create reports, review and explain trends; formulate and evaluate alternative solutions and/or recommendations to achieve the goals of the program or function.
• Analyze and interpret policies; develop, revise and implement procedures for program or function.
• Represent the program or function as the key contact and subject matter expert within the department, unit or school. Commit resources and provide information and/or training.
• Organize and/or participate in outreach activities that may include developing communications and training, planning/promoting events and/or conferences.
• May participate in development of budgets, monitor, and approve expenditures. May perform limited forecasting and provide recommendations that determine the budget.
• May direct staff to perform various tasks and assignments. May also supervise staff.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Organizational skills

Adaptability

AI in creative operations

Airtable

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Airtable

Job description

Main Work Location: Historic Stanford Campus

Schedule: Hybrid (at least 2 days per week onsite)

Budgeted Salary Range: The expected pay range for this position is $104,400-$128,000 per annum.

This opportunity is a fixed-term position for two years.

The Office of Development (OOD) advances Stanford’s mission by raising philanthropic support from alumni, parents, families, friends, and institutional funders. Working in concert with volunteers and academic leaders, OOD staff members strive to accelerate Stanford’s purposeful impact in the world. Stanford is committed to a donor-centric approach to development. Every member of the Office of Development staff plays a role in providing the university’s donors with the service and attention that ensures an exceptionally positive and fulfilling philanthropic experience.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Director of Campaign Operations and serving as a member of the Creative Operations team, the Project Manager is an execution-focused role that serves as an integral part of the engine behind many of the Office of Development’s most visible fundraising materials. This role is responsible for the planning, coordination and delivery of creative materials that reflect the Office of Development brand and inspire Stanford’s philanthropic partners. This individual will serve as a central point of coordination and bridge between fundraising strategy and creative in partnership with development leadership, creative colleagues including writers, designers and digital strategy partners as well as external vendors.

The ideal candidate brings structure to projects without stifling creativity, strong communication skills that ensures partners feel informed, self-discipline that means you can easily manage a variety of projects at once and can bring clarity to ambiguous requests.

In this role you will

• Translate complex fundraising needs into clear, actionable creative workflows from intake through final delivery across campaign, and evergreen fundraising projects.


• Manage the full lifecycle of creative projects including priority papers, bespoke donor materials, impact reports, event collateral, digital web pages, microsites, as well as photo and video from project request to delivery.


• Serve as the conduit between project requestors in central development and across schools and units and the project team. Field project requests and hold intake meetings to align on project goals, timelines and budget.


• Steward the internal and external review and approval process, maintaining discipline throughout.


• Ensure final products reflect the Office of Development’s brand and quality standards.


• Partner with creative leadership to onboard, facilitate contracts and payment and provide on-site support to freelancers and other external vendors.


• Partner with other project managers to support operational excellence across the Office of Development


• Maintain a working understanding of how AI tools can be implemented in creative operations and relevant systems effectively

Preferred Skills

• Proven project management skills with the ability to manage multiple complex projects at once in a fast-paced environment.


• Proficiency with project management tools (such as Airtable or similar).


• Strong relationship building skills with the ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organization including development leadership.


• Strong sense of ownership and accountability, following through on commitments and communicating transparently through challenges.


• A resilience that means you’ll be able to manage last-minute changes with grace.


• A proactive, solutions oriented approach to operations, bring forward options and recommendations rather than obstacles.

Responsibilities

Core Duties

• Independently implement, administer and evaluate day-to-day activities of the unit, function or program by identifying and executing tasks and objectives, making recommendations that impact policies and programs, and assigning resources to achieve the goals of the program.




• Collect and analyze data, create reports, review and explain trends; formulate and evaluate alternative solutions and/or recommendations to achieve the goals of the program or function.




• Analyze and interpret policies; develop, revise and implement procedures for program or function.




• Represent the program or function as the key contact and subject matter expert within the department, unit or school. Commit resources and provide information and/or training. May also represent the program or function to external/internal stakeholders and constituencies.




• Organize and/or participate in outreach activities that may include developing communications and training, planning/promoting events and/or conferences.




• May participate in development of budgets, monitor, and approve expenditures. May perform limited forecasting and provide recommendations that determine the budget.




• May direct staff to perform various tasks and assignments. May also supervise staff.

Minimum Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree and three years of relevant experience, or combination of education and relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to prioritize own work and multi-task.




• Demonstrated excellent organizational skills.




• Demonstrated ability to take initiative and ownership of projects.




• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.




• Ability to routinely and independently exercise sound judgment in making decisions.




• Demonstrated experience working independently and as part of a team.




• Relevant subject matter knowledge.




• Ability to direct the work of others, for jobs requiring supervision.