Executive Director Development, CCAS

Job Overview

The Division of University Advancement (UA) is seeking an Executive Director of Development for the George Washington University Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS). University Advancement is responsible for leading the university's constituent engagement and fundraising efforts and works to promote a culture of philanthropy throughout the university community, including alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff, corporations and foundations, patients and other friends.

Our goal is to advance GWU's mission of excellence in education, research, scholarship, and patient care. Within 42 academic departments and 27 research centers across three schools at GWU's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, research thrives, critical thinking is endemic, and real‑world training go hand‑in‑hand with learning. The college is the intellectual and creative backbone of the university, a place where the arts, the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences come together to form a nexus of ideas.

The Executive Director of Development will report to the Assistant Vice President of Development and Constituent Engagement at CCAS who is looking for a major gifts officer and fundraising manager who exhibits an enthusiasm and curiosity for fundraising in an arts and sciences environment within a large urban research university.

• In close partnership with the Assistant Vice President of Development at CCAS, this position employs a data‑driven, metric‑based approach to set annual and campaign fundraising goals and create and implement sound strategies for increasing revenue for CCAS and UA priorities as directed by the Dean and President, respectively.
• Develops and executes sustainable and creative development programs that broaden and deepen CCAS' and GW's base of support in alignment with college and university priorities while simultaneously being donor‑centric.
• Desires to be part of a cooperative team of development professionals working both within a school‑based team and in partnership with colleagues based centrally at DAR including Principal Gifts, Planned Giving, Alumni Relations, Annual Giving, Donor Relations, and Stewardship, Central Initiatives, Family Philanthropy, and Corporate and Foundation Relations to maximize fundraising potential for GWU.
• Strategically manages and engages a prospect pool of 75‑80 of CCAS' top major and principal gift prospects, along with other prospects as appropriate to ensure progressive movement of donors through the identification, cultivation, proposal, gift‑closing, and stewardship stages of the donor cycle.
• Expected to be an active partner in prospect tracking and management in the Advance database system.
• Manages and mentors a minimum of two CCAS frontline fundraisers and provides direction and professional development opportunities that allow them to reach their fullest potential as major gift officers. Leads by example. Responsible for all management functions relative to the oversight of these positions including ability to hire (should position(s) become vacant) and responsibility for overseeing performance management.
• Must be willing to travel both in the MDV region and an assigned U.S. geographic territory.

Performs other work‑related duties as assigned. The omission of specific duties does not preclude the supervisor from assigning duties that are logically related to the position.

Qualified candidates will hold a Bachelor's degree in an appropriate area of specialization plus 8 years of relevant professional experience, or, a Master's degree or higher in a relevant area of study plus 6 years of relevant professional experience. Degree must be conferred by the start date of the position. Degree requirements may be substituted with an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

• Progressive experience in institutional advancement in higher education or a similar complex organizational environment
• Demonstrated success in cultivating and soliciting gifts at the six and seven figure level.
• Exceptional communication skills and outstanding writing competences with…