Senior Major Gift Officer, Penn Engineering

Senior Major Gift Officer, Penn Engineering

Penn Engineering's world-acclaimed faculty, state-of-the-art research laboratories and highly interdisciplinary curricula offer an experience that is unparalleled. Innovation and technology drive every program and transform the fundamentals of what future engineers are learning. Penn Engineering is seeking an accomplished, strategic, and collaborative development professional to serve as a Senior Major Gift Officer covering international territories. This is an exciting opportunity to partner with and contribute to a highly successful development and alumni relations team, an engaged Dean and Board, and a committed and involved community consisting of alumni, parents, faculty and friends.

As part of a team of experienced fundraisers, the Senior Major Gifts Officer reports to the Director of Development. This position manages the identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of assigned prospects with the giving ability of $100,000 and above. The position will focus primarily on Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, and China) and India, with other potential regions assigned, and is responsible for designing, planning, and implementing a major gifts plan that proactively extends the reach of Penn Engineering internationally to expand Engineering's prospect base and build the donor pipeline.

The role is also responsible for developing and maintaining regional knowledge, including an understanding of fundraising practices, philanthropic trends, and cultural norms that influence donor engagement in assigned markets.

At the Senior Major Gifts Officer level, the role carries a higher degree of independence in developing and executing fundraising strategies, managing complex prospect relationships, and advancing high level cultivation and solicitation efforts. The position represents Penn Engineering in key international markets and works closely with School leadership, faculty, volunteers, alumni, and colleagues across the School and the University to advance institutional priorities.

The position requires the willingness and ability to travel extensively throughout the year, sometimes for up to two weeks at a time, and to varied countries in a single trip. Availability to work some weekends and evenings is also required.

Job Responsibilities

• Manage a top-tier portfolio of approximately 150 donors and prospects, executing comprehensive moves management—including identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship—to develop and advance a robust pipeline of high-level gift prospects.
• Develop strategies for and conduct identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship visits with donors and prospects with giving capacity ratings of $100,000 or more.
• Meet mutually agreed-upon annual goals for core role responsibilities, including donor and prospect visits, solicitations, and philanthropic commitments secured.
• Ensure pertinent prospect information and contacts are accurately recorded in the institutional database in a timely manner.
• Collaborate with fundraisers across the department and University on overall relationship-building with alumni and other constituents of the School.
• Coordinate cultivation events and programs hosted by the School or assigned prospects, and staff programs in the designated geographic region.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, and 5 to 7 years progressive experience in fundraising, with an emphasis on international major gifts and principal gifts fundraising or equivalent combination of education and experience is required. Higher education work experience a plus.
• Ability to function with a high degree of…