Chief Advancement Officer

Universities of Wisconsin•Madison, WI

About The Position

The Chief Advancement Officer will lead the College of Engineering's development, alumni relations, corporate relations, foundation philanthropy and manage the connectivity between those areas and supervise staff accordingly. This role reports to the College of Engineering Dean and is a member of the College's senior leadership team. Key responsibilities include working with the Dean, Associate Deans, Department Chairs, and the UW Foundation to develop and implement fundraising goals, strategies, and plans. The officer is responsible for developing and interpreting strategies and policies to involve alumni in various activities such as communications, events, awards, and philanthropy, in coordination with the UW Madison Foundation and Alumni Association. This involves cultivating relationships with individuals and organizations supporting the College, serving as the primary contact for College of Engineering alumni and the Wisconsin Alumni Association, and overseeing alumni relation activities. The Chief Advancement Officer will also coordinate efforts of embedded development and alumni relations officers, maintain ties with the UW Foundation, and engage faculty and staff in these efforts. For corporate relations, the role involves developing strategies to utilize corporate relationships for the College's teaching, research, and outreach missions, and maintaining productive corporate relationships with College leadership and staff. Additionally, the officer will foster liaisons with campus-level administration, maintain working relationships with other college and school administrators, and complete special projects as assigned by the Dean.

Requirements

8 years of experience, with increasing levels of responsibility working in development, alumni relations, communications or a similar capacity dealing with external constituencies
Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and managerial skills
Experience supervising staff
Proven track record of effective long-range planning, problem solving, team building and management of multiple work responsibilities in order to achieve organizational objectives
Bachelor's degree

Nice To Haves

At least 10+ years of experience, with increasing levels of responsibility working in development, alumni relations, communications or a similar capacity dealing with external constituencies
Experience managing and coordinating with advisory boards, alumni groups, corporate management or large volunteer groups
Higher Education experience
Master's degree or higher in a relevant field

Responsibilities

Develops strategic planning initiatives and objectives to ensure appropriate use of financial, administrative, and staffing resources and alignment with the strategic plan
Monitors alumni operational activities and ensures adherence to established objectives
Serves on the dean's leadership team for the college and is the main point of contact between college leadership and other stakeholders
Serves as the chief alumni liaison to leadership and internal and external stakeholders at large events, promotes and advocates for institutional alumni relations goals and initiatives
Recommends changes to ensure goals are met and to foster relationships and promote alumni impact
Advises leadership on alumni relations objectives, strategies, and performance
Develops and oversees the budget
Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
Provides oversight and guidance to projects of high importance