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Director, Advancement Services

Join our team at the California State University, Office of the Chancellor, and make a difference in providing access to higher education. We are currently seeking experienced candidates for the position of Director, Advancement Services. The CSU Chancellor's Office, located on the waterfront adjacent to the Aquarium of the Pacific in downtown Long Beach, is the headquarters for the nation's largest and most diverse system of higher education. The CSU Chancellor's Office offers a premium benefit package that includes outstanding vacation, health, and dental plans; a fee waiver education program; membership in the California Public Employees Retirement System (PERS); and 15 paid holidays a year.

The anticipated salary hiring range is up to $150,000 per year, commensurate with qualifications and experience. This is a long-term temporary position with benefits.

Flexibility to telecommute two days a week, with three days on-site at the main headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits

Generous vacation plan

15 paid holidays a year

Tuition waiver education program (also applies to eligible family members)

Membership in the California Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)

More details here: Comprehensive Benefits Package

Administrator III

The California State University, Office of the Chancellor, is seeking a Director, Advancement Services to be a strategic and operational leader responsible for strengthening the data infrastructure, professional development programming, and performance benchmarking that supports the Office of Systemwide Philanthropy and advancement offices and teams across the 22-campus California State University system.

The Director leads CRM modernization planning and implementation, manages philanthropic data collection and reporting for the CSU Board of Trustees and senior leadership, oversees the CSU Advancement Academy professional development program, and serves as the system's expert resource on CASE standards and advancement performance metrics. The position provides shared advancement services to campuses, particularly under-resourced campuses, to build philanthropic capacity and promote equity across the system.

The Director oversees advancement systems, reporting, predictive modeling, prospect analytics, and national benchmarking efforts to inform data-driven decision-making and fundraising strategy. This position leads participation in CASE, VSE, other national benchmarking and advancement analytics initiatives to evaluate systemwide fundraising performance, constituent engagement, and operational effectiveness against peer institutions.

Responsibilities

Under the general direction of the Assistant Vice Chancellor, Systemwide Advancement, the Director, Advancement Services will perform duties as outlined below:

Philanthropic Data Analysis, Benchmarking, and BOT Reporting:

-Lead production of the annual CSU donor support report and related Board of Trustees item/presentation.

-Develop systemwide advancement reports, remarks, and correspondence for distribution to university leadership and key external partners.

-Produce the annual donor-centric report highlighting philanthropic impact across the CSU.

-Identify and interpret national standards of practice for management and reporting, including CASE Voluntary Support of Education Survey, NACUBO Endowment Study, CASE Campaign Reporting, CASE Alumni Engagement Metrics, and the Alumni Attitudes Survey.

-Develop and maintain performance benchmarking dashboards and analytics that track philanthropic progress across the 22-campus system.

-Review campus data submissions for accuracy and consistency, identifying anomalies, trends, and potential errors to support benchmarking and leadership decision-making.

-Provides campuses with actionable insights derived from systemwide data, strengthens reporting consistency and data quality, and recommends enhancements to data collection frameworks to align with evolving priorities and reporting needs.

Gift Administration, Compliance & Data Integrity:

-In collaboration and coordination with the Executive Director, Advancement, develop, document, and maintain systemwide advancement services policies and procedures to support consistent practices in gift processing, donor records management, acknowledgments, and reporting.

-Oversee systemwide standards related to gift administration, donor data management, and compliance with CSU policy, CASE standards, and applicable regulatory requirements.

-Support audit readiness and documentation efforts and maintain data governance practices for donor and alumni records.

-Respond to surveys on behalf of the Chancellor's Office related to advancement data and compliance.

-Represent the Office of Systemwide Philanthropy on data security and compliance-related working groups and communicate relevant requirements and best practices to campus partners.

CRM Planning, Data Infrastructure, and Systems Coordination:

-Lead the planning and implementation strategy for CSU Chancellor's Office CRM modernization, including current-state assessment, future-state architecture, vendor selection/RFP support, and 18-month implementation roadmap development in coordination with IT.

-Serve as project lead for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) conversion, coordinating requirements gathering, data migration, testing, training, and implementation activities in collaboration with campus partners, IT staff, external vendors, and foundation partners.

-Following implementation, establish and maintain governance, documentation, and support processes to ensure system sustainability and data integrity.

-Manage the relationship with IT developers supporting advancement data systems.

-Collaborate with the Executive Director, Advancement, on gift acceptance processes and procedures as they relate to CRM data flows, systems configuration, and reporting requirements

-Maintain complete and accurate records of advancement activity in applicable CRM and reporting systems

Oversight of Advancement Academy and Professional Development:

-Provide strategic direction and oversight for the CSU Advancement Academy, setting annual priorities, establishing program goals, and ensuring alignment with the Office of Systemwide Philanthropy's mission and campus needs.

-Supervise the Manager, Advancement Academy, providing guidance on programming, Advancement Academy budget management, vendor relationships, and event execution.

-Oversee Advancement Academy program budgets, resource allocation, and sponsorship strategy.

-Ensure delivery of shared professional development services to under-resourced campuses, including on-demand training, planned giving resources, and capacity-building workshops.

-Ensure professional development services are marketed broadly to the targeted audiences and impact is shared with internal and external stakeholders.

-Facilitates peer learning and knowledge-sharing initiatives that promote consistent adoption of systems, standards, and best practices.

-Evaluate program effectiveness and recommend improvements based on campus feedback, participation data, and evolving advancement trends.

Campus Engagement, Process Improvement, and Collaboration:

-Manage relationships and provide excellent customer service to campus advancement professionals, Chancellor's Office colleagues, volunteer leaders, students, alumni, donors, vendors, and the public.

-Serve as an expert resource to campuses on advancement services, CASE standards, and data best practices.

-Evaluate internal and external processes to increase efficiency by reducing costs, complexity, and staff time on tasks.

-Contribute to the strategic leadership of the Office of Systemwide Philanthropy through data-informed planning, forecasting, and performance analysis.

-Perform other duties and project management as assigned.

Qualifications

This position requires:

-Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.

-Five to seven years of progressively responsible leadership experience in advancement services, development operations, higher education administration, or a related field.

-Demonstrated experience supervising professional staff and building teams.

-Experience with Advancement CRM systems administration, philanthropic reporting, data governance, or gift administration in a complex organizational environment.

-Proficiency with MS Office including Word, Excel, Outlook, Zoom and PowerPoint.

-Ability to exercise a high degree of independence, judgment, and discretion.

-Organizational management.

-Excellent customer services skills.

-Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

-Excellent analytical and presentation skills.

-Excellent attention to detail.

-Intellectual curiosity.

-Excellent business math skills.

-Financial management including forecasting and budgeting.

-Ability to prioritize competing projects and deadlines.

-Proper discretion and sensitivity in handling confidential matters.

-Experience integrating external, third-party data, and familiarity with various research and data enhancement tools such as: Lexus Nexus, Wealth Engine, IWave, Research Point, and Hoovers.

-Ability to establish positive working relationships with colleagues, vendors, and external partners.

-Ability to independently problem solve.

-Excellent analytical skills.

-Thorough knowledge of English grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

-Capacity to work effectively in a complex and fast-paced work environment.

-Ability to travel on university business.

-Ability to work nights and weekends as needed.