Alumni Engagement Specialist

Purdue Research Foundation • West Lafayette, IN

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Working for the Purdue For Life Foundation offers a unique opportunity to be part of an organization dedicated to empowering Purdue University alumni and fostering a lifelong connection to the institution. By joining our team, you'll have the chance to contribute to a mission that supports educational initiatives, scholarships, and programs that positively impact the lives of Purdue students and graduates. The Foundation's commitment to education and community engagement provides a fulfilling work environment where you can make a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals and the broader community. Additionally, you'll have access to a network of passionate colleagues and the resources needed to drive positive change, making the Purdue For Life Foundation an inspiring and rewarding place to build your career. Your next giant leap starts here. The Alumni Engagement Specialist- Alumni Networks and Educational Experiences, is a new role, created to support a new and growing team composed of four pillar areas of alumni engagement at the Purdue for Life Foundation, including: Affinity Networks, International Engagement, Lifelong Learning and Alumni Travel. This role is specifically designed with cross-functional responsibilities, with each connected to a primary pillar area but with broader, future application throughout all Engagement program areas. This position will help build & maintain support structures critical to growing broader alumni, friend and fan engagement with Purdue’s 600,000+ community of Boilermakers globally.

Requirements

• Excellent communications skills, both written and verbal
• Demonstrated ability to interact with a wide range of individuals and lead in group settings.
• Detail-oriented and strong organizational skills, including ensuring accuracy for all program and event details.
• Ability to multitask, supporting multiple volunteers/networks, programs & initiatives at any one time.
• Self-directed, with an ability to work independently and collaboratively as needed, while taking initiative and responsibility for tasks and projects with minimal supervision
• Flexible and solution-oriented
• General understanding of Advancement (alumni relations, development, etc.) as a profession
• Familiarity with Salesforce CRM
• Ability to work in a hybrid capacity, with up to 4 days a week in office.
• Bachelor's degree required
• A minimum of one year of customer service, project management, event planning experience and/or program administrator role experience
• Self-directed and able to work autonomously

Nice To Haves

• Prior experience traveling, working, living, or studying abroad for extended periods and/or independently.
• Experience working in higher education settings.
• Experience with a relationship-focused role in a professional setting.
• Cross-cultural communication experience

Responsibilities

• Establish and support Affinity Interest Networks, to engage alumni seeking future formal recognition as an alumni Affinity Network
• Establish and manage Alumni Experts Roster, engaging self-identified subject matter and career field experts to feed mentorship, speaker, panels, recruitment, and numerous other alumni representation roles within the Alumni Networks and Educational Experiences (ANEE) team and beyond. This will include recruitment of new volunteers and stewardship of past volunteers.
• Facilitate Alumni Connections for ANEE program areas.
• Outreach to new alumni to connect to Purdue for Life Engagement programs, through student organization outreach, recent alumni targeted communications & programs (i.e. summer send offs, young alumni travel, etc.)
• Recommend and carry out new opportunities for membership engagement (Purdue Alumni Association) through coordination with relevant PFLF units, through ongoing PAA member engagement interest surveys.
• Assist with International Faculty Ambassador program and international travel receptions, connecting alumni visitors to local alumni around the world.
• Oversee BrightCrowd (alumni e-books) support & implementation in ANEE, Engagement and PFLF programs, including creation of new books, managing invitations & photos, and data flows to CRM.
• Manage necessary data and reporting for relevant program areas.
• Use of Salesforce Ascend & Analytics for accessing relevant alumni data and requesting custom reports as needed (i.e. travel mailing lists).
• Routine data processing including i.e., alumni contact information updates/campaigns, event registration reports, non-alumni data transfer, contact reports and database coding, alumni engagement data reporting, etc.
• Establish and create ongoing contact information campaigns targeting international alumni audiences (BrightCrowd, social media ads, PDOG and related contests, alumni ambassador geographic area list projects, etc.)
• Support team initiatives including website development/maintenance, social media outreach and other administrative team tasks
• Provide excellent and timely customer service to volunteers, alumni, University partners and other constituents.

Benefits

• 10 paid holidays per year.
• Accrue up to 22 vacation days a year.
• Traditional pre-tax 403(b) and Roth retirement plans available.
• 10% employer contribution to your retirement plan and immediate vesting.
• Health Savings Account- earn up to $450 annually towards medical expenses.
• Employer funded Preventative Dental and Vision insurance.
• Tuition discounts on eligible programs at Purdue University and Purdue Global for qualified employees, spouses, and dependents.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level