Program Manager, Operations & Events

Job Description

• Note: Applications will be reviewed beginning May 4th, 2026.

The University Honors Program, a unit of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, has an outstanding opportunity for a Program Manager, Operations and Events, to join our team.

Undergraduate Academic Affairs (UAA) shapes, advances and stewards a world-class undergraduate academic experience for students at the University of Washington. Staff, faculty and students in UAA deepen and enrich the learning experience for all undergraduates, recognizing and supporting the unique learning path of each individual student and the commitment of each academic program to excellence in learning and teaching.

An instructional and academic support unit housed in Undergraduate Academic Affairs, the University Honors Program comprises two academic pathways leading to one of three diploma distinctions for UW Seattle students — Interdisciplinary Honors, Departmental Honors, and College Honors (for students who complete both Interdisciplinary and Departmental Honors requirements). Interdisciplinary Honors contributes an annually curated curriculum of unique and innovative courses to undergraduate general education at the University of Washington, while more than 100 Departmental Honors offerings in academic units across the UW Seattle campus provide students with opportunities for close faculty mentorship, research, and other forms of deep disciplinary exploration within their major. The Honors Program serves 1400+ UW Seattle undergraduates actively enrolled in one or both pathways.

As an integral member of the University Honors Program team, the Program Manager, Operations and Events, will join a staff community that models program values of deep curiosity about the world and the interdependence of all branches of knowledge; engagement with the complexities of difference and diversity; and pursuit of a life of continuous learning and personal growth.

The Program Manager, Operations and Events, is responsible for the oversight and management of program operations, events production, and program communications, manages Honors hiring processes and provides executive support to the Honors Program Director and Assistant Directors. They direct the Honors Program’s office operations and administrative coordination and planning, oversee business processes that include purchasing and budget tracking and supervise student employees. The position directs production of the Honors Program’s annual slate of events and is the lead for external communications. The position ensures program compliance with UAA, university and state policies. They provide executive-level assistance to the Director and Assistant Directors, including liaising with key program stakeholders, including university leaders, donors, parents and alumni. They support admissions and scholarship process logistics.

Under the supervision of the Honors Program Assistant Director/Director of Strategy and Operations, this position will have the following responsibilities:

PROGRAM OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Manage the daily operations and logistics for the University Honors Program, including managing program spaces in Mary Gates Hall 211 (the Honors Program Suite) and 206 (the Honors Program Multipurpose Room):

• Design, implement, and manage program operations policies and processes and create training and operations policy resources.
• Create and implement processes and process calendars to improve program operations and services.
• Create office reception staffing coverage strategies and calendars.
• Liaise with Mary Gates Hall building coordinators, UAA IT, UW Facilities Services, Emergency Management Office and outside vendors.
• Manage and maintain program rooms and spaces for internal and external users, including overseeing CAAMS access.

Manage purchasing for the Honors Program, ensuring fiscal responsibility and compliance with University rules, including:

• Manage annual Honors operations budgets, including creating procurement memos and purchasing/expenditure tracking documents, and lead purchasing with a university pro-card, as well as monitor staff purchasing and reimbursement requests.
• Advise and assist the Assistant Director/Director of Strategy & Operations on operations budgets strategic planning.
• Manage purchasing records and work with UAA Shared Environment staff to ensure procedure and policy compliance.
• Analyze annual purchasing patterns to make recommendations for budget and purchasing planning for each fiscal year and beyond.

Lead Honors communications and marketing outreach strategies:

• Direct Honors’ overall communication strategy, including creating a long-term strategic plan for Honors Program communications. This multi-year plan incorporates annual and quarterly communication efforts and is revised annually.
• Produce and distribute Honors’ digital and print publications to support overall communications, fundraising objectives and other special initiatives.
• Manage design and production of promotional materials, ensuring alignment with UW brand guidelines.
• Represent UW Honors to UAA communications staff and external contractors.
• Train and provide guidance to Honors staff on university communication systems.
• Assess and report on communication, promotional materials, and engagement effectiveness by analyzing click and response rates, engagement and responses to individual events and messages, application numbers, and programming materials uptake.
• Manage contracting with external communications specialists (writers, photographers, graphic designers, videographers, editors, etc.).
• Oversee the Honors Program website and generate annual and long-term plans to review and update. Collaborate with the Honors web computing specialist to ensure the accessibility and accuracy of all program-related digital content. Analyze website traffic and engagement patterns to determine content and design effectiveness.

Manage additional operations needs:

• Schedule and organize committee and staff meetings, including meeting logistics, agenda development, communications, facilitation, and information management.
• Administer, maintain, and retain administrative, student, financial, and electronic database records to ensure compliance with federal, state, and University policies and procedures, maintaining a high level of confidentiality and discretion.
• Support first-year and second-year admissions logistics and scholarship application evaluation and awarding logistics.
• Serve as the Honors Program Records Coordinator liaison to UW’s Records Management Services to ensure compliance with state and federal laws governing records, information, and data management.

