Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications Operations

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

Vendor & Contractor Management

• 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 skills 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 differences that each individual brings to JFF