"Assistant Director, Performance Marketing - Office of Academic Innovation - Penn Engineering"

Job Description Summary

The Office of Academic Innovation at Penn Engineering is seeking an Assistant Director of Performance Marketing to lead the day-to-day execution, management, and continuous improvement of marketing efforts across Penn Engineering's residential and online graduate and professional programs. This role serves as the central executional owner for marketing strategy, translating institutional priorities and growth goals into coordinated, high-quality delivery across channels.

The Assistant Director manages staff, oversees program-level messaging and product marketing, owns lifecycle and enrollment communications, and ensures accountability through reporting and performance management. This position plays a critical role in supporting recruitment and enrollment while building scalable processes and operational discipline across the marketing function.

Job Responsibilities

Strategy Execution & Day-to-Day Leadership:

• Serve as the primary owner of the day-to-day execution of graduate growth and enrollment marketing strategies across online and residential programs.
• Translate high-level strategy into actionable plans, priorities, and deliverables across channels and teams.
• Manage workload, sequencing, and execution to ensure alignment with recruitment cycles, institutional priorities, and available resources.
• Provide direct leadership and supervision to marketing staff, setting clear expectations, assigning work, and ensuring timely, high-quality delivery.
• Act as the central point of accountability for execution across initiatives.

Product Marketing, Messaging & Positioning

• Own product marketing and program-level positioning for Penn Engineering's graduate and professional programs.
• Ensure messaging is clear, consistent, audience-appropriate, and aligned to enrollment objectives across web, email, editorial, and campaign-based marketing.
• Serve as the owner of lifecycle and enrollment communications strategy, ensuring cohesive messaging from inquiry through enrollment, with execution carried out by program leads.
• Maintain consistency across programs while allowing for differentiation where appropriate.

Website Management & Content Execution

• Manage the Penn Engineering graduate and professional programs website from an execution and optimization standpoint, including content prioritization, messaging alignment, and ongoing improvements.
• Partner with leadership to implement SEO, GEO, and content strategy, and oversee execution across program pages, editorial content, and supporting assets.
• Coordinate updates, enhancements, and optimization efforts to ensure the website effectively supports recruitment, engagement, and conversion goals.

Reporting, Performance, & Accountability

• Own regular reporting and performance monitoring across marketing channels, including email, web, editorial, and campaigns.
• Ensure visibility into progress, outcomes, and areas for improvement.
• Partner with analytics and strategy leads to interpret performance data and apply insights to execution.
• Hold the team accountable for delivery, timelines, and outcomes, escalating risks and tradeoffs as needed.

Vendor & Cross-Functional Management

• Manage and coordinate external marketing and creative vendors in support of executional needs, ensuring clear scope, timelines, and quality standards.
• Serve as a key liaison between marketing, admissions, student affairs, career, and LDT teams, and leadership to ensure alignment and smooth execution.
• Collaborate closely with admissions leadership to support recruitment events, yield initiatives, and enrollment communications.

Marketing Operations & Scalability

• Support the development and refinement of scalable marketing operations, including intake, prioritization, workflows, and tools.
• Ensure requests are evaluated against strategic priorities and capacity, and that processes support efficiency, transparency, and sustainable execution.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 3 -5 years of experience in higher education marketing, enrollment marketing, or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, cross-channel marketing execution
• Experience supervising staff and coordinating work across teams
• Strong organizational, communication, and prioritization skills
• Ability to operate independently in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Experience working with admissions, academic, or program teams preferred

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Pay Range

$64,500.00 - $78,000.00 Annual Rate

Salary offers are made based on the candidate's qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, and in alignment with salary ranges based on external market data for the job's level. Internal organization and peer data at Penn are also considered.