HEDEX Engagement Manager

Campus Compact

5d•$65,000 - $75,000•Remote

About The Position

The Engagement Manager (EM) will be responsible for managing and supporting the Higher Education Democracy Exchange (HEDEX) platform. This position reports to the Director, Strategic Initiatives at Campus Compact. While this position sits within Campus Compact, the HEDEX initiative is a collaboration between Campus Compact, the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U), More Perfect, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia. HEDEX is a one-stop platform intended to support institutions of higher education to advance their civic missions through collective organizing, resource leveraging, and evidence building. Developed with input from field leadership, this multifunctional platform provides essential infrastructure for accelerating higher education’s collective impact on democratic engagement by centering technology rooted in human-centered design and radical collaboration. HEDEX, scheduled to launch in late July 2026, facilitates the sharing of resources, civic credentials, data-informed stories, and an inclusive directory of civic practitioners. Built for leaders, practitioners, partners, and anyone committed to advancing the civic mission of higher education, HEDEX is designed to be versatile and responsive to the field. The HEDEX Engagement Manager will work closely with both Compact and AAC&U staff members, to engage with external partners, maintain, build, and grow a subscriber base of HEDEX, execute on HEDEX communications strategies, and continue platform growth and development. This is a remote, full-time, exempt, fixed-term position that is funded for 12 months from start date, with continuation contingent on external funding, with regular travel required. This is a remote position with regular travel required for Planning Retreats, Events/Meetings, Staff Gatherings, and other Campus Compact Events, specifically our annual All-Staff, in-person retreat. Grant Funded until July 2027

Requirements

Experience in civic engagement networks or projects
Experience representing work publicly in person or in digital spaces (for example, representing a very public facing project in undergrad counts)
Project management experience, at any level with multiple stakeholders
Self-motivated, detail-oriented, and highly organized.
Ability to take ideas and turn them into actionable steps, driving progress forward, in partnership with key stakeholders, including project PI’s and direct supervisor
A strong collaborator, approaching work with the confidence to take the lead on projects, organize others, and solve problems.
Thrives working in a fast-paced environment and is comfortable managing multiple priorities
Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively with diverse stakeholders.
A strong writer who feels comfortable communicating directly with Compact and AAC&U members, partners, event attendees, and other audiences
Proficient in Microsoft office and related technology; project management software and tools proficiency is preferred.
Experience with identifying, synthesizing, and reporting summarized research.
A strong understanding of civic engagement, democratic engagement, social responsibility, and community engagement programming and activities within higher education, is ideal.
Understanding and familiarity with the civic/democratic engagement and higher education space
Organization, Time, & Priority Management
Consistent, highly organized, and can easily manage competing priorities. We’ll rely on the Engagement manager to set and meet deadlines, plan and assign tasks, and deliver consistently high-quality work.
Analytical skills to interpret user marketing & constituent engagement data across platforms and make action-oriented recommendations to improve our offerings.
A deep personal and professional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Internal & External Relationship Management:
Coordinating across teams around communication, dates, and cross-functional alignment
Maintain productive and informed partnership with AAC&U, in close collaboration with Director, Strategic Initiatives
Communicating effectively within Strategic Initiatives and the larger HEDEX team, including colleagues at AAC&U. Communicating across Campus Compact, as needed
This is primarily a sedentary position requiring the ability to sit at a desk and use a computer and phone most of the day.
Minor bending and lifting periodically (mostly related to help with events and office management needs)

Nice To Haves

Organization and/or active participation of democratic and/or civic engagement efforts in a campus setting
A year or more in a professional setting working on a public-facing engagement campaign
Asana
Working with higher education institutions

