Assistant Vice Chancellor, Advancement Services

University of Denver•Denver, CO

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The University of Denver (DU) seeks a strategic and collaborative leader to serve as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advancement Services. This role provides enterprise leadership for the systems, data, and operational infrastructure that power fundraising and alumni engagement success. Reporting directly to the Senior Vice Chancellor for advancement, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advancement Services provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for all advancement infrastructure functions, including gift administration, constituent records, prospect development, advancement systems, and analytics. This role ensures data integrity, supports fundraising strategy, and drives data-informed decision-making across the advancement division. The ideal incumbent will possess sound judgment and sophistication to navigate dynamic and complex environments. In addition, the Assistant Vice Chancellor will demonstrate both experience with and appreciation of higher education advancement, and the mission of a university dedicated to the public good.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and work experience (Veterans with equivalent combination of military certification/education and experience may substitute for the degree qualification)
10 years of progressive advancement services experience
5 years of experience managing personnel

Nice To Haves

Experience working in a University setting or similarly complex non-profit environment
Experience leading advancement operations in a higher education setting
Demonstrated success in leading advancement services during a comprehensive campaign

Responsibilities

Set the strategic vision and priorities for Advancement Services in alignment with institutional and advancement goals.
Provide comprehensive leadership of Advancement Services including supporting the day-to-day functionality of a large and complex team of advancement professional.
Lead the annual goal-setting process for Advancement Services, including setting individual and team goals for staff members within his/her purview.
Effectively manage his/her direct operating budget as well as the associated budgets under his/her purview. This includes monitoring transactions and participating in budget modeling and forecasting processes.
Partner with Senior Vice Chancellor for Advancement and senior leadership to anticipate future needs related to campaigns, growth, and donor engagement.
Champion the strategic use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation across advancement services, including applications in prospect identification, data enrichment, predictive modeling, workflow optimization, and personalized donor engagement—while ensuring responsible, ethical, and compliant use of data and technologies.
Provide leadership and oversight for all areas within Advancement Services to elevate the integrity of the advancement database and prospect development strategy as well as increase the accessibility of strategic data and analytics.
Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of all internal advancement processes to provide timely, accurate, and customer-oriented service delivery.
Integrate service centers across Advancement and develop a shared strategy for delivering exceptional support to the entire team.
Partner with the University’s Controller to fully align Advancement’s fundraising, gift accounting, and stewardship of current and endowed funds with the financial planning, policies, and practices of the University of Denver.
Provide strategic oversight of gift processing, receipting, compliance, and data integrity functions.
Ensure policies and practices align with industry standards (CASE, IRS) and institutional financial controls.
Guide long-term improvements in data governance, audit readiness, and operational efficiency.
Shape the overall strategy for prospect identification, research, and pipeline development.
Ensure alignment between prospect development efforts and fundraising priorities.
Support the evolution of portfolio management and data-informed prospect strategy.
Provide strategic leadership for Advancement Information Systems, ensuring Advancement's technology priorities are aligned internally and effectively represented within the strategic roadmaps of University IT, vendors, and other institutional partners.
Serve as the primary strategic liaison with University IT and technology partners to develop and execute a long-term roadmap for advancement systems, data infrastructure, and digital innovation.
Champion Advancement Information Systems as the foundation of Advancement's technology ecosystem, ensuring effective stewardship, integration, and optimization of the CRM and related technologies.
Guide the alignment of technology, data, and business processes across Advancement, ensuring initiatives are coordinated through a shared divisional strategy that advances fundraising, alumni engagement, and operational effectiveness.
Drive innovation through the thoughtful adoption of emerging technologies, automation, and AI-enabled solutions to enhance constituent engagement, decision-making, and organizational efficiency.
Champion the use of data and analytics to inform strategy and decision-making across advancement.
Guide development of predictive modeling, segmentation strategies, and performance metrics.
Ensure analytics capabilities evolve to meet the needs of campaigns and emerging fundraising models.
Strengthen data governance and reporting infrastructure.
Ensure the development of consistent, accurate, and actionable reporting frameworks.
Oversee institutional reporting, benchmarking, and external survey participation (e.g., CASE, EAB).
Support leadership with high-level insights into fundraising performance, trends, and outcomes.
Serve as an active and collaborative partner to all central and unit‐based advancement functions and campus colleagues to foster strategic, effective, and collaborative fundraising practices.
Contribute to team success.
Work with partners across campus to build partnerships.