Program Manager, University Relations

20600 Emerald Parkway, Cleveland, Ohio 44135 United States of America

Why Oatey?

Since 1916, Oatey has provided reliable, high-quality products for the residential and commercial plumbing industries, with a commitment to delivering quality, building trust and improving lives. Today, Oatey operates a comprehensive manufacturing and distribution network comprised of industry leading family of companies: Oatey, Cherne, Keeney, Quick Drain, Hercules, Dearborn, Oatey Canada, William H. Harvey, Masters, Contact, Belanger, Lansas, and Durgo.

At Oatey, we're doing big things — and by joining us, you'll have the chance to do big things too. You can build a strong career in an innovative, inclusive, high-performance environment, with the confidence that your company cares — about you, our customers and our world. Ready to make an impact in a place where you matter?

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Position Summary:

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.

Position Responsibilities:

Talent Acquisition for Early Talent Programs

• 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.

University Relations & External Partnerships

• 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.

Program Management, Benchmarking & Continuous Improvement

• 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.

Employer Brand & Talent Communications

• 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.

Corporate Talent Acquisition Support

• 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.

Knowledge and Experience:

• 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.

Education and Certification:

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, communications, or a related field, or equivalent work experience, required.
• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Talent Acquisition Specialty Certification preferred.
• AIRS CDR (Certified Diversity Recruiter) certification preferred.

Physical Activities and Other Working Conditions:

• Associates working at Corporate sites are required to work in-person according to the Hybrid & Remote Workplace Policy.
• This role is primarily sedentary and involves prolonged periods of sitting and working on a computer. Regular use of hands for typing and operating office equipment is required, along with visual focus on screens and documents. Occasional standing, walking, and lifting up to 10–15 pounds may be required. Work is performed in a climate-controlled office or remote environment with moderate noise levels.
• 10% travel is required for career fairs and other campus events
• Ability to set up and tear down career fair tables which includes banner stands, table cloths, boxes, flyers, and marketing collateral such as water bottles, stress balls, etc.
• Career fairs require the ability to drive up to four hours each way and to stand for a period of up to eight hours.

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Compensation Range for the Position:

$63,281.00 - $80,683.50 - $98,086.00 USD

Target Cash Profit Sharing for the Position:

8.00%

Offer amount determined by experience and review of internal talent.

Oatey Total Rewards

• 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.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Oatey family of companies are an equal opportunity employer committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We recruit, employ, promote, and offer competitive pay for all jobs without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Protect Yourself from Recruitment Scams

Oatey is committed to a safe and transparent hiring process. Please be aware of fraudulent recruiting communications.

How to recognize official Oatey communication:

• Emails will come from @oatey.com or oatey@myworkday.com

• We do not use unofficial or misspelled domains

What Oatey will never do:

• Ask for payment or fees at any stage

• Request sensitive personal or financial information early in the process

• Make a job offer without interviews

If something seems suspicious, do not engage. Instead, verify roles through our careers site and please make us aware by contacting recruiting@oatey.com.

About Us

WORKING AT OATEY

We value our associates and provide opportunities for growth. Oatey is a collaborative, diverse workplace attracting the brightest minds and creative thinkers in our industry. We constantly challenge associates to come up with new ideas and reward them for their efforts. As a result, many of our associates choose to stay and build long term careers at Oatey.

http://oatey.com/careers