Description

The Senior Director will be a proven fundraiser with excellent leadership skills who
appreciates and nurtures an accountable, goal-oriented and values-based work
environment. The Senior Director will actively manage a focused portfolio of major and
principal gift prospects and donors by guiding their cultivation, solicitation and
stewardship while at the same time setting goals to expand the base of major gift
prospects. The Senior Director will build strong and mutually beneficial relationships
between academic leadership, faculty and staff and donors, alumni, business and
community leaders. While managing a team of 2-3 major gift officers and his/her own
fundraising portfolio, the Senior Director’s primary focus will be to drive fundraising
activity at the major gift level of $50,000 – $1M+.

As a senior member of the COE advancement team, the Senior Director will exemplify a
strong work ethic, use of best practices and maintaining a high standard in fundraising
activity and outcomes. The Senior Director will inspire donors and colleagues alike
through enthusiasm for COE’s mission and high-quality fundraising to meet that mission.

The successful candidate will contribute to strengthening the fundraising culture in COE
with a laser-like focus on portfolio management, pipeline building and accountability and
will augment the collaborative culture with an eagerness to work with colleagues from
across campus to identify, qualify, cultivate, solicit and steward supporters of COE. The
Senior Director will also have a strong track record of working effectively with volunteers,
faculty and administrators, engaging them in the life of the institution and assisting them
in improving their effectiveness in all aspects of fundraising.

The ability to create an effective fundraising plan and strategy in collaboration with other
senior leadership will be an important part of the job. The successful candidate should
have strong analytical skills and the ability to be creative in establishing and
implementing processes.

A collaborative approach to leadership is a critical requirement. The Senior Director
must interface with a significant number and wide diversity of people and programs to
optimize performance. For this reason, diplomacy, tact, exceptional communication and
interpersonal skills and, above all, unquestioned integrity are necessary ingredients.

Reporting to the Assistant Dean of Development, the Senior Director of Development
will manage and help oversee the complete range of development activities in support
of the College of Engineering. This work will include leveraging NCSU’s fundraising
technology and training tools (e.g. Blackbaud FPM and Plus Delta curriculum), related to
major gift fundraising from individuals to achieve annual goals for meetings, solicitation
and gifts closed.

Essential Job Duties/Responsibilities:

• Serve as a member of the College’s advancement leadership team and
  leading/executing projects related to the major gifts program (e.g. leading Plus
  Delta refresher meetings, staff a Foundation board committee, and facilitating
  team prospect strategy meetings in the Assistant Dean’s absence)
• Supervise a staff of 2-3 front-line major gift officers and/or Leadership Annual
  Giving officer
• Manage a portfolio of major gift prospects, at times requiring evening work hours
  and overnight travel, with a focus on pipeline development
• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the fundraising priority areas across the
  College and other special projects/college initiatives and make a persuasive oral
  and written case for supporting key programs
• Conduct personal meetings with prospects and donors throughout the year and
  lead / participate in solicitations with university leaders and development
  colleagues to achieve institutional goals
• Staff 1-2 committees of the College of Engineering Foundation board and
  supporting the Assistant Dean for Development in overall board engagement
• Serve as strategic partner for 3-4 engineering department heads and helping set
  appropriate departmental advancement plans/goals annually

Please note that the department is seeking qualified candidates to fill two Senior Director of Development positions.

Requirements

Minimum Education and Experience:

• Requires a relevant post-Baccalaureate degree with a minimum of three (3) years
  or greater of related professional experience, or a relevant undergraduate degree
  and a minimum of five (5) years or greater of relevant experience may be
  substituted for the advanced degree.
• Three or more years of progressive responsibility and experience in institutional
  advancement or related field such as sales, wealth management or alumni
  relations.

Other Required Qualifications:

• Seven or more years of work experience in institutional advancement or related
• field such as sales, wealth management or alumni relations.
• Experience managing and motivating advancement professionals or a revenue-
  generating team in a sales or alumni relations environment
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills
• Demonstrated understanding of higher education fundraising best practices for
  front-line fundraisers, specifically major gift and leadership annual gift officers.
• Understanding of the major gift donor giving cycle and comfort level qualifying
  prospects within NCSU’s campus-wide Active Management Protocol (AMP)
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Demonstrated understanding of how to navigate appropriate approvals of
  complex gift agreements, to include the legal instruments and documentation
  employed in planned gifts
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; outstanding interpersonal skills
  Unrelenting commitment to a collegial team approach with the primary College
  unit and across the campus’ larger advancement program
• Exceptional reasoning, problem-solving, and analytical skills
• Strong organizational skills with a high attention to detail
• Creative, professional, and entrepreneurial spirit
• Self-motivated and self-starting
• Optimism, perseverance and a positive attitude

Preferred Qualifications:

• An advanced degree or fundraising credential and at least seven (7) years of
  demonstrated experience in front line fundraising or related professional
  experience.
• Fundraising experience in a university setting and/or experience working through
  a capital campaign is also preferred.
• Demonstrated success developing individual prospect strategies and securing
  major gifts
• Ability to translate academic priorities (e.g. research and faculty retention) into
  broad fundraising opportunities (e.g. professorships)
• Demonstrated understanding of the activities and infrastructure needed to
  support a major gift program, including industry-standard metrics and trends and
  best practices for organizational structure and staffing
• Experience managing and staffing volunteer fundraisers and non-profit board
  members
• Working knowledge of donor databases and the tools used to analyze fundraising
  data (e.g. facility with Excel or similar software)
• Excellent judgment and ethical standards with respect to the execution of major
  gift fundraising
• An understanding of the land grant, research Tier One university environment
  Familiarity with NC State University