Job Details

Associate Vice President of Advancement & Campaign Director

Main Campus - Boston, MA
R10863

ABOUT SIMMONS

Located in Boston's historic Fenway area, Simmons University has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons was founded for equality 125 years ago as one of the first higher education institutions dedicated to helping women become leaders. Today, our university continues to grow and evolve and now offers Boston's only women's undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all.

You're joining our community at an especially exciting time as we continue to innovate for the future. Simmons recently launched a six-school academic structure that leverages our expert faculty and longstanding expertise in professions that make our communities stronger. In addition, we continue to highlight our high-value education proposition that is delivering greater ROI to students and putting them on the fast track to career growth and success. You'll find that people who work here truly believe in our mission of preparing students to become social justice-oriented leaders who excel in their professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace.

As a university that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices-at all levels, for all positions-ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.

JOB SUMMARY:

Reporting to the Vice President of Advancement in the Office of Advancement ("Advancement"), the Associate Vice President of Advancement & & Campaign Director (AVP/CD) is responsible for building a sophisticated culture of philanthropy at Simmons University ("University") and amplifying the extension of this culture across campus and in support of our academic vision, mission and values. He/she will grow, diversify, and sustain fundraising revenue into the future. To that end, the AVP/CD will manage and mentor a team of fundraisers, the prospect management team, and campaign communications function to achieve success in advancing the University's academic priorities as defined by the provost and the deans of the University's six signature schools.

In strategic partnership with the VP for Advancement, this person will manage the day to day aspects of a multi-year comprehensive capital campaign, including developing solicitation strategies, staffing the capital campaign committee and maintaining the administrative aspects of the campaign, including updating timelines, benchmarks, and progress reports, while leveraging data analytics to inform campaign strategies, working with the Advancement Services team. Working with the VP of Advancement, this person will develop strategic campaign objectives and the creation of campaign messaging materials to support the campaign working collaboratively with the Simmons marketing department. Serving as a key partner to institutional leadership and Deans, the Assistant Vice President/CD will regularly report on the campaign's results and successes, offering insights for continued growth and refinement.

This position requires a strong desire to build strong philanthropic partnerships from the ground floor as well as to be a creative, strategic and agile professional who thrives in start-up environments and finds joy in creating breakthroughs and supporting ambitious academic leaders. Simmons is a mission-centric organization so building passion and a sense of purpose to the prospect work is an important paradigm for the university.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Work in close partnership with the VP, Advancement and Advancement leadership team to create a comprehensive strategy to engage, cultivate, solicit and steward donors from a variety of stakeholder groups to ensure a thriving philanthropic culture and gift revenue to support the needs and aspirations of the University as determined by the Board, President and University leadership team.
  
• Plan, oversee and execute a Major and Principal Gift fundraising plan as part of a comprehensive capital campaign, that outlines annual goals, objectives, determining tactics, measuring benchmarks and evaluating outcomes in support of fundraising and relationship development.
  
• Manage, mentor and support a team of major, principal, and planned gift officers to support strategic relationship building work. Support gift officers in building deep working knowledge of prospect portfolios which will parlay into strong cultivation and solicitation strategies and solicitation plans. Work with a team to support meeting or exceeding visit, solicitation, and dollars-raised goals. Ensure they have the agility and drive to pursue and sustain the work.
  
• Work in collaboration with the Vice President and Advancement leadership team to develop operating standards and best practices for development officers. Build and promote a sense of team unity, working toward common goals as defined by Simmons academic leadership.
  
• Manage a portfolio of 50 - 75 prospective major and principal gift donors with $100K+ in gift capacity; work with the president, provost, deans, trustees and other leadership to strategize, cultivate, and solicit high-priority gifts.
  
• Collaborate effectively with other Advancement departments, including donor relations, communications and alumni relations to ensure consistent messaging and a pipeline of engagement opportunities; and advancement services, prospect development and data strategy teams on research, prospect management, and reporting functions relative to fundraising management needs.
  

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• May serve on university committees, task forces and other university service work.
  
• Work closely with the Advancement services team to ensure oversight and reporting on MG/Principal Gift Team pipeline activity.
  
• Responsible for preparing briefings, donor correspondence and other communications as required for prospect work.
  
