Director of Enterprise Programs

Position Summary:

The Director, Enterprise Programs serves as the Division of Communications and Marketing (MarComm) senior operational leader for complex, high-visibility, and non-routine initiatives that fall outside standard campaign workflows.

This role assesses enterprise-level projects and reputation-driven efforts as they emerge; brings structure and clarity to ambiguous work; assembles and activates cross-functional teams and external partners; and governs execution to ensure delivery with speed, quality, and institutional alignment. Projects assigned to this Director may include global executive engagements, enterprise growth initiatives, reputation-building efforts, and other institutionally significant programs that emerge throughout the year.

Operating without direct supervisory authority, the Director leads through influence, structured governance, and executive alignment to ensure complex initiatives are clearly scoped, properly resourced, and successfully executed. This role does not manage functional teams or a project/program management staff. Instead, it exercises enterprise-level authority through program structure, prioritization discipline, and cross-functional activation.

At the start of each fiscal year, the portfolio of work is largely undefined. This role provides the operational discipline that enables the Division to respond to institutional priorities without creating fragmentation, duplication, or reactive escalation.

About the Work Unit:

The Communications and Marketing team at Vanderbilt University is a dynamic and deeply collaborative group. The division, with all of its departments and sub-teams, serves as the institution-wide center of excellence for communications and marketing, developing and executing strategies that inform, engage and inspire others to participate in Vanderbilt University’s global academic and research mission. The division is a key strategic adviser and partner for other divisions in the university, providing comprehensive plans and thoughtful analysis on messaging opportunities and constraints. The Communications and Marketing team continuously seeks innovative solutions to new and emerging challenges in order to deliver results at scale to advance the larger mission, values and priorities of the university.

Key Responsibilities and Expected Performance:

Enterprise Initiative Intake and Structuring

• In partnership with MarComm operations, establish structured intake and framing processes for high-impact, non-routine initiatives entering the division.

• Partner with MarComm and institutional leaders to clarify objectives and desired outcomes; define scope, success measures, and sequencing; identify executive sponsorship and decision rights; and assess strategic alignment and