Program Manager, Centers & Departmental Support

Job DescriptionThe Program Manager for Centers and Departmental Support is part of the Finance and Administration team at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management and serves as a key contributor to the success of both internal and external stakeholders. This position provides comprehensive administrative, programmatic, and logistical support to ensure the effective delivery of high-impact programming, stakeholder engagement, and research initiatives across Owen’s Centers (the Hans Stoll Financial Markets Research Center, the Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Center for Social Ventures). Reporting directly to the Administrative Manager, the Program Manager collaborates closely with Center Directors, faculty, students, alumni, and external partners to foster cross-functional coordination and ensure efficient center operations.

The Owen Graduate School of Management (OGSM) is a professional school at Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Our size and focus allow us to interact with students, faculty, alumni and recruiters as individuals so that we can better understand and help each achieve their goals. This is how we build our culture - one that is collaborative. We are intensely and proudly competitive with the best. But we also shape leaders who understand that collaboration is essential in today’s connected economy. We develop businesspeople who can lead and manage change, drawing not only on what they learn here about business but also what they learn about themselves.

Duties and Responsibilities

Center Support* Coordinate day-to-day center operations, including budget planning and management, financial reporting, procurement, and reimbursement processing.

• Develop and manage high-profile events and signature programming, including conferences, workshops, pitch competitions, and speaker series, from planning through execution.
  
• Support strategic communications and outreach, including website maintenance, social media content, newsletters, and CRM tools to engage diverse stakeholders.
  
• Serve as a liaison between the center(s) and internal/external audiences, managing relationships with faculty, students, alumni, corporate sponsors, and community partners.
  
• Facilitate meetings, mentorship connections, and career-focused experiences that align with each center�s mission and support student and faculty development.
  
• Support data collection and reporting efforts for stewardship, impact tracking, and continuous improvement of center initiatives.
  
• Ensure compliance with university policies related to travel, sponsorships, financial processes, and student engagement.
  

Faculty & Departmental Support

• Assist in arranging domestic and international travel, including assembling and submitting passport and visa applications, for faculty, recruiting candidates, and guest speakers using the Concur online booking tool.
  
• Prepare travel and business-related expense reports, in a timely and accurate manner, for self and designated faculty, to ensure prompt reimbursement according to institutional policies.
  
• Provide distinguished support for visiting seminar speakers, conference panelists, employment candidates, research colleagues, and faculty co-authors, including but not limited to travel. coordination, scheduling, and reimbursement to ensure a positive experience.
  
• Provide cross-training and back-up support to other faculty and departmental support staff.
  
• Partner with the Finance and Administration team�s Event Specialist to prepare for and produce high-quality events for faculty, staff, students, and external stakeholders.
  
• Performs all tasks that fall under the responsibilities of the Faculty and Departmental Support team, including ordering/stocking coffee and office supplies, booking classrooms and conference rooms for meetings and other events, daily classroom checks, fulfilling Courtesy Store orders, serving as a liaison between faculty and administration, and completing other one-off tasks for faculty and staff upon request.
  
• Assemble and prepare payment requests and procurement orders in Oracle and Candex using appropriate departmental, endowment, grant, or faculty research budgets.
  
• Maintain proficient knowledge of online learning systems such as Brightspace, YES, etc.
  
• Assist professors with course-related endeavors, including but not limited to seating charts, grade inputs, exam preparation, in-person course evaluations, and copy/print jobs. Also, work with VUIT to provide A/V and technical support for classrooms to ensure successful curriculum delivery.
  
• Lead and execute small-scale events including faculty brown bag luncheons, welcome and farewell receptions for staff, and more.
  
• Additional duties as assigned.
  

Supervisory Relationships

This position may supervise part-time student workers. This position reports administratively and functionally to the Administrative Manager, Faculty and Departmental Support.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution is required
  
• A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience is preferred
  
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize in a fast-paced environment are required
  
• Excellent interpersonal skills, flexible, collaborative, attentive to detail, a team player, and able to interact fluidly with a diverse range of people and personalities
  
• Experience working in higher education or academic setting is strongly preferred
  
• Experience in event coordination and program operations are strongly preferred
  
• Excellent writing, communication, and marketing skills are necessary
  
• Proficiency in Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is required