Interim Director, Alumni and Family Engagement

Pomona College•Claremont, CA

13d•$140,000 - $180,000•Onsite

About The Position

Located near Los Angeles, California, Pomona College is widely regarded as one of the nation’s premier liberal arts colleges. Established in 1887, Pomona College is known for small classes, a challenging curriculum, close relationships between students and faculty, and a range of student research and leadership opportunities. Pomona is a member of The Claremont Colleges. The Interim Director, Alumni and Family Engagement is responsible for leading and providing strategic oversight of Pomona College’s alumni and family engagement program, including effective individual and mass alumni and family strategies to ensure the growth (breadth and depth) of engagement. This highly motivated and professional individual serves as a department leader, contributing to the success of Advancement’s strategy and operations to increase alumni and family engagement utilizing the CASE Alumni Engagement Metrics. As a member of the senior Advancement team, this position reports to the Vice President for Advancement. The Interim Director provides overall strategic direction and leadership in developing and evaluating alumni engagement that complements and enhances programs within Advancement and across the College. These strategies require intentional use of alumni and family volunteers as advisors, mentors and ambassadors, along with extensive collaboration, coordination, negotiation and consultation within and amongst the University’s senior leadership and external stakeholders. With transitional support from Huron Consulting Services, the Interim Director will manage the alumni and family program planning teams and department budget, with a Huron Associate providing supplemental staff supervision and operational day-to-day management. The Interim Director will lead the strategic plan for Alumni and Family Engagement, which includes managing the development and support of programming for regional, virtual and campus-based activities, annual Alumni Awards program, Pomona’s Alumni Association Board, Past President’s Council, regional chapters, affinity groups, major alumni and family events, alumni benefit programs and alumni travel programs. The Interim Director will collaborate with Huron Directors who will provide executive oversight and collaborate with Advancement’s senior leadership and the Alumni Association Board (AAB) leadership team to drive momentum in connection with the purpose and visioning working. The Interim Director will also develop and maintain cooperative and collaborative relationships and programs with College departments such as Admissions, Events, Career Development Office, Athletics, and Student Affairs.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent is required.
A valid driver’s license is required or equivalent means of reliable transportation to off-site meetings and events.
Must understand and communicate the mission and history of the College’s liberal arts environment.
Demonstrate effectiveness and clarity of verbal and written communication with excellent interpersonal communication and leadership skills to supervise, facilitate, motivate and inspire a diverse group of employees, volunteers and stakeholders from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Must handle all activities and highly confidential information with patience, discretion, tact, and a keen eye for detail.
Able to operate computers with basic Microsoft Office software (such as Word, Excel, Outlook), associated professional software (such as Salesforce, prospect research tools, Internet research, menu-driven databases) and social media networking.
Demonstrated understanding of the use of technology in assessing and improving department systems and processes to achieve annual goals and maintain confidentiality.
Able to handle multiple tasks, meet deadlines, and work both independently and as a collaborative executive member of the College in support of the College’s strategic vision and the division’s annual goals with a high standard of integrity and ethics.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree is preferred.
A minimum of 7 or more years of demonstrable leadership experience with increasing responsibility in the areas of management and alumni relations at a major academic institution and service on a management team is preferred.

Responsibilities

Provide oversight for the development and implementation of a multi-year strategic plan to build alumni and family engagement in support of overall Advancement objectives.
As a member of the senior leadership team, ensure that alumni and family program and activies are properly integrated and strategically aligned.
Lead, inspire, coach and supervise the Alumni and Family Engagement department staff to achieve overall success for the College.
Provide clear direction and oversight of all department activities in order to develop and achieve annual goals, including budgeting, planning and staff development.
Responsible for monitoring and evaluating direct and overall department staff performance and daily assignments with supplemental support from Huron Associate.
Maintain an efficient, collegial, and proactive work environment within the Alumni and Family Engagement office and collaborating departments.
Direct a comprehensive alumni program for ~25,000 graduates that includes volunteer and Alumni Association Board management; alumni weekend; awards program;class reunions; travel/study tours; student-alumni events; regional alumni functions; online services; volunteer training; and Web initiatives.
Direct a comprehensive family program for current and past families that include welcome parties; orientation; and Family Weekend.
Coordinate alumni and family programming with other offices of the College (such as Admissions, Annual Giving, Student Affairs and Career Development).
Serve as chief budget officer and Treasurer for the Alumni Association and work with the Alumni Board’s leadership to maximize both the success and impact of their work.
Develop processes and implement and track metrics to assess engagement success using CASE Alumni Engagement Metrics (AEM) standards.
Ensure care and stewardship of the College’s Alumni House facilities.
Develop and execute opportunities for alumni and student connection to the Alumni House as their campus hub.
Approve and coordinate the use of the Alumni House by campus constituencies and outside groups in partnership with the Office of College Events (OCE).
Participate in various campus committees including the President’s Leadership Group and Trustees Honorary Degrees Committee (ex officio).
Manage volunteers for Alumni Weekend, Family Weekend, regional events, Past President’s Council, and Alumni Associatoin Board, including close collaboration and support with the Office Leadership Annual and Reunion Giving to support reunion committees and alumni weekend events.
Work collaboratively with Prospect Operations and Data Strategy Team to support the development of reports pertaining to the College and its alumni.
Work collaboratively with the Advancement Communication Team to support the strategy and development of print and electronic communications to support the program.
Offer venues for alumni and family involvement to current students, faculty and the campus community.
Work collaboratively within a diverse community with multiple constituencies, building cooperation and consensus.
Supervise student workers with day-to-day functions as needed.
Coordinate special projects/tasks and provide assistance as assigned.