EVENT PRODUCTION

Direct the planning and production of events to align with the Honors Program’s strategic goals:

• Develop a long-term strategic plan for Honors Program events. This multi-year plan incorporates annual and quarterly events and is revised annually.
• Executes all program events, from design and promotion to production and analysis. This includes internal and external events, including major public-facing events with program partners and stakeholders.
• Analyzes data for all events and uses that data to improve future event implementation. This includes creating and deploying surveys to collect event metrics; collecting and analyzing RSVP, attendance, and volunteer data from individual events; and comparing year-over-year data.
• Produce Honors’ signature public event, the annual Global Challenges| Interdisciplinary Thinking lecture, requiring long-term planning to identify topics, recruit faculty and community expert speakers, secure and prepare the venue, prepare staff and speakers, all in coordination with linked Honors Advancement events and strategies.
• Oversee Honors events budgets, lead events purchasing and budget tracking.
• Coordinate with university and community partners on event production.
• Maintain internal and external events calendars.
• Oversee Honors staff participation in events.
• Hire and supervise vendors and student employees for event production.
• Recruit, train, supervise and maintain an event volunteer pool.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP SUPPORT

• Provide executive-level administrative support to the Honors Program Director and Assistant Directors including project management, calendaring, drafting correspondence, managing deadlines, special initiative design and implementation, data collection/report development, and stakeholder coordination.
• Oversee and facilitate visitation and engagement with special visitors, alumni, donors and Honors stakeholders.
• Direct Honors alumni and family outreach and promote alumni engagement with current students via events and communications.
• Research and create reports and special initiatives as requested.
• Liaise with Undergraduate Academic Affairs Dean’s office Communications and Advancement representatives on behalf of the Honors Program.
• Manage communications and scheduling to steward relationships with campus allies and off-campus stakeholders including parents, alumni, members of the Board of Regents, the President’s and Provost's offices, Deans and Department Heads, marketing and communication colleagues.
• Undertake special projects as assigned.

HIRING & SUPERVISION

• Oversee hiring processes for permanent and temporary staff: organize application review, hiring committee logistics and calendaring, interview logistics, and applicant communications; oversee the creation, implementation, and assessment of standard onboarding and offboarding materials for all permanent and temporary staff; coordinate with UAA Human Resources staff to initiate hiring processes.
• Manage the recruitment and hiring of undergraduate and academic student employees, including all communications from the recruitment through hiring stages, providing clear hiring policy and procedures.
• Supervise student employees who are responsible for public reception and staff support: design and oversee training and materials for student employee onboarding and offboarding; provide clear instructions for professional staff to work with student employees; audit onboarding materials and implement onboarding surveys for new employees; liaise with all Honors Program staff to determine projects assigned to student employees; manage performance and personnel decisions related to student employees; direct and delegate projects to student employees.

OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED

• Read and evaluate applications for all Honors admissions cycles.
• Evaluate scholarship and other award materials.
• Attend all staff meetings and retreats.
• Participate in shared office and administrative duties like staff meeting facilitation and note-taking, kitchen maintenance, facilitating discussions, updating internal documentation and policy documents.
• Participate in committee work within Honors, UAA, with campus partners, or with professional organizations directly related to the position to support their strategic initiatives, mission and goals.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree in any field.
• Two to three years of experience with administrative and project management responsibilities, including coordinating events and communications, in a fast-paced and collaborative environment.

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in education or communication/Graduate degree from an accredited institution.
• Experience developing communication assets for diverse audiences across a range of platforms (print, web, social media, etc.).
• Experience with event planning and/or advancement.
• Budget and personnel management experience.
• Technical skills in graphic and web design.
• Experience working with higher education procedures, policies, and systems.
• Experience and/or familiarity with honors programs/colleges.
• Experience working directly with college or university undergraduates in a higher education setting.

This position will demonstrate and integrate the following UW and UAA Competencies:

• Process and Project Management
• Planning and Prioritization
• Building Effective Relationships/Teams
• Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Accountability and Integrity
• Race, Equity, and Difference
• Constituent Focus
• Collaboration and Teamwork
• Interpersonal Savvy
• Written Communications
• UW Policies and Systems

WORK CONDITIONS

The position works primarily during standard office hours; however, occasional evening and weekend work is required. Work outside of normal working hours is most often event dependent and scheduled in advance.

Application Requirement

This recruitment requires a cover letter. Your application will not be considered unless you attach a cover letter.

In your cover letter please address what is it about this specific job that interests you, and how your prior work experiences connect to the responsibilities of this position.

Compensation, Benefits and Position Details

Pay Range Minimum:

$76,788.00 annual

Pay Range Maximum:

$76,788.00 annual

Other Compensation:

Benefits:

For information about benefits for this position, visit https://www.washington.edu/jobs/benefits-for-uw-staff/

Shift:

First Shift (United States of America)

Temporary or Regular?

This is a regular position

FTE (Full-Time Equivalent):

100.00%

Union/Bargaining Unit:

Not Applicable

About the UW

Working at the University of Washington provides a unique opportunity to change lives – on our campuses, in our state and around the world.

UW employees bring their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to building stronger minds and a healthier world. In return, they enjoy outstanding benefits, opportunities for professional growth and the chance to work in an environment known for its diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

Our Commitment

The University of Washington is committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful and welcoming community for all. As an equal opportunity employer, the University considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, pregnancy, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, or veteran status consistent with UW Executive Order No. 81 .

To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or dso@uw.edu .

Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law .