Strategic Initiatives Manager, Graduate School of Social Work

The Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) is a vibrant community of scholars and teachers committed to having a diverse faculty and student body. The School’s curriculum, research, and community partnerships emphasize social and economic justice, along with an understanding of and respect for social, political, and cultural diversity both nationally and internationally. GSSW provides an intellectual, collegial, and supportive environment that fosters interdisciplinary and international educational opportunities. GSSW engages in collaborative projects locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. GSSW and the University of Denver are committed to enhancing the diversity of faculty and staff.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work, the Strategic Initiatives Manager at the Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) is closely aligned with the GSSW Dean’s Office in planning, facilitation and research on strategic initiatives identified by the Dean. This position will interact closely other parts of the school and university, outside programs, professional affiliation or other groups to pull together data and manage projects related to ensuring the success of the most visible and critical GSSW initiatives to advance the School’s reputation, revenue and recruitment efforts. The Strategic Initiatives Manager may also manage projects with third-party contractors and or act as project manager with other GSSW departments for implementation of priority projects.

Essential Functions

• Serve as project manager for key initiatives determined by the Dean. While not directly responsible for the implementation, provide support and coordination in the planning, development, and execution phases of strategic projects.
• Interact with senior management and administrators within the School and, as appropriate, within the discipline and academia to represent and promote the development of strategic projects.
• Work with the Dean, team leads, and other GSSW staff or faculty administrators to ensure that project plans, tasks and timelines are accurately detailed and understood, and provide clear benchmarks and project plans. This includes development of a master schedule and tracking project/initiative progress throughout the lifecycle to ensure timely completion.
• Manage project updates and communications among key stakeholders and project teams when needed to keep all parties informed and aligned. This may include sharing expertise and findings with peers based on observations, analytics and survey results as well as creating, disseminating and executing internal briefing documents or assessment reports.
• Attending meetings and working with committees.
• Manage project or initiative budgets as allotted
• Dive into other special assignments and requests to efficiently and effectively advance key efforts and work.
• Support market research efforts
• Support the development of relationships, throughout the School and with campus, academic, and community partners.
• Hire, train and supervise student project coordinators or temporary employees assigned to strategic initiatives.
• Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• A self-starter and initiator with the ability to quickly and independently determine and initiate next steps for self, teams, and projects.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with a focus on providing friendly customer service.
• Demonstrated commitment to working collaboratively with individuals from diverse backgrounds, ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences and ability to advance diversity, equity, and inclusive practices.
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills to efficiently perform a wide array of tasks with a high level of quality.
• Proven attention to detail and ability to adhere to deadlines, achieve high-performance goals, and remain calm in a fast-paced and demanding environment.
• Extraordinarily strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills with the ability to communicate at all levels of the organization including staff, faculty, and leadership, as well as with external partners and vendors.
• Able to work effectively independently or as part of a collaborative team.
• High ethical standards that reflect honesty, integrity, cooperation, and reliability.
• Proficient skills with MS Office Suite.
• Ability to demonstrate proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong reasoning, adaptability to changing circumstances, and decision-making capabilities.
• Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion.
• Ability to plan tasks, assignments, dependencies, workflows, and timelines efficiently and tactically.
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