Marketing Manager

The Marketing Manager leads the strategy, execution, and performance of Adler University's digital marketing and marketing operations efforts, with a strong focus on lead generation and funnel performance in support of enrollment and admissions goals. This is a senior individual-contributor and people-leadership role that sits one level above the Project Manager, Marketing & Communications, and is responsible for the strategic direction of campaigns and platforms that the Project Manager and other team members help execute day to day.

The Marketing Manager owns the university's marketing technology stack (including Salesforce Marketing Cloud), manages relationships with external digital marketing and creative vendors, and brings deep expertise in higher education lead generation, funnel/journey design, and marketing operations best practices. This role translates enrollment and institutional goals into marketing strategy, campaign plans, and measurable performance improvements.

• Develop and lead digital marketing strategy in support of admissions/enrollment goals across all programs and recruitment audiences
• Own lead generation strategy end-to-end: sourcing, qualification, nurture, and conversion, in partnership with the admissions and recruitment teams
• Design, build, and continuously optimize marketing funnels and prospective-student journeys — from initial awareness/inquiry through application and enrollment
• Apply higher education marketing funnel knowledge (inquiry, applicant, admit, deposit/enrolled stages) to shape campaign targeting, messaging, and timing
• Set KPIs and performance benchmarks for lead volume, cost per lead, conversion rates, and funnel velocity; report regularly on performance against goals
• Partner with recruitment specialists and admissions leadership to align marketing campaigns with recruitment cycles, webinar strategy, and territory needs

• Serve as the department's subject-matter expert and owner of Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), including journeys, automations, segmentation, and data hygiene
• Oversee email marketing strategy and execution, including list segmentation, A/B testing, deliverability, and performance optimization
• Own landing page strategy and creation — briefing, building, testing, and optimizing landing pages to support campaigns and improve conversion rates
• Manage marketing operations processes: lead routing/scoring, campaign tagging and UTM standards, data integrity between marketing and CRM systems, and reporting infrastructure
• Evaluate, recommend, and help implement new marketing technology tools (e.g., chat, forms, personalization tools) and oversee their integration into the existing stack
• Ensure marketing systems and processes comply with data privacy requirements and institutional policy

• Serve as the primary liaison with outside vendors and agencies supporting digital marketing campaigns (e.g., paid media, SEO/SEM, creative, web development, marketing technology partners)
• Manage vendor scopes of work, timelines, budgets, and performance against agreed KPIs
• Brief external partners on campaign goals and institutional brand/voice, and review creative and campaign deliverables for quality and strategic fit
• Negotiate contracts and renewals in partnership with procurement/finance as applicable

• Provide direction and oversight to the Project Manager, Marketing & Communications and other team members on execution of marketing projects and campaigns
• Set priorities and campaign strategy that the Project Manager translates into project plans, timelines, and Asana workflows
• Collaborate with Admissions, Academics, People & Culture, and other departments to ensure marketing initiatives (newsletters, store, chat tool, campaigns) support broader institutional goals
• Represent Marketing & Communications in cross-departmental strategy meetings and provide marketing counsel to institutional stakeholders
• Mentor and develop team members, providing guidance on best practices in digital marketing and marketing operations

• Build and maintain dashboards/reports on campaign, funnel, and channel performance for department and institutional leadership
• Analyze performance data to identify trends, opportunities, and areas for optimization across the funnel
• Stay current on higher education marketing trends, digital…