Director of Strategic Initiatives and Advancement Operations- Development and Alumni Relations

Summary

Reporting to the Vice President for University Advancement, the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Advancement Operations serves as a senior leader within Midwestern University's advancement organization. The Director provides leadership for strategic planning, campaign readiness, advancement operations, prospect research, wealth screening, reporting and analytics, gift administration, and donor agreement management.

This position accelerates philanthropic growth by translating institutional priorities into integrated advancement strategies, strengthening operational infrastructure, expanding the major gift pipeline, and ensuring the effective administration of systems, processes, and resources that support fundraising, alumni engagement, donor stewardship, and campaign success across Midwestern University's Glendale and Downers Grove campuses.

The Director works closely with University leadership, deans, faculty, clinicians, advancement staff, and external partners to identify philanthropic opportunities, advance institutional priorities, and foster a culture of data-informed decision-making, operational excellence, and donor-centered engagement.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Initiative Design

• Lead the development and implementation of multi-year advancement strategies that align with Midwestern University's mission and institutional priorities.
• Translate executive-level objectives into actionable project plans, budgets, timelines, and measurable performance indicators.
• Conduct environmental scans, benchmarking studies, and strategic analyses to identify opportunities for growth and innovation.
• Support the Vice President in advancing strategic priorities, special initiatives, and institutional fundraising goals.

Campaign Planning and Readiness

• Lead campaign planning, readiness assessments, case development, prospect segmentation, and fundraising strategy for major institutional initiatives.
• Coordinate campaign infrastructure, policies, procedures, and reporting systems to support comprehensive and multi-campus fundraising efforts.
• Partner with academic and administrative leadership to develop compelling philanthropic priorities and cases for support.
• Monitor campaign performance and recommend strategic adjustments to maximize fundraising
• Prospect Research, Wealth Screening, and Pipeline Development
• Oversee prospect research, wealth screening, donor analytics, and prospect management programs to identify, qualify, and prioritize major, principal, planned, corporate, and foundation giving    
• Develop prospect profiles, briefing materials, capacity assessments, relationship mapping, and strategic recommendations for University leadership and frontline fundraisers.
• Monitor pipeline performance and establish metrics to assess prospect movement, portfolio health, and fundraising effectiveness.
• Support major, principal, planned, corporate, and foundation fundraising strategies through data- driven decision-making.

Advancement Operations and Services

• Provide leadership and oversight for advancement operations, including constituent records management, data governance, gift processing, reporting, advancement technologies, and      operational effectiveness.
• Ensure the accuracy, security, integrity, and compliance of advancement data and records.
• Develop operational policies, procedures, and best practices that enhance efficiency, accountability, and service excellence.
• Collaborate with Information Technology, Finance, and other University departments to strengthen advancement systems and reporting capabilities.

Reporting, Analytics, and Business Intelligence

• Lead the development and maintenance of dashboards, performance metrics, fundraising reports, and key performance indicators.
• Provide strategic analysis of fundraising performance, donor trends, campaign progress, and pipeline activity to University leadership and the Board of Trustees.
• Leverage technology, automation, predictive modeling, and business intelligence tools to improve fundraising outcomes and operational efficiency.
• Champion a culture of data-informed decision-making and continuous improvement throughout University Advancement.

Gift Administration and Donor Agreement Management

• Oversee the accurate processing, acknowledgment, receipting, reconciliation, and reporting of all charitable contributions.
• Coordinate the preparation, review, execution, tracking, and management of gift agreements, endowment agreements, memoranda of understanding, and other philanthropic commitments.
• Ensure compliance with donor intent, institutional policies, accounting standards, IRS regulations, and applicable legal requirements.
• Monitor restricted and endowed funds to ensure stewardship obligations, reporting commitments, and donor expectations are fulfilled.
• Partner with Finance, Legal Affairs, and University leadership to ensure proper administration of philanthropic funds and donor-supported initiatives.

Cross-Campus and Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as a strategic liaison between University Advancement and academic, clinical, and administrative leadership on both campuses.
• Facilitate collaboration among deans, faculty, clinicians, and external partners to identify and advance philanthropic opportunities.
• Support donor engagement strategies that align institutional priorities with donor interests and community needs.
• Represent University Advancement on institutional committees, task forces, and strategic initiatives.

