Senior Director, Strategic Stewardship and Donor Relations Operations

The Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Office of Development (OOD), a part of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), is dedicated to facilitating relationships that support the vision and mission of CUIMC and VP&S: to transform health by driving discovery, advancing care, and educating leaders.

The Senior Director of Strategic Stewardship and Donor Relations is a new position that will lead and manage the medical school’s overarching stewardship and donor relations strategy, advancing an integrated, donor-centered model. This role ensures that recognition, reporting, and engagement efforts are thoughtfully designed to strengthen retention, deepen relationships, and support sustained philanthropic growth. The Senior Director bridges the gap between philanthropic support and its direct impact on rigorous medical education, groundbreaking biomedical research, and world-class patient care.

This position reports to the Assistant Vice President of Communications and Donor Relations and works closely with the Vice President for Development. The Senior Director operates in a complex, multi-layered academic medical center, ensuring compliance with donor intent, coordinating high-profile stewardship touchpoints, and overseeing endowment reporting.

With the goal of increasing fundraising revenues, engaging donor constituents, and enhancing relationships, the Senior Director will work with staff across the VP&S Office of Development to implement strategies that will maximize donor engagement and impact.

The Senior Director will manage an Associate Director of Donor Relations.

• Strategic Stewardship and Portfolio Management:
  Create and executive individualized reporting and stewardship plans for principal and major gift donors, using multimedia tools and other innovations to connect with these donors. Partner with fundraisers and academic and medical leadership to ensure the plans are holistic and targeted. Assess effectiveness of this program to ensure the expectations of this group of donors is being met. –
  20%
• General Donor Acknowledgement Management:
  In partnership with the Annual Giving team, implement a systematic approach to thanking donors at all gift levels. The objectives are to thank donors in a timely and individualized fashion, reflecting their donor constituency (i.e., graduate, patient, resident or fellow) and gift impact. –
  20%
• Impact Communication and Endowment Reporting:
  Direct the production of annual endowment reports and financial narrative summaries for gifts to clinical and research departments as well as for student support. These reports translate technical scientific information and student scholarship stories into accessible and inspiring donor impact materials. –
  15%
• Named Professorship Management:
  Collaborate with the Office of Faculty Affairs and VP&S departments to compile and submit review information to the Board of Trustees for appointments to named professorships. –
  15%
• Manage physical recognition program:
  Manage inventory of named spaces, collaborate on the identification and valuing of new spaces, manage collective donor recognition pieces (i.e., donor walls). –
  10%
• Recognition Events:
  In collaboration with OOD’s Special Events team and fundraisers, conceptualize and execute high-level recognition events and dedication ceremonies for key gifts and donors. Play a leading role in signature events including the Crown Award Dinner to ensure donor relations goals are achieved. –
  10%
• Leadership, Management, & Capability Building:
  Supervise an Associate Director, providing coaching, goal setting, and performance management; integrate AI, where appropriate, to drive efficiency and effectiveness;
  Manage budget and resource allocation;
  Othe…