• Responsible for submitting contact reports and other data information to support data integrity and reporting goals.
  
• Routinely interacts and collaborates with University academic leadership, deans, faculty, staff and administrators. Work closely with school administration to ensure proper communication channels, documentation and follow up to ensure decision making to support philanthropic growth strategies.
  

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• A Bachelor's degree is required. Advanced degrees are highly desired.
  
• Minimum of 10+ years of demonstrated experience, working on collaboration with strategic thought partners and or/academic partners.
  
• Successful track record in closing seven figure gifts.
  
• A collaborative leader and partner, demonstrated skill as an experienced manager with expertise in coaching and mentoring development officers in all aspects of the solicitation cycle.
  
• A strategist with experience in design and implementing fundraising programs.
  
• Demonstrated success in working in a complex organization.
  
• Strong collaborator, individual contributor, and team player who can develop authentic partnerships across the university.
  
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
  
• Data-driven, with expertise in donor management systems such as Raiser's Edge.
  
• Proficient in leveraging technology for effective data analysis and research.
  
• Experience in working on a major campaign, demonstrating a deep understanding of strategic planning, execution and evaluation.
  

ADDITIONAL EXPECTATIONS:

• Committed to broadening and deepening relationships with donors and prospects.
  
• Sophisticated and poised, with executive presence to lead and serve as ambassador for the university and its academic programs.
  
• Strong agility in working and managing multiple constituencies, including faculty, prospective students and families, alumnae/i, friends, industry partners, and community partners with expertise, empathy, grace and good humor.
  
• A self-starter with an ambitious mentality, willing to roll up their sleeves and actively be solution-oriented to both opportunities and challenges.
  

COMPETENCIES:

• Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
  
• Knowledge of and skill with business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  
• Knowledge of and skill with navigating and utilizing spreadsheets, presentations, word processing, databases, the internet, and other key computer and technical applications and related software. Knowledge of and skill with navigating and utilizing customer relations management applications (Raiser's Edge/NXT in particular) a plus.
  
• Excellent communications skills, demonstrating the ability to effectively communicate and understand information and ideas across multiple stakeholders and constituencies, demonstrating active listening and learning.
  
• Superior interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to be aware of, coordinate, instruct, negotiate with, persuade, and be in service to others.
  
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to look at data and draw conclusions to inform strategies.
  
• Demonstrates a strong ability to work with individuals across different identities, backgrounds, and abilities.
  
• Strong ability to work effectively in an outcomes-focused, team environment, with demonstrated ability to take responsibility for assigned tasks and take initiative.
  
• Ability to recognize and identify problems of varying complexity and develop, implement, and evaluate creative solutions as appropriate. Ability to apply good judgment and discretion when dealing with highly confidential information. Ability to manage one's self and others as appropriate.
  
• Ability to motivate, develop, and direct people as they work; ability to identify the best people for the job.
  
• The ideal candidate will be positive, extremely service-oriented, and have a demonstrated ability to build strong working relationships with a variety of different individuals and groups.
  

WORK ENVIRONMENT & CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• This is a full-time (40-hours/week) position with occasional night and weekend requirements; eligible for a flexible, hybrid in-office/remote work setting structure.
  
• This position requires travel across the United States to attend events and meetings to further cultivate and solicit donors and prospects in strategically assigned territories.
  
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
  

Salary Grade

Instructions to Applicants: Please upload all applicable application materials (e.g. resume/cv, cover letter, writing sample, teaching philosophy, etc.) in the Application Materials box on page 2 ("My Experience") of this application. Documents can be uploaded individually or as a combined document (e.g. PDF).

Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual's community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices-at all levels, for all positions-ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.


To apply, visit https://simmons.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Simmons-Careers/job/Main-Campus---Boston-MA/Associate-Vice-President-of-Advancement---Campaign-Director_R10863

Located in Boston's historic Fenway area, Simmons University is a small, private, non-sectarian College which has educated students for enriching careers and purposeful lives since 1899. Working at Simmons means joining a collaborative, diverse and mission-driven community of educators and professionals.

We prepare students to be leaders for themselves, their communities and the world. Our faculty and staff members lead by example - sharing a commitment to excellence and putting the students first.