Team Leadership and Organizational Capacity Building

• Develop and implement systems, processes, templates, and performance metrics that strengthen organizational effectiveness.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Assist with budget development, resource allocation, and operational planning for University
• Supervise assigned staff and provide leadership, coaching, and professional development

Other Duties

• Perform other duties as assigned in support of the mission, vision, and goals of Midwestern University and University Advancement.

Supervisory Responsibilities                                               

This position has supervisory responsibilities. 

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Must be able to work in a constant state of alertness and safe manner and have regular, predictable, in-person attendance.  Candidate must have very strong written and verbal communication skills.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience                                             

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in Business Administration, Nonprofit Management, Public Administration, Communications, or a related field required.
• Minimum of seven (7) to ten (10) years of progressively responsible leadership experience in advancement, development, fundraising operations, sales, advancement services, alumni relations, or related fields, preferably within higher education, academic medicine, healthcare, or other complex nonprofit.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing strategic fundraising initiatives, campaign planning, prospect management systems, and organizational effectiveness strategies.
• Experience overseeing or working closely with advancement operations, prospect research, wealth screening, gift administration, donor stewardship, reporting, and constituent relationship management (CRM) systems.
• Proven ability to analyze and leverage data to support fundraising strategy, pipeline development, performance measurement, and organizational decision-making.
• Experience managing projects, budgets, timelines, and cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and departments.
• Demonstrated success building collaborative relationships with executive leadership, faculty, deans, trustees, volunteers, donors, and community partners.
• Strong supervisory experience with a demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop professional staff while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Exceptional written, verbal, interpersonal, and presentation communication skills, including the ability to prepare executive-level reports, donor communications, and strategic planning documents.
• High degree of professionalism, discretion, judgment, and integrity when handling confidential donor, financial, and institutional information.
• Demonstrated commitment to customer service, relationship building, and advancing mission-driven philanthropic outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Higher Education Administration, Business Administration, Nonprofit Management, Public Administration, Communications, or a related field.
• Experience supporting comprehensive fundraising campaigns, campaign readiness assessments, or capital campaigns.
• Experience in prospect research, wealth screening, donor analytics, fundraising reporting, and business intelligence tools.
• Experience with advancement CRM systems, fundraising databases, and reporting platforms.
• Experience in higher education, academic health centers, healthcare systems, alumni relations, community engagement, public relations, or philanthropic organizations.

Computer Skills                                           

Computer proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).  Fundraising Database experience required.

Language Skills                                            

Intermediate skills:  Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions and procedure manuals.  Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.  Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.

Reasoning Ability                                                     

Intermediate skills:  Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form.  Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Mathematical Ability

Basic skills:  Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide all units of measure using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.  Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to interpret bar graphs. 

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, use hands to handle or feel and reach with hands and arms.  The employee is frequently required to sit, talk and hear.  The employee must occasionally lift and /or move up to 10 pounds.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.  The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Midwestern University is a private, not-for-profit organization that provides graduate and post-graduate education in the health sciences. The University has two campuses, one in Downers Grove, Illinois and the other in Glendale, Arizona. More than 6,000 full-time students are enrolled in graduate programs in osteopathic medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physician assistant studies, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nurse anesthesia, cardiovascular perfusion, podiatry, optometry, clinical psychology, speech language pathology, biomedical sciences and veterinary medicine. Over 500 full-time faculty members and 400 staff members are dedicated to the education and development of our students in an environment that encourages learning, respect for all members of the health care team, service, interdisciplinary scholarly activity, and personal growth.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance plans as well as life insurance, short/long term disability and pet insurance.  We offer flexible spending accounts including healthcare reimbursement and child/dependent care account.  We offer a work life balance with competitive time off package including paid holiday’s, sick/flex days, personal days and vacation days.  We offer a 403(b) retirement plan, tuition reimbursement, child care subsidy reimbursement program, identity theft protection and an employee assistance program.  Wellness is important to us and we offer a wellness facility on-site with a fully equipped fitness facility. 

Midwestern University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that does not discriminate against an employee or applicant based upon race; color; religion; creed; national origin or ancestry; ethnicity; sex (including pregnancy); gender (including gender expressions, gender identity; and sexual orientation); marital status; age; disability; citizenship; past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services; genetic information; or any other protected class, in accord with all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Midwestern University complies with the Smoke-Free Arizona Act (A.R.S. 36-601.01) and the Smoke Free Illinois Act (410 ILCS 82/).  Midwestern University complies with the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 and Arizona Equal Pay Acts.