Planned Giving Program Specialist

Job Description:

The Planned Giving and Philanthropic Strategies Program Specialist serves as the operations coordinator for the department. Reporting to the Executive Director (ED), this hybrid role blends high-level organizational policy design, cross-functional project management, institutional compliance, and strategic executive support.

A defining priority of this role is the unique opportunity to design, implement, and own the operational framework for accepting complex asset gifts (such as founders' stock). The ideal candidate will not merely maintain existing workflows, but will lead collaborative efforts across university departments to design new, robust standard operating procedures. Designed for a highly organized, tech-savvy, and proactive generalist, this position values transferable operational excellence, administrative skills, and the ability to navigate complex administrative systems with confidence.

This position is located in Providence, RI.Required

Education and Experience Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience.

Minimum of 4 years of experience in a related field, such as project management, operations, business analysis, logistics, marketing, or legal assistant/paralegal.

Demonstrated transferable operational background in fast-paced corporate, legal, consulting, tech, or start-up environments is highly valued. Candidates with paralegal, business operations, management consulting, or agency project management experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

Job Competencies Proficiency with creating workflows, policies, or standard operating procedures (SOPs) from scratch, rather than just maintaining existing ones.

Advanced proficiency with Google Workspace functions (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive) for project tracking and collaboration.

Direct experience utilizing or navigating Workday (or a similar enterprise resource planning/financial system).Experience utilizing or managing modern project management and workflow management platforms (e.g., Asana, , Trello, Jira, or Air Table) to track multi-stage projects.

Demonstrated technical agility and the ability to quickly master complex, proprietary institutional database systems. Experience using a customer relationship management (CRM) system is preferred.

Exceptional project management, communication, and organizational skills with a commitment to accuracy.

Stakeholder Management & Diplomacy:
High emotional intelligence. Proven ability to build consensus across different departments and manage executives and frontline fundraising officers to meet operational deadlines.

Prioritization Under Pressure:
Capacity to self-manage; able to balance long-term project planning (like policy rollouts and marketing cycles) with daily tasks such as scheduling emergencies or immediate invoice routing.

Attention to Detail: A commitment to accuracy, from proofing strict routing sheets and auditing invoices to tracking precise stock liquidation windows.

Strong organizational and planning skills with the ability to initiate, collaborate, implement, monitor, evaluate, and advance funding proposals that support program activities and contribute to Advancement’s overall goals and objectives and the University’s fundraising enterprise.

Superior interpersonal skills with proven ability to effectively interact and collaborate with varied constituencies in a professional manner, exhibiting excellent written and oral communication skills, team-building skills, and demonstrating tact, poise, and diplomacy while working with a wide variety of personalities.

Ability to apply sound judgment and proven responsible decision-making skills; tact and discretion are required to handle highly confidential information…