Program Associate: Academic Partnerships

This is an exceptional opportunity to join a dynamic Global Talent Engineering Learning and Development team, directly shaping the careers of hundreds of employees and contributing to the strategic growth of a global leader. You will be instrumental in ensuring the seamless execution of academic programming, enhancing the learner experience, and strengthening vital university partnerships, playing a pivotal role in the success, highly competitive initiative that delivers high-impact technical learning through partnerships with top universities.

As a key member of the team, you will ensure the smooth execution of academic programming, student engagement, university coordination, and operational logistics across multiple program cycles. Your work will directly influence the success of employees pursuing advanced degrees and certifications, driving their professional development and aligning with the organization's strategic priorities.

Key Responsibilities:

Program Operations & Planning:

• Maintain and update the Master Course Schedule, including multi-year projections.
• Build and revise course catalogs and registration forms, updating dates and eligibility records.
• Conduct enrollment checks, ensure data accuracy, and support student registration processes.
• Coordinate course offerings via the Request for Proposals (RFP) process.
• Administer and document academic policies and procedures.
• Support the development and launch of new certificate and degree programs.
• Support executive and university partnership reviews with clear updates and documentation.

Learner Experience & Advising:

• Provide daily support to learners via various communication channels (email, Teams, Slack, Viva Engage).
• Advise students on admissions, registration, leaves of absence, plans of study, and graduation requirements.
• Respond to inquiries regarding program selection and university requirements, guiding learners through academic pathways and program milestones.
• Foster learner success through timely, clear, and personalized communication.
• Log and track student inquiries, maintaining service records.
• Support nomination and selection processes for funded organizations.
• Monitor shared mailboxes and distribute communications appropriately.

Stakeholder & University Relationship Management:

• Serve as an approachable, professional point of contact for university partners, internal stakeholders, and students.
• Coordinate with faculty, program coordinators, and internal leaders to support course offerings and program operations.
• Help ensure alignment between program offerings, learner needs, and strategic priorities.

Financial Coordination & Data Management:

• Reconcile program and university registration data to support invoice processing.
• Assist in creating and sharing registration-related expense forecasts.
• Assist with billing issue resolution and ensure timely documentation.
• Provide accurate operational inputs for monitoring and reporting on financial metrics.

Student Records & Approvals:

• Process student approvals and maintain active student lists.
• Manage certificate and non-degree program approvals.
• Reconcile registration lists and maintain vital records and documentation.

Marketing & Communications:

• Develop and implement strategies to increase program visibility and awareness.
• Host informational sessions and support the creation of promotional content.
• Maintain and update the program website, SharePoint, Lists, and Slack pages.
• Draft and send concise, targeted communications to learners and stakeholders.

Alumni Engagement:

• Maintain the alumni database and facilitate alumni network activities.
• Support alumni feedback surveys and track high-level engagement.

Data, Reporting & Process Improvement:

• Maintain accurate program records and operational data needed for reporting.
• Collaborate with the Program Systems Analyst to supply clean, well-organized information for dashboards, analyses, and internal reports.
• Help document key university dates and maintain operational calendars.
• Support continuous improvement by identifying process gaps, suggesting enhancements, and helping implement updated workflows and tools.
• Assist with system change management and tool deployment from an operational user perspective.

Must-Have Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Education, Business Administration, HR, or a related field.
• At least 8 years of experience in an operational or program coordination role.
• Operational Execution Across Multiple Projects: Proven ability to manage and prioritize multiple concurrent operational workflows, follow through reliably, and independently drive tasks to completion once aligned on direction (including making sound, student-facing decisions without constant oversight).
• Customer Support & Student Services: Experience with customer support, ideally within academic programs or student services, demonstrating a high-touch, personalized approach.
• Data and Information Management with a Process-Improvement Mindset: Comfortable working with large volumes of information and data, synthesizing it into clear, actionable insights. Experience organizing and maintaining content and workflows in tools like SharePoint and Lists, and improving processes rather than just executing them.
• Clear, Concise Communication and Stakeholder/Relationship Management:** Strong written and verbal communication skills, both formal and informal, with the ability to "get to the point." Experience communicating with and managing relationships across a range of stakeholders (from students to senior leaders), keeping them informed and engaged.
• Curious and Self-Directed Learner:** Actively seeks to understand how things work and quickly ramps up on new processes, tools, and content.
• Judgment-Strong: Once shown a process, comfortable running with it, making thoughtful decisions, and resolving student and stakeholder questions without needing step-by-step guidance.
• Approachable, Friendly, and Positive:** Able to build trust and communicate comfortably with people at all levels of the company, as well as with students.
• Process-Minded Builder: Enjoys improving how work gets done, not only executing tasks.

About Aquent Talent:

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world's biggest brands.

Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match. We also offer free online training through Aquent Gymnasium. More information on our awesome benefits!

Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We're about creating an inclusive environment-one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.

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