Executive Director of Development, Corporate and Foundation Relations

Title: Executive Director of Development, Corporate and Foundation Relations

Employee Classification: Executive Dir, Development

Campus: University of North Texas

Division: UNT-Advancement

Sub Division-Department: UNT-Principal Gifts

Department: UNT-Principal Gifts
-Gen-170500

Job Location: Denton

Salary: $150,

FTE: 1.0

Retirement Eligibility: ORP Eligible

The University Advancement Corporate and Foundation Relations Team is seeking an Executive Director to lead a foundation-forward advancement strategy focused on transformational private foundation partnerships. This role will devote the majority of its effort—approximately 80%—to identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major national and regional private foundations capable of making significant philanthropic investments in UNT’s institutional priorities, research enterprise, academic programs, and student success initiatives.

Corporate relations will remain an important but secondary function, representing approximately 20% of the role and focused on select corporate entities in partnership with the President’s Corporate Concierge program aligning with UNT’s strategic priorities.

• Leads the development and execution of a transformational foundation relations strategy designed to secure major philanthropic gifts and grants from national and regional private foundations in support of UNT’s highest institutional priorities.
• Builds and deepens long‑term partnerships with major foundation leaders, program officers, and trustees while positioning UNT faculty, research, and academic initiatives for significant multi‑year foundation support.
• Provides strategic leadership and management for the Corporate and Foundation Relations team, setting priorities, metrics, and practices/processes that emphasize foundation support growth while maintaining targeted corporate engagement.
• Works with advancement and development colleagues, faculty, deans, unit directors, volunteers, administration, and staff to identify, cultivate, and solicit major private foundations as the primary focus of the role, while also pursuing select corporate and corporate foundation opportunities aligned with UNT’s strategic priorities.
• Manages a portfolio of high‑capacity foundation prospects and partners, cultivates relationships with foundation decision makers, guides solicitation strategy, and advances complex proposals for transformational gifts and grants.
• Works closely with the UNT Foundation, Advancement Services, development colleagues, the Division of Research and Innovation, and the Office of Grants and Contracts to prepare competitive foundation proposals and align philanthropic opportunities with institutional and research priorities.
• Sets and pursues ambitious goals for increased foundation support, including growth in foundation funding, pipeline development, proposal/submission volume, and long‑term partnership activity over a multi‑year period.
• Conducts prospect research and maintains in‑depth knowledge of UNT priorities, faculty strengths, research initiatives, and foundation funding interests to identify high‑value alignment opportunities.
• Participates in structured strategy sessions with colleagues, faculty, deans, research leadership, and unit partners to coordinate foundation prospect identification, engagement strategy, proposal development, solicitation, and follow‑up for national and regional foundations.
• Monitors, analyzes, and shares foundation giving trends, emerging funding initiatives, and national philanthropic priorities to inform proactive outreach, proposal strategy, and pipeline development.
• Guides faculty and academic partners in translating complex research, academic programs, and institutional priorities into compelling foundation concepts, letters of inquiry, proposals, and stewardship narratives.
• Provides comprehensive, foundation‑specific stewardship, including tailored impact reports, grant deliverable tracking, and other measures of accountability that demonstrate outcomes and build long‑term trust with foundation partners.
• Oversees foundation gift and grant documentation, invoicing, expenditure tracking, scholarship…