Program Manager, University Relations

Oatey • Cleveland, OH

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

The University Relations Program Manager leads the strategy, design, and execution of Oatey’s early talent programs and associated initiatives. This role serves as a key strategic partner in attracting, engaging, and retaining a diverse, high-quality pipeline of early career talent. This position combines expertise in university relations, full-cycle recruiting, program management, and employer branding. The role owns The Oatey Intern Experience end to end, including recruitment, onboarding, engagement, development, and conversion to full-time roles. This role also carries accountability for external benchmarking and continuous improvement, ensuring Oatey’s early talent and university relations programs remain competitive, differentiated, and market-leading relative to peer and aspirational organizations.

Requirements

• 5+ years of progressive talent acquisition experience, including direct experience with university relations, early talent recruiting, and employer branding.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex programs or multi-site internship initiatives preferred.
• Strong knowledge of recruitment marketing tools, talent customer relationship management (CRMs), social and digital engagement platforms.
• Proven ability to translate data, benchmarking insights, and market trends into strategic recommendations.
• Exceptional organizational, communication, and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated success partnering cross-functionally and leading through influence.
• Champions Oatey’s values of Collaboration, Integrity, Respect, Courage, Leadership, and Excellence.
• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, communications, or a related field, or equivalent work experience, required.

Nice To Haves

• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Talent Acquisition Specialty Certification preferred.
• AIRS CDR (Certified Diversity Recruiter) certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead full-cycle recruitment for early career, intern, and entry-level programs, including sourcing, screening, interviewing, selection, and onboarding.
• Partner with HR and business leaders across sites to forecast hiring needs and align early talent strategies with business objectives.
• Build a consistent, data-driven approach to early talent acquisition through dashboards, metrics, and return on investment (ROI) analysis for university recruiting and internship programs.
• Facilitate hiring manager training and ensure a best-in-class candidate experience across all stages of the hiring process.
• Partner with the Director of Talent Acquisition & Workforce Development to build and sustain conversion pipelines for high-performing interns, including maintaining and leveraging the Oatey Intern Alumni network and associated communications.
• Serve as Oatey’s primary liaison to universities, colleges, trade schools, and professional associations.
• Develop and maintain strategic relationships with career services, student organizations (e.g., NSBE, NBMBAA, SHPE), and academic programs to strengthen Oatey’s campus presence.
• Plan and oversee campus recruiting activities, including career fairs, classroom presentations, student networking events, and industry partnerships.
• Represent Oatey in external workforce development initiatives and local business partnerships to expand reach and impact.
• Engage associates as Campus Ambassadors to extend Oatey’s campus footprint and increase employee participation in recruiting events.
• Design, facilitate, and continuously enhance the annual Oatey Intern Experience from orientation and training through project scoping, execution, report-outs, and conversion to full-time employment.
• Conduct ongoing external benchmarking of early talent, internship, and university relations programs against industry peers, competitors, and best-in-class organizations to identify opportunities for differentiation and improvement.
• Leverage market insights, professional networks, industry research, and early talent forums to ensure Oatey’s programs remain competitive and aligned with evolving candidate expectations and workforce trends.
• Translate benchmarking insights into actionable recommendations that enhance program design, learning experiences, compensation alignment (where applicable), engagement strategies, and conversion outcomes.
• Develop a structured intern learning path focused on career readiness, leveraging internal subject matter experts (SMEs) and external platforms to deliver content including (but not limited to): diversity, equity & inclusion, communication skills, emotional intelligence, personal branding, networking, public speaking, resume writing, and interviewing.
• Develop and deliver training for supervisors, mentors, and volunteers to ensure consistent, high-quality intern management and engagement.
• Manage program budgets, schedules, and logistics while ensuring alignment with Oatey’s purpose, values, and workforce priorities.
• Build and maintain tools, guides, and templates that standardize the intern and early talent experience across all sites, ensuring consistency while allowing for localized needs.
• Collect and analyze feedback from interns, supervisors, and business stakeholders to inform continuous program improvements.
• Own and execute early talent and university relations communications across external platforms including LinkedIn, Handshake, university job boards, and campus-facing marketing channels.
• Own and manage internal communications related to early talent programs across platforms such as Oatey Insider and Ozone, ensuring visibility, engagement, and alignment with enterprise messaging.
• Partner with Corporate Communications, HR, and Marketing to ensure cohesive storytelling and brand alignment across internal and external audiences.
• Develop content strategies that highlight intern experiences, program outcomes, career pathways, and associate involvement to strengthen Oatey’s employer brand.
• Act as an engaged member of the Oatey Corporate Talent Acquisition team, supporting additional needs as they arise, including sourcing, community engagement, full lifecycle recruitment, new hire orientation, recruitment marketing, data analysis, and other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Generous paid time off programs and paid company holidays to support flexibility and work-life balance
• Annual Discretionary Cash Profit Sharing
• Immediate eligibility and vesting in 401(k), including 100% company match, up to 5% of eligible compensation
• Market leading health insurance including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance offerings for associates and qualified dependents
• Significant company contribution to Health Savings Account with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP)
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability income protection coverage at no cost to associates
• Paid Maternity and Paid Parental Leave
• Tuition reimbursement
• A strong set of complementary resources to support associate well-being, including resource groups, EAP, and dedicated mental health support.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree