Senior Director, Development

Senior Director, Development JOB SUMMARY

The Senior Director, Development serves as a senior leader within the Office of Development and is responsible for planning, developing, and executing comprehensive major and principal gift fundraising strategies that advance university priorities and support campaign goals. This position manages a team of development officers that support college and school-based fundraising, provides strategic fundraising leadership, and cultivates relationships with major donors and prospects to secure significant philanthropic support.

The role requires exceptional leadership, communication, analytical, and relationship management skills to drive fundraising success and foster collaboration across the institution.

• Manage a portfolio of major and principal gift prospects capable of making transformational philanthropic investments.
• Qualify, cultivate, solicit, and steward prospective and current donors in support of university priorities at the major and principal gift levels.
• Meet annual fundraising, solicitation, donor engagement, and revenue goals established in collaboration with leadership.
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of colleges, schools and units fundraising priorities to effectively communicate institutional needs and opportunities.
• Guide strategic direction and collaborate with deans and directors through monthly meetings and other communications necessary to strengthen donor relationships and advance fundraising outcomes.

• Provide leadership, supervision, coaching, and performance management for a team of development officers on fundraising best practices, donor cultivation strategies, and portfolio management.
• Establish and achieve team performance expectations, fundraising metrics, and professional development goals for assigned staff.
• Foster collaboration across Advancement units to maximize fundraising effectiveness and donor outcomes.
• Support a culture of accountability, teamwork, continuous improvement, and fundraising excellence.

• Develop and execute complex and strategically aligned fundraising plans for college and school priorities using gift charts, naming opportunity strategies, feasibility testing, cash flow projections, and revenue/risk modeling.
• Analyze fundraising opportunities and develop strategies utilizing prospect research, gift projections, feasibility assessments, and revenue modeling.
• Create reporting tools, dashboards, and tracking mechanisms to monitor fundraising progress and prospect activity.
• Identify operational improvements and implement best practices that enhance fundraising performance and efficiency.
• Contribute to annual business planning, resource allocation, and departmental goal setting.

• Serve as a subject matter expert regarding development policies, procedures, and fundraising best practices.
• Prepare proposals, case statements, donor correspondence, presentations, reports, and fundraising materials.
• Ensure accurate data entry of donor activities in CRM and gift agreement documentation.
• Represent the Division of Advancement in university meetings and collaborative initiatives.

As with all positions, may perform other job-related responsibilities as needed to support departmental and campus-wide needs.

• Major Gift Fundraising
• Strategic Leadership
• Relationship Management
• Staff Development and Coaching
• Financial and Analytical Acumen
• Collaboration and Partnership Building
• Communication and Influence
• Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Project Management
• Change Leadership
• Customer Service Excellence

Work is primarily performed in a professional office environment with frequent interaction with donors, university leadership, faculty, staff, alumni, and community stakeholders. Regular travel is required to attend donor visits, university events, and fundraising activities. Occasional evening and weekend work is necessary to support fundraising and stewardship initiatives. The position requires…