Development Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: Development Specialist

Department: Strategic Partnerships & University Relations (SPUR)

Reports to: Director of Development

Location: Hybrid

Employment Status: Full-Time Exempt Staff

Salary Range: $60,000 - $90,000

About Palo Alto University (PAU)

Palo Alto University is a private, nonprofit university dedicated to advancing human understanding through innovative education, groundbreaking research, and impactful practice in behavioral science.

Founded in 1975 and located in the heart of Silicon Valley, PAU offers graduate and undergraduate programs in psychology, counseling, social work, and behavioral science, including the PAU-Stanford PsyD Consortium with Stanford Medicine. Grounded in human dignity, PAU's scholars, clinicians, educators, and learners share a single conviction: that understanding how people think, feel, behave, relate, heal, and make meaning is among the most essential work of our time.

The university enrolls over 1,200 students, has a network of more than 4,200 alumni, and employs over 150 faculty and staff united by a mission-driven commitment to advancing human understanding. PAU enters its sixth decade at a defining moment: a new president, a new provost, a bold new vision and strategic plan, and an urgent opportunity to shape how behavioral science responds to the challenges of an increasingly changing world. You will join a mission-driven community with the ambition to make a measurable impact on the human condition.

The Role

Reporting to the Director of Development, the Development Specialist is the production and operational engine of PAU's development function, supporting the full range of fundraising activities, including donor communications, CRM management, prospect research, annual giving, stewardship, and grant research and proposal writing as opportunities emerge and the philanthropic program matures.

This is a substantive, mission-driven position that directly contributes to PAU's revenue generation, philanthropic growth, and institutional sustainability. The right candidate brings genuine writing talent, disciplined attention to detail, timely follow-through, genuine curiosity about behavioral science and the communities PAU serves, and the organizational discipline to manage multiple priorities and deadlines simultaneously.

This is a new role in a growing development function. The balance of responsibilities will evolve based on institutional priorities, philanthropic opportunities, and the Development team’s success. The Development Specialist works closely with the Director of Development, the Director of Alumni Relations, the Director of Strategic Partnerships, academic program directors, and faculty to gather the programmatic content, research evidence, and outcome data that make PAU's proposals competitive and its donor communications compelling.

Responsibilities

Grant Writing and Management

• Identify and pursue foundation, corporate, local, state, and select federal funding opportunities aligned with the university's mission in behavioral science, mental health, psychology, counseling, and social work, and write the proposals that convert those opportunities into institutional revenue.

• Write compelling, funder-aligned grant proposals, letters of inquiry, and concept papers for foundation, corporate giving, local and state agency, and other funding opportunities identified in partnership with the Director of Development, with a clear expectation of producing and submitting proposals on a regular and sustained basis.

• Build a priority prospect list of Bay Area and Silicon Valley foundation and corporate funders whose priorities align with PAU's programs, research, and community impact, pursuing each with targeted outreach and tailored proposals that build a local and regional grants portfolio as the foundation of PAU's grants program.

• Monitor state and select federal open-proposal programs relevant to behavioral health workforce development, mental health services, counseling education, and social work; identify opportunities where PAU can compete; and write competitive proposals in coordination with the Director of Development and relevant program leaders.

• Own the full proposal writing process from first draft through final submission, including gathering institutional data, coordinating with program leaders and faculty, incorporating feedback, and meeting all funder deadlines with polished, submission-ready proposals.

• Translate complex academic and clinical program information into accessible, persuasive narratives that resonate with program officers, foundation reviewers, and agency grant evaluators.

• Collaborate with academic program directors and faculty to gather programmatic content, outcome data, and institutional information that strengthens the credibility and competitiveness of each proposal.

• Develop and maintain an institutional grants library, including program descriptions, boilerplate narratives, outcome data, faculty bios, and financial templates that improve proposal production efficiency and quality over time.

• Track all active proposals, submission deadlines, funder decisions, and follow-up obligations in the CRM and grants calendar, ensuring every opportunity is pursued with discipline and every funder relationship is stewarded appropriately.

• Support the Director of Development in managing any active grant awards, including tracking reporting obligations, coordinating with Finance and program leaders on required documentation, and maintaining funder relationships through timely and accurate stewardship. As PAU's grants portfolio grows, post-award management will expand as a defined function.

Donor Communications and Stewardship Support

• Draft gift acknowledgment letters, donor impact reports, stewardship communications, and personalized correspondence for the Director of Development, VP of SPUR, and President that reflect PAU's voice and genuine gratitude for philanthropic support.

• Support the development of annual giving campaign materials, including email copy, direct mail content, digital appeal language, and peer-to-peer fundraising scripts, in coordination with the Director of Development and the Director of Brand.

• Prepare donor briefing materials, meeting preparation documents, and follow-up correspondence that support the Director of Development and President in their major gift cultivation and solicitation conversations.

• Develop compelling case statements, program impact narratives, and philanthropic storytelling content that articulate the real-world difference PAU's education, research, and clinical training make in people's lives and communities.

Development Operations and CRM Management

• Maintain the accuracy, integrity, and completeness of PAU's donor database in HubSpot and related CRM platforms, ensuring all donor interactions, gifts, pledges, prospect moves, and grant activities are recorded accurately and consistently.

• Process gifts, generate gift receipts, and ensure timely and accurate acknowledgment of all philanthropic contributions in compliance with IRS regulations and institutional policy.

• Build and maintain development reporting dashboards, pipeline reports, and gift forecasting tools that provide the Director of Development, VP of SPUR, and President with real-time visibility into fundraising performance.

• Conduct prospect research and wealth screening for major gift prospects, preparing detailed donor profiles that inform cultivation strategy and solicitation planning for the Director of Development and Director of Alumni Relations.

• Support the development and maintenance of board giving records, endowment campaign tracking, and President's Circle membership data, ensuring all records are current, accurate, and accessible.

Event and Campaign Support

• Support the Events and Operations Specialist in the logistics and communications coordination for development events, including the Annual Gala, President's Circle meetings, donor cultivation gatherings, and foundation site visits.

• Manage invitation lists, RSVP tracking, and pre-event and post-event donor communications for development events, ensuring every touchpoint reflects PAU's commitment to donor stewardship and institutional excellence.

• Support annual giving campaign execution, including list preparation, email scheduling, campaign tracking, and results reporting that enables the Director of Development to assess performance and refine strategy.