Responsibilities

In collaboration with the Director, Strategic Initiatives and other key stakeholders, execute a communications strategy to drive user engagement for HEDEX. The Engagement Manager will support the development of communications opportunities and strategies for HEDEX user engagement and growth, specifically around collating news in the field, highlighting and promoting HEDEX features across social media outlets, and building narratives for how HEDEX can be utilized across the field.
Build and maintain the platform's digital presence, including social media, email newsletters, and content distribution platforms, by sourcing relevant industry news and curating engaging content to drive audience growth. The Engagement Manager will also be responsible for tracking growth in the user base (i.e., total number of users over time), user metrics (i.e,, user metrics across the platform over time), and expansion of awareness (e.g., social media mentions, repostings, national presentations).
In close partnership with the Director, Strategic Initiatives, maintain and form new stakeholder relationships that build upon foundational partnerships between Campus Compact, AAC&U, More Perfect, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy, in ways that can expand HEDEX’s reach, impact, and inclusivity.
Coordinate with the Campus Compact Membership and Communications teams, keeping teams informed awareness across goals and possible overlap when relevant.
Collaborate to provide written guidance, such as talking points and slide decks, for ambassadors and core HEDEX staff representing the platform at field events.
Manage the day-to-day coordination and delivery of the actual platform. The Engagement Manager will act as a content manager of the backend, amending and creating pages as needed, in collaboration with the Director, Strategic Initiatives and HEDEX PI’s. The Engagement Manager will also translate requests needed to the website developers, and ensure requests are both within scope and budget.
Support the live platform by monitoring backend maintenance, tracking resource uploads, and identifying opportunities for functional growth.
Act as the operational Point of Contact (POC) to drive platform tasks forward.
Coordinate closely with other teams and external stakeholders, including but not limited to Campus Compact’s Professional Development team, and partners to identify resources that can be added to HEDEX, as well as how the platform can further align with the team’s area of work.
Support contact with external platform developers to facilitate website support and new features, while monitoring budget. Move stakeholder and user ideas into action by building small project plans, establishing timelines, and assigning tasks.
Hands on logistics management for both virtual and in-person spaces to drive interaction and tool adoption. The Engagement Manager will oversee the operational details for events, including two HEDEX Innovation Sprints and multiple live HEDEX Demonstrations, where live, interactive exercises guiding attendees to actively use HEDEX to find, curate and save information in real time will occur.
Serve as the primary point of contact between HEDEX stakeholders, external event hosts and internal teams before, during and after the event. Partner closely with them to align on event goals, agenda design and integration of HEDEX.
Handle logistics for virtual and in-person events/meetings, in tandem with event staff and external hosts. This includes agendas, registration, catering, budget tracking, travel support and coordination, venue confirmation, technology set up, and post-event evaluation (i.e. collecting survey responses).
Draft, review and send timely pre- and post-event communications to drive attendance, ensure awareness and provide participants with necessary logistical details.
Gather participant feedback and engagement metrics, distribute follow-up resources, and track invoice payments. Share insights, reflections and post-event action items to relevant stakeholders.
Review trends and platform data to help build compelling narratives that show the collective impact of higher education's civic mission, working closely with HEDEX’s core team, including the PI’s and Director, Strategic Initiatives.
Review and be aware of relevant communications, including research and data, to keep HEDEX informed and responsive to emerging trends within higher education and civic engagement.
Identify sources from within HEDEX and within the field to help develop data stories to highlight emerging trends and promising practices of democratic engagement in higher education.
Support tracking of metrics and budget alignment. Presenting analytics performance of HEDEX (which has been set up by the website developer), assist in drafting funder compliance reports, and track expenditures against the approved budget.
Consulting with the Director, Strategic Initiatives and HEDEX leaders, track engagement using Google Analytics and other metrics (such as resource uploads and event use) to identify how the platform can be further utilized.
In partnership with the Director, Strategic Initiatives and the Campus Compact Finance team, use collected metrics to contribute to project funder reports.
Work closely with the Director, Strategic Initiatives and the Campus Compact Finance team to manage project budgets, monitor expenditures, and ensure fiscal responsibility and compliance.
Active participation in Compact team activities, including regular staff meetings, retreats, and major events. Complete other related duties as required.