Senior Associate Vice President for Development and Chief Development Officer

Miami University Alumni Association•Oxford, AL

9d•$225,000 - $300,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Miami University invites applications for the Senior Associate Vice President for Development and Chief Development Officer. Reporting to Scott Barrett, Vice President for University Advancement and President of the Miami University Foundation, the SAVP/CDO will serve as the chief development officer for both the university and the Foundation and will lead a 52-person Development organization. This is a consequential moment for Miami. The university is entering the final year of its historic $1 billion campaign while identifying the priorities and fundraising model that will sustain philanthropic growth in the years ahead. The next SAVP/CDO will help close the campaign with strength while building the strategy, talent, pipeline, and organizational structure needed for Miami’s next chapter. The role carries broad authority across Development, including responsibility for fundraising strategy, talent, performance, resource allocation, and partnerships with Miami’s deans and academic leaders. The SAVP/CDO will also hold significant leadership responsibilities within the Miami University Foundation. Miami is seeking an experienced fundraiser and people leader who can deliver near-term campaign results while designing what comes next. The strongest candidate will bring strategic judgment, a record of significant gift success, and a commitment to building a culