Strategic Communications Operations Manager

Summary of Responsibilities:

The Strategic Communications Operations Manager oversees the day-to-day operations of the Strategic Communications team, ensuring departmental priorities are translated into clear action and communications initiatives move efficiently from direction through execution and completion. Reporting directly to the Executive Director of Strategic Communications, this role serves as an operational partner who translates strategic direction into coordinated workflows, assignments, timelines, and follow-through across the team.

The Strategic Communications Operations Manager exercises independent judgment in managing team workflow, sequencing work, coordinating resources, resolving routine operational challenges, and making day-to-day decisions within established communications strategies and departmental priorities. The role creates operational clarity across a multi-functional communications team and enables the Executive Director to maintain greater focus on communications strategy, executive counsel, institutional priorities, and stakeholder leadership.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Oversee Day-to-Day Strategic Communications Operations

• Oversee the daily operating rhythm of the Strategic Communications team by translating direction from the Executive Director into clear priorities, assignments, expectations, and next steps.
• Maintain visibility across active communications initiatives, upcoming priorities, deadlines, dependencies, and team capacity to ensure work progresses toward completion.
• Exercise independent judgment in sequencing work, coordinating resources, adjusting workflows, and resolving routine operational challenges within established departmental priorities.
• Identify competing priorities, capacity constraints, missed dependencies, or execution risks and determine appropriate operational solutions when possible, escalating significant strategic or priority decisions to the Executive Director when necessary.
• Establish and maintain operational processes that create clarity, accountability, consistency, and effective collaboration across the Strategic Communications team.
• Anticipate upcoming operational needs and proactively prepare the team for significant institutional initiatives, events, campaigns, announcements, and communications periods.

2. Translate Executive Direction into Team Activation

• Serve as an operational extension of the Executive Director by translating strategic direction, decisions, and communications priorities into actionable assignments across the Strategic Communications team.
• Receive communications needs and direction from the Executive Director and determine the appropriate team members, resources, sequence, and operational approach needed for activation.
• Develop project and communications briefs as needed to provide teammates with clear objectives, audiences, deliverables, context, expectations, and desired outcomes.
• Track decisions and action items resulting from Executive Director meetings and conversations and ensure appropriate follow-through across the department.
• Prepare summaries, status updates, communications calendars, briefing materials, and other operational information that enables the Executive Director to quickly assess progress, risks, upcoming needs, and decisions requiring attention.
• Anticipate information, approvals, decisions, or resources needed from the Executive Director and proactively surface them at the appropriate time.
• Protect the Executive Director's capacity by independently resolving routine operational matters and elevating issues that require strategic direction, executive authority, or significant reprioritization.

3. Lead Team Operating Rhythm and Accountability

• Lead recurring Strategic Communications operational meetings focused on priorities, deliverables, deadlines, dependencies, upcoming communications needs, and execution.
• Establish clear meeting agendas and ensure meetings result in defined decisions, owners, deadlines, and next steps.
• Follow up with teammates on agreed-upon deliverables and deadlines to maintain momentum and accountability across departmental priorities.
• Partner closely with the Project Lead, who maintains project plans and the team's project-management system, to ensure project information accurately reflects departmental priorities and operational decisions.
• Review departmental workload and upcoming needs with the Executive Director and Project Lead to identify potential conflicts, resource constraints, or execution risks.
• Facilitate communication and coordination among the team and other teammates supporting communications initiatives.
• Promote clear ownership while avoiding unnecessary duplication of work across communications functions.

4. Coordinate Cross-Functional Communications Execution

• Serve as a primary operational point of contact between Strategic Communications and internal departments for communications initiatives assigned through the Executive Director.
• Coordinate with departmental partners to obtain information, assets, approvals, decisions, and other inputs required for communications work to progress.
• Establish clear expectations with internal partners regarding deliverables, responsibilities, timelines, approval processes, and communications needs.
• Navigate competing requests and stakeholder needs by applying established Strategic Communications priorities and exercising sound judgment regarding workflow and sequencing.
• Escalate significant changes in scope, institutional priorities, sensitive communications matters, or unresolved stakeholder conflicts to the Executive Director.
• Build productive working relationships across Highlands College that strengthen collaboration and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of communications execution.

5. Support Communications Planning and Execution Readiness

• Maintain a comprehensive understanding of major institutional initiatives, events, campaigns, announcements, and communications priorities that require Strategic Communications support.
• Ensure appropriate communications functions are engaged at the right stage of an initiative and understand their responsibilities.
• Identify gaps in information, ownership, approvals, resources, or execution plans that could prevent successful completion of communications work.
• Coordinate cross-functional communications dependencies to ensure digital media, editorial content, internal communications, external communications, and other relevant functions remain aligned.
• Create project briefs and supporting documentation when additional clarity is needed to activate communications work effectively.
• Conduct final operational checks on significant initiatives to confirm deliverables, owners, approvals, and distribution or activation plans are in place.

6. Coordinate External Vendors and Operational Resources

• Coordinate operational relationships with external vendors supporting Strategic
• Communications, including designers, printers, photographers, videographers, freelancers, publications, mail houses, and other communications partners as applicable.
• Communicate project requirements, timelines, deliverables, revisions, approvals, and expectations to vendors in coordination with the appropriate communications teammate.
• Monitor vendor progress and proactively address scheduling, deliverable, or coordination issues that could affect communications deadlines.
• Check vendor estimates, invoices, and project-related expenses against established expectations and budgets and surface discrepancies or concerns to the Executive Director or appropriate budget owner.
• Maintain appropriate vendor documentation and ensure external resources are incorporated effectively into departmental workflows.

7. Improve Strategic Communications Operations

• Regularly evaluate departmental workflows and identify opportunities to improve efficiency, clarity, accountability, collaboration, and execution.
• Develop and document repeatable processes for recurring communications activities when standardization will improve team performance.
• Identify recurring operational barriers and recommend solutions to the Executive Director.
• Implement approved process improvements and evaluate their effectiveness.
• Help establish a team culture characterized by proactive communication, strong follow-through, clear ownership, collaboration, and excellence in execution.
• Support the continued development of Strategic Communications operations as the department's responsibilities and institutional communications needs evolve.

Other Duties:

• Participate in ministry at Church of the Highlands and Highlands College by leading small groups.
• Affirm and uphold the Statement of Faith and the Core Values and DNA of the College, exemplifying all by word and lifestyle.Support significant Highlands College events, initiatives, and institutional priorities as needed.
• Perform other duties consistent with the scope and responsibilities of the role as assigned.

Leadership Requirements:

• Exercises independent judgment regarding day-to-day Strategic Communications operations, workflow, scheduling, project sequencing, resource coordination, and execution within established departmental strategy and priorities.
• Translates strategic direction into clear operational plans and coordinates teammates and resources to achieve desired outcomes.
• Provides operational leadership across the Strategic Communications team without requiring direct supervisory authority.
• Influences and coordinates teammates and cross-functional partners by establishing clear expectations, communicating priorities, and creating accountability around agreed-upon deliverables.
• Anticipates possible demands, dependencies, risks, and outcomes and plans and prioritizes appropriately.
• Identifies when operational decisions can be made independently and when strategic, sensitive, or significant priority decisions require Executive Director involvement.
• Conveys accurate information effectively using methods appropriate to the audience and situation to ensure mutual understanding.
• Builds alignment across multiple functions and stakeholders while maintaining positive working relationships.
• Reviews progress toward departmental priorities and proactively addresses barriers that could prevent successful execution.
• May provide direct leadership to teammates in the future as the Strategic Communications team and operational needs evolve.

Qualifications

Personal Characteristics:

• Highly organized, proactive, and action-oriented, with a strong commitment to completing work with excellence.
• Demonstrates exceptional follow-through and takes ownership of outcomes rather than waiting for direction at every stage.
• Operates effectively in a fast-paced environment with multiple simultaneous priorities, changing needs, and firm deadlines.
• Anticipates needs and potential obstacles before they become urgent.
• Demonstrates sound judgment and discretion when working with sensitive institutional information and communications.
• Approaches operational challenges with a solution-oriented mindset.
• Builds trust through reliability, consistency, clear communication, and accountability.
• Demonstrates confidence working with leaders, teammates, external vendors, and cross-functional partners.
• Maintains composure and effectiveness when navigating ambiguity, competing priorities, or rapidly changing circumstances.
• Demonstrates a collaborative, service-oriented approach while maintaining appropriate accountability and expectations.

Essential Traits:

• Action-oriented
• Highly organized
• Strategic thinker
• Operationally minded
• Strong initiative
• Exceptional follow-through
• Sound judgment
• Detail-oriented
• Collaborative
• Adaptable
• Accountable
• Solution-oriented
• Effective communicator
• Able to influence without direct authority

Abilities & Skills:

• Ability to translate high-level strategic direction into clear assignments, workflows, timelines, and next steps.
• Ability to independently prioritize and coordinate multiple communications initiatives while maintaining awareness of broader departmental priorities.
• Ability to exercise sound independent judgment regarding routine operational decisions.
• Ability to anticipate needs, identify execution risks, and develop practical solutions.
• Ability to facilitate effective meetings and establish clear decisions, ownership, and follow-up.
• Ability to coordinate work across teammates with different communications specialties and responsibilities.
• Ability to influence and create accountability without relying on formal supervisory authority.
• Ability to communicate effectively with teammates, senior leaders, cross-functional partners, and external vendors.
• Ability to prepare concise executive-level updates that clearly identify status, risks, decisions, and next steps.
• Ability to develop clear communications and project briefs.
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines and competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information with discretion.
• Ability to evaluate processes and implement operational improvements.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of communications, marketing, public relations, or related communications functions and workflows.
• Understanding of how communications projects move from strategy and planning through development, approval, production, and activation.
• Working knowledge of project coordination and operational management practices.
• Understanding of cross-functional communications environments involving digital media, social media, editorial content, internal communications, external communications, events, and institutional stakeholders.
• Working knowledge of vendor coordination, production timelines, estimates, invoices, and communications-related services.
• Familiarity with project-management and productivity platforms such as Monday.com and Microsoft 365 preferred.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, Business, Organizational Leadership, or a related field required.

Experience:

• Five to seven years of professional experience in communications, marketing, communications operations, project management, or a related field required.
• Experience coordinating complex projects or initiatives involving multiple stakeholders, deliverables, and deadlines required.
• Demonstrated experience translating strategic direction into actionable plans and coordinating work through completion required.
• Experience supporting senior-level leaders and working across multiple departments or functional areas strongly preferred.
• Experience coordinating external vendors and communications-related production processes preferred.
• Experience working in higher education, nonprofit, ministry, or another mission-driven organization preferred.

Extent of Public Contact:

• Medium to High

This role regularly interacts with Highlands College teammates, departmental leaders, external vendors, ministry partners, and other stakeholders as required to coordinate communications initiatives.

Physical Demands:

• Ability to perform the essential functions of an office-based position.
• Ability to attend meetings and events across campus as required.
• Ability to work occasional evenings or extended hours in support of significant institutional events, communications initiatives, or time-sensitive needs.

Direct Reports:

• This position is not initially a team lead for any Highlands College teammates.
• The role provides operational leadership and coordination across the Strategic Communications team without direct supervisory responsibility.
• Direct-report responsibilities may be added as the department and operational function evolve.