Program Manager

School Overview

The School of Government Services, Inc. supports the UNC School of Government's mission to improve the lives of North Carolinians through practical scholarship and training.

About the Role

The Program Manager coordinates and manages the School’s annual programs, courses, and conferences, ranging from single-day events to multi-month courses. They oversee programs of moderate to advanced complexity, ensuring logistical coordination and alignment with faculty and operational support divisions.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Coordinate and manage event management services for continuing education programs, courses, and conferences.
• Facilitate program decisions applying expertise in event management, virtual class management, and coordination with operational divisions.
• Develop and manage estimated budgets for programs, monitor expenses, and provide final financial and registration information.
• Collaborate with the Strategic Communications Division to develop marketing plans and ensure their implementation.
• Manage registrations, adjust marketing approaches, and ensure program effectiveness and financial viability.
• Coordinate logistics for virtual and on/off-site programs, including venues, instructors, activities, course materials, catering, and other logistics.
• Prepare and greet participants, monitor catering needs, and communicate changes to operational divisions.
• Manage communications with participants before, during, and after the program.
• Administer and track participant assessment tools, continuing education, attendance, and assignments.
• Respond to participant questions and issues promptly.
• Facilitate program post-mortems to identify lessons learned and make improvements for future offerings.
• Contract with vendors and manage payments against the program budget.

Project Management

• Coordinate projects for faculty and project leads that require working across multiple groups or a high-level understanding of the School’s mission, audiences, and processes.
• Work with faculty, project leads, and Supervisor to define the scope of effort required.
• Provide regular updates on project progress and resolve issues, escalating when necessary.

Best Practices and Process Improvement

• Collaborate with team members and managers to identify and improve processes and communicate changes across the division.
• Utilize effective time management and task prioritization across programs and other projects.
• Contribute to the development and ongoing evaluation of guidelines, processes, and best practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• 3-5 years of in-person event planning experience.
• Effective communication skills with various groups.
• Highly organized with quick adaptability.
• Working knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite.
• Familiarity with virtual programming, Zoom, website management, Canvas, and Learning Stream.