Program Manager, Customer Marketing

Location: Remote (U.S.-based preferred)

Engagement: November 2026 - May 2027 (anticipated; core awards program runs through May 2027)

Schedule: Approximately 20 hours per week, with flexibility based on project demands

Time Zone: Eastern or Central preferred

About the Opportunity

We are launching a new Customer Recognition and Awards Program designed to celebrate the professionals and organizations driving exceptional results within our global customer community.

The program will recognize outstanding customer achievements through an integrated marketing campaign, customer storytelling, nominations, judging, and an awards ceremony at our annual customer conference in spring 2027.

We are seeking an experienced, highly organized, and proactive Customer Marketing Program Manager to lead the end-to-end execution of this initiative.

This is a hands-on consulting opportunity for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, cross-functional marketing environment and knows how to turn strategy into execution. You will serve as the central point of coordination across internal marketing teams, creative and web teams, legal, PR, customer advocacy, external agencies, and other business stakeholders.

The ideal candidate is not simply someone who can create a project plan and track deadlines. We need someone who actively drives projects forward, anticipates what needs to happen next, follows up persistently, builds relationships across the organization, and takes ownership of getting things done.

The awards program is a new initiative, so the consultant will help bring several program components from planning through execution, including finalizing award criteria and categories, launching the nomination process, coordinating judging, developing customer stories, and supporting winner recognition and post-event activities.

There may also be opportunities to provide additional project management and process development support to the broader Customer Marketing and Customer Advocacy teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the overall project plan, working backward from key program milestones and the May 2027 awards ceremony.
• Translate program objectives into actionable workstreams, timelines, deliverables, milestones, and clearly assigned responsibilities.
• Coordinate multiple activities simultaneously, ensuring dependencies are identified and work continues moving forward while awaiting decisions or deliverables from other teams.
• Establish and maintain project governance, including a RACI, action items, decision log, risk and issue tracking, and regular status updates.
• Lead recurring project meetings, document decisions, follow up on outstanding items, and ensure stakeholders remain accountable for deliverables.
• Proactively identify potential roadblocks, develop solutions, and escalate issues to the Director of Customer Marketing when decisions or additional support are needed.
• Track program progress, deliverables, budget inputs, and key performance indicators.
• Provide concise project updates and communicate progress, risks, and next steps to stakeholders and leadership.

• Serve as the primary project liaison across Customer Marketing, Customer Advocacy, Customer Success, Sales, Product Strategy, Creative, Content, Web, Legal, Privacy, PR, Social, Events, and regional marketing teams.
• Build relationships with internal stakeholders and proactively engage the right people to obtain information, approvals, and deliverables.
• Coordinate with external creative and brand agencies, serving as the awards program point of contact and ensuring alignment on program-related activities.
• Manage editorial reviews, creative approvals, legal reviews, and other stakeholder sign-offs to keep deliverables on schedule.
• Follow up persistently with stakeholders, judges, and external partners to ensure deadlines are met.
• Navigate competing priorities and differing stakeholder perspectives while keeping the overall program moving forward.
• Make warm introductions and handoffs between internal teams when additional expertise or support is needed.

• Help drive outstanding program decisions to completion, including award naming, categories, eligibility criteria, judging criteria, nomination requirements, jury composition, and recognition opportunities.
• Coordinate with Customer Success and Product Strategy to develop award categories and selection criteria.
• Work with Legal and Privacy to establish program guidelines, eligibility requirements, official rules, terms and conditions, and data privacy requirements.
• Coordinate development of the program landing page, nomination forms, and related digital experiences with Web, Content, and Creative teams.
• Manage timelines, content reviews, and approvals required to launch the program.
• Develop and coordinate internal communications to educate customer-facing teams about the program and encourage nominations.

• Coordinate the nomination process, ensuring all program communications, nomination forms, and supporting materials are ready for launch.
• Partner with Sales, Customer Success Managers, Customer Advocacy, and other internal teams to drive awareness and encourage qualified customer nominations.
• Monitor nomination volume, status, quality, and progress against program goals.
• Recruit and coordinate the judging committee, ensuring judges understand the evaluation criteria, timelines, and scoring process.
• Prepare judging materials, coordinate nomination reviews, track scoring, and facilitate finalist and winner selection.
• Schedule and coordinate nominee interviews and follow up with judges to ensure timely completion of evaluations.
• Coordinate finalist and winner notifications, response deadlines, eligibility verification, customer releases, and employer approvals.

• Coordinate the internal and external marketing campaigns supporting the awards program.
• Work with Creative and Content teams to develop campaign assets, web copy, promotional materials, banners, and email communications.
• Coordinate social media campaigns and customer newsletter placements to increase program awareness and nomination volume.
• Partner with external agencies and relevant social platforms on customer recognition opportunities, including digital badges, finalist announcements, and winner amplification.
• Collaborate with PR to develop media kits and opportunities for customer recognition and earned media.
• Partner with Customer Advocacy to develop customer stories, case studies, testimonials, and video content featuring finalists and winners.
• Coordinate editorial timelines, content reviews, approvals, and customer participation.
• Develop supporting materials such as internal FAQs, customer communications, and social media guidelines for honorees.
• Ensure all customer-facing content is approved and ready for publication according to established deadlines.

• Coordinate with the Events team on awards ceremony requirements, timelines, presentation materials, and trophy production.
• Track dependencies related to winner announcements, customer participation, event passes, and recognition materials.
• Ensure all finalists and winners have completed the required approvals and releases before public recognition.
• Coordinate post-event customer storytelling, social media amplification, PR opportunities, and localized winner announcements.
• Prepare a program wrap-up report outlining performance against KPIs, key outcomes, lessons learned, and recommendations for future programs.

As the awards program progresses, there may be opportunities to support additional Customer Marketing and Customer Advocacy initiatives, including:

• Developing and documenting repeatable processes and workflows.
• Supporting the creation of intake forms and project request processes.
• Identifying opportunities to streamline workflows through Monday.com automation.
• Developing notification and communication processes for internal stakeholders.
• Supporting broader Customer Advocacy program expansion and operational improvements.

What We're Looking For

• Demonstrated experience in project or program management within a marketing, customer marketing, customer advocacy, or related business environment.
• Experience managing complex, cross-functional marketing initiatives with multiple stakeholders, deliverables, and deadlines.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to develop actionable project plans, identify dependencies, track deliverables, and drive execution.
• Experience working across multiple internal departments and coordinating with external agencies or partners.
• Ability to manage editorial workflows, content reviews, creative approvals, and stakeholder feedback.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with senior leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Proven ability to independently manage projects from initial planning through final execution and completion.
• Comfortable working remotely and collaborating with geographically dispersed teams.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, and other project planning tools.
• Availability to work approximately 20 hours per week during standard Eastern or Central business hours.

• Experience in B2B marketing, customer marketing, customer engagement, or customer advocacy.
• Previous experience managing customer awards, recognition programs, loyalty initiatives, or customer engagement campaigns.
• Experience coordinating marketing programs involving nominations, applications, judging committees, and customer recognition.
• Experience supporting large customer conferences, events, or integrated marketing campaigns.
• Familiarity with website and landing page development, nomination forms, email campaigns, and digital marketing workflows.
• Experience working with Legal, Privacy, PR, and external agencies on marketing approvals, customer releases, and program guidelines.
• Familiarity with international marketing programs and customer communications across multiple geographies.
• Experience with LinkedIn or other social platforms involving customer recognition, co-marketing, or digital badges.
• Experience coordinating customer testimonials, case studies, success stories, and explainer videos.
• Familiarity with data privacy requirements, customer release forms, and marketing compliance considerations, including GDPR.

Ideal Candidate Profile

We are looking for someone who is highly proactive, resourceful, and comfortable taking ownership in a fast-moving environment.

Self-Starter & Independent Operator

• Takes initiative and moves work forward without waiting for direction.
• Can take a project overview and translate it into an actionable plan.
• Anticipates what needs to happen next and proactively addresses outstanding items.

Proactive Problem Solver

• Identifies potential roadblocks before they become bigger issues.
• Comes to leadership with potential solutions and recommendations rather than simply presenting problems.
• Comfortable navigating unfamiliar situations and figuring out who to engage to get answers.

Outgoing & Relationship-Oriented

• Comfortable reaching out to people they have never met, introducing themselves, and building working relationships.
• Confident following up with stakeholders and pushing for responses when deadlines are approaching.
• Able to make warm introductions and facilitate handoffs between teams.
• Persistent and professional without being overly dependent on formal introductions or direction.

Highly Organized & Results-Oriented

• Able to manage multiple priorities and workstreams without losing sight of important details.
• Strong follow-through and accountability.
• Focused on getting projects completed, not just managing meetings and reporting status.
• Understands how to move work forward when other teams or stakeholders are responsible for key deliverables.

Curious & Resourceful

• Naturally inquisitive and willing to ask questions.
• Comfortable engaging unfamiliar contacts and learning new processes.
• Able to recover gracefully from missteps and adjust approaches when necessary.
• Confident navigating an organization and finding the right resources to accomplish objectives.

Tools & Technology

The consultant will work within an established marketing and project management environment.

Tools may include:

• Monday.com - Project tracking, workflows, intake forms, and process automation.
• Jira - Project tasks and execution tracking.
• Microsoft 365 - Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and other productivity tools.
• Microsoft Teams - Internal communication and collaboration.
• Microsoft Copilot - AI-assisted productivity.
• Claude - AI-assisted research and productivity; completion of the required introductory certification will be part of onboarding.
• ChatGPT - AI-assisted content development and productivity.

Prior experience with Monday.com is a plus. Familiarity with all platforms is not required, but the candidate should be comfortable learning new tools and adopting established workflows.

Engagement Details

• Anticipated start: November 2026.
• Approximately 20 hours per week, with some flexibility depending on project needs and program activity.
• Remote engagement; no travel is required.
• Eastern or Central time zone preferred to facilitate collaboration with primary stakeholders.
• Engagement anticipated to continue through the program wrap-up, with potential for additional Customer Marketing or Customer Advocacy project support depending on business needs.