Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications Operations

JFF; Boston, Washington, Oakland (MA, District of Columbia, CA); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual home office stipend

Office equipment provided

Job summary

Jobs for the Future (JFF) is seeking a Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications Operations in the Boston area. The role oversees budgets, vendor relations, and processes to keep the Marketing and Communications team efficient and compliant.

The ideal candidate has 5–8+ years of multi-stakeholder project leadership and strong cross-functional collaboration skills. Reporting to the AVP, Enterprise Marketing & Communications, this role builds scalable operating rhythms, systems, and workflows

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of relevant experience at senior management level
• Experience leading multi-stakeholder projects
• Ability to translate strategy into structured processes and workflows
• Strong vendor and contract management capabilities
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Responsibilities

• Develop, track, and manage marketing and communications project budgets
• Establish project management standards and workflows across the team
• Own project intake, prioritization, and capacity planning
• Coordinate resources, vendors, and timelines for funded deliverables
• Negotiate contracts and manage vendor invoices and spend
• Maintain centralized roster of freelancers and external resources
• Drive team operating rhythms and maintain internal SOPs and norms
• Foster cross-functional collaboration with Finance, Contracts, and Program teams

Skills

Project management

Operations strategy

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

Team leadership

Process improvement

Tools

Asana

Salesforce

SharePoint

Outlook

Teams

Job description

Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications Operations

Deadline to Apply: Friday, October 16 at 11:45pm ET

About JFF

Jobs for the Future (JFF) drives transformation of the U.S. education and workforce systems to achieve economic advancement for all. Seeing that millions of people are unfairly shut out of quality jobs and the chance for a better life, our goal is to align education, workforce, and employment changemakers toward a shared North Star: By 2033, 75 million people facing systemic barriers to advancement will work in quality jobs.

To achieve that goal, we design solutions, scale best practices, influence policy and action, and invest in innovation. With a staff of more than 200 people across the country working remotely and in offices in Boston (headquarters), Washington, DC, and Oakland, California, we operate at the national, state, and local levels, forging deep partnerships with employers, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and education and workforce development providers to break down barriers and reimagine what’s possible.

Equal Employment Opportunity at JFF

Inclusion, belonging, and well-being are core to JFF’s North Star and mission, and we seek to invest in and learn from those who represent the communities we serve as it is important to the success of our work and the engagement of our staff members. We aim to cultivate a culture that centers the overall care, well-being, and success of the employee through flexible work hours, balanced workloads, professional development, and career advancement opportunities for all.

JFF is a fair chance employer and in alignment to our North Star , we hire based on qualifications, and experience, and we are committed to fair opportunity for all qualified candidates – including those without a 4-year degree or with a conviction history.

About the Marketing & Communications Team

Our mission is to maximize the positive impact of JFF’s programs, products, services, and staff expertise. We do this by:

• Staging high-quality convenings and ensuring a presence at prominent events hosted by other reputable organizations
• Creating content and messaging that is both accurate and engaging to our key audiences
• Distributing that content to any policymakers, practitioners, thought leaders, etc. who can act upon our messages and spread them to those who can

About the Position

The Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications Operations serves as the operational engine of JFF's Marketing and Communications team. This role is responsible for keeping the team running smoothly - managing budgets, coordinating vendors and contractors, establishing project management standards, and building the systems and processes that allow the team to do its best work. This role reports to the AVP, Enterprise Marketing & Communications and works closely with team leadership, finance, and contracts to ensure the department’s operations are streamlined, compliant, and aligned with organizational priorities.

The ideal candidate is a highly organized, proactive problem-solver, and someone who finds deep satisfaction in bringing structure and efficiency to complex, fast-moving environments. They will also be energized by building strong operational systems, coordinating across teams and external partners, and bringing structure and momentum to complex Marketing and Communications work. The Senior Manager will bring strong project management and operational skills, an ability to navigate ambiguity and competing priorities, and a track record of serving as a trusted collaborator and connector across a matrixed organization. They will be skilled at translating strategy into clear processes, workflows, and project plans; coordinating resources, vendors, and stakeholders; and creating the systems and operating rhythms that enable a high-performing Marketing and Communications team to work effectively.

What You'll Do

Project & Budget Management

• Develop, track, and manage marketing and communications project budgets, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and fiscal constraints
• Establish and maintain project management standards, templates, and workflows in Asana across the Marketing and Communications team
• Own project intake, prioritization, and capacity planning processes
• Partner with internal stakeholders to strategically develop efficient project plans, resource assignments, estimates and project timelines for funded deliverables by monitoring and evaluating project plans, tasks, resources, deadlines, and any post-project needs
• Lead resource planning and allocation across concurrent projects and workstreams
• Identify and onboard external vendors and contractors, partnering with stakeholders to define scope, establish engagement requirements, and align external expertise with Marketing and Communications initiatives
• Manage relationships with agency partners, freelancers, and other external resources, serving as the primary point of contact to ensure alignment, effective communication, and seamless coordination across engagements
• Negotiate contracts, scopes of work, and service agreements in partnership with contracts and finance
• Review and process vendor invoices, track external resource spend, and reconcile expenses against project budgets to support accurate financial management and forecasting
• Maintain an accurate, centralized roster of active freelancers, contractors, and other external resources to support resource planning, project staffing, and vendor management

Team Operations

• Drive team operating rhythms by facilitating recurring meetings, establishing agendas and decision-making processes, and ensuring clear ownership and follow-through on priorities
• Design and maintain centralized systems for team documents, assets, and resources, improving access to information and reducing operational friction
• Serve as the operational backbone of the Marketing and Communications team, identifying workflow gaps and bottlenecks and proactively implementing solutions that improve efficiency, clarity, and cross-functional collaboration
• Partner with team leadership to design and continuously improve internal processes, SOPs, and operating norms that enable the team to work more effectively and consistently

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Facilitate cross-functional coordination between Marketing and Communications and Finance, Contracts, and Program teams, navigating operational and budget requirements and ensuring effective adherence to organizational processes and protocols
• Develop and support onboarding practices that equip new team members with the tools, systems, processes, and context needed to integrate effectively into the team

Who You Are

• You bring a strong track record of leading complex, multi-stakeholder projects from planning through execution, with the ability to create structure and efficiency in fast-moving, matrixed environments , preferably with experience supporting Marketing and Communications initiatives
• New hires at the Senior Manager level at JFF typically bring 5–8+ years of relevant professional experience, including experience gained through full-time, part-time, internship, and/or freelance roles
• You establish project-management guardrails, align resources and expertise to project needs, and develop effective vendor and contract workflows
• You are comfortable navigating ambiguity and brainstorming creative solutions to challenges as they arise
• You are highly organized and have a strong instinct for building systems that improve reliability, clarity, communication, and follow-through
• You have strong written and verbal communication skil l s and are comfortable with building relationships and managing communications with external partners, especially freelancers and vendors
• You are comfortable facilitating meetings, coordinating agendas and action steps, and helping teams use meeting time efficiently and stay focused on outcomes
• You are comfortable learning and navigating multiple technology systems in parallel, including platforms such as Asana, Salesforce, SharePoint, Outlook, Teams , and related project management and collaboration tools
• You value building positive and collaborative relationships with others, including people whose identities and backgrounds differ from your own
• You are energized by stewarding JFF’s inclusion, belonging, and well-being values and practices within your day-to-day work, including embracing and celebrating the di fferences that each individual brings to JFF

What We Offer

At JFF, we’re fueled by the desire to create a world where everyone has equal opportunity for economic advancement. Our team works hard to push the boundaries of what is possible, and in return, we provide a gratifying work experience, competitive salaries, and a comprehensive benefits program that includes flexibility and choice as core values in order to support people wherever they are in their lives and careers.

JFF has offices in Boston, Oakland, and Washington, DC; employees are welcome to use JFF office space to work in-person or hybrid, or completely remote. To improve the employee experience and promote productivity while working remotely, JFF offers an annual home office stipend to all regular full-time and part-time employees. In addition, new employees receive office equipment as needed .

The hiring range for this role is $ 80,000 - $ 1 0 000 annually, in alignment to JFF’s Senior Manager salary band and our compensation philosophy. Starting salaries for new hires will be determined based on a combination of the new hire’s relevant experience and market demands.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in JFF’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.