Managing Director, Development

Job Description

Job Description

The salary range for this role is $155,000-$170,000 and is commensurate with experience

Benefits: Our commitment to employee well-being is reflected in our competitive benefits package located here:

Position Summary

The Managing Director, Development, serves as the senior frontline fundraising leader for all academic units across the university—including professional programs and STEM-based colleges and institutes. Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Development, the Managing Director oversees a team of frontline fundraisers and manages a select major/principal-gift portfolio of 50–75 high-capacity prospects. The role supports fundraising strategy, drives campaign execution, and ensures strong alignment between academic priorities and donor interests. The Managing Director leads a unified frontline team to ensure consistent standards and coordinated strategies across units. The Managing Director partners closely with the planned giving team and plays a critical role in building and mentoring a next-generation frontline team during an upcoming hiring expansion. This position is pivotal to pipeline growth, portfolio performance, and the success of the university’s public-phase comprehensive campaign.

Key Responsibilities

1) Leadership & Team Management – 25%

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of frontline fundraisers at varying levels, including Senior Director/Director/Associate Director, setting clear activity, pipeline, and revenue expectations and holding the team accountable to results.
• Manages the team toward successful outcomes for Advancement's strategies and metrics for qualification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, portfolio reviews, and performance assessments aligned with campaign targets.
• Recruit, onboard, and support new frontline fundraisers as hiring expands.
• In partnership with Prospect Research & Management, assign and rebalance portfolios to ensure equitable capacity coverage and alignment with unit needs.
• Collaborate with Communications, Donor Relations, Gift Administration, and Events on proposals, agreements, acknowledgments, and donor experiences.

2) Major & Principal Gifts Fundraising – 40%

• Maintain a personal portfolio of 50–75 major/principal gift prospects with capacity of $500K+, focusing on 6- and 7-figure solicitations.
• Maintain an annual visit and solicitation cadence that includes approximately 75 visits and 20 solicitations, supporting consistent portfolio movement.
• Meet escalating revenue expectations in alignment with campaign benchmarks, beginning around $2M in Year 1 and increasing to approximately $4.5M by Year 3.

3) Academic Partnerships & University Coordination – 20%

• Serve as a key advancement partner for deans across all academic units in collaboration with the VP and AVP for Development.
• Translate academic priorities into donor-ready opportunities and support interdisciplinary initiatives.
• Ensure appropriate involvement of university leadership, faculty, and volunteers within the cultivation and solicitation cycle.

4) Campaign Planning, Portfolio Analytics & Operations – 15%

• Contribute to campaign planning, goal setting, revenue forecasting, and progress monitoring.
• Maintain clear reporting lines for team metrics, pipeline health, activity quality, and donor movement.
• Partner with Prospect Research & Management to ensure disciplined use of the CRM (Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT), including documentation standards, stage management, and forecasting accuracy.
• Define portfolio standards and operating rhythms (e.g., review cadences, stage movement expectations) in partnership with Prospect Research & Management.
• Implement portfolio optimization strategies (coverage, capacity balance, velocity).

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 5+ years of progressive experience successfully managing frontline fundraisers in a complex organization and a proven record of closing major and/or principal gifts.
• Overall 10+ years of professional experience strongly preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree.
• 10+ years in higher-education advancement or a comparably complex nonprofit; experience managing school- or unit-based fundraising programs. Campaign experience preferred.
• Familiarity with capital and endowed gift structuring.
• Strong analytical proficiency and experience with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT or similar CRM systems.
• Exceptional communication, relationship-building, organizational, and supervisory skills.

Work Environment & Conditions

• Travel as needed, as portfolio develops
• Occasional evening or weekend work.