Hybrid Marketing Project Manager

at Cato Institute

• Job title: Marketing Project Manager
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Mid level, Senior
• Salary: $70,000 - $110,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Washington, United States

About the role

• Marketing Project Manager at Cato Institute overseeing complex, cross-functional marketing initiatives. Leading planning, execution, and coordination of major campaigns and policy launches.

Responsibilities

• Lead planning, management, and execution of major marketing initiatives, including nationwide campaigns, policy launches, product marketing, and thought-leadership programs
• Translate strategic priorities into clear, actionable project plans with defined scope, milestones, and KPIs
• Conduct project scoping and requirements gathering; ensure alignment among stakeholders across Cato departments
• Advise senior leadership on project status, risks, and strategic considerations
• Coordinate work across stakeholders, including policy scholars, designers, writers, digital teams, communications, and external partners
• Ensure all participants understand goals, roles, timelines, and expectations
• Serve as the primary point of contact to streamline communication among diverse contributors
• Build and maintain project schedules, workflows, and critical paths to ensure timely delivery
• Identify bottlenecks and proactively remove obstacles to maintain momentum
• Oversee creative briefs, content development, review cycles, revisions, and approval processes
• Maintain standards for process clarity, documentation, and alignment across teams
• Use Cato’s project management platform to plan, assign, track, and report on cross-functional work
• Maintain dashboards, roadmaps, and reporting tools for team and executive visibility
• Promote best practices for task management, project tracking, and workflow optimization within the platform
• Uphold standards of quality across all creative, editorial, and digital deliverables
• Conduct post-project evaluations to identify lessons learned and improve future workflows
• Help measure campaign performance
• Ensure strategic alignment between messaging, creative assets, and distribution channels
• Support development of briefs that define audiences, objectives, messaging pillars, and success measures
• Collaborate closely with creative teams to keep deliverables accurate, high-quality, and on mission
• Keep stakeholders informed through structured updates, clear documentation, and proactive communication
• Manage expectations related to project scope, timing, and resource requirements
• Lead productive meetings, stand-ups, and cross-team coordination sessions
• Identify and implement opportunities to streamline workflows and improve team efficiency
• Contribute to building a project management discipline within Cato through templates, standards, and best practices

Requirements

• 5+ years of project management experience—preferably in marketing, communications, or a creative agency environment—with extensive use of project management software (e.g., Wrike) to manage complex, cross-functional workflows.
• Demonstrated interest in public policy and in Cato’s mission to advance a free and open society
• Proven success leading multi-team projects involving marketing/advertising, content generation, creative content production, and PR/communications
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and priorities simultaneously
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to summarize, document, and present project information clearly and persuasively
• Skilled at leading meetings, setting agendas, documenting decisions, and driving accountability
• Strategic thinker with a proactive, problem-solving mindset and the confidence to lead across departments and seniority levels
• Collaborative, approachable, and comfortable operating in a fast-moving, high-visibility environment
• At least an understanding of and comfort level with AI tools to optimize workflow efficiency
• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business Administration, Public Policy, Political Science, or a related field.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Employer contribution to a Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Generous vacation and sick days
• Paid parental leave
• Employer-provided life and disability insurance
• 401(k) employer match
• Transit/ Parking benefits
• Pet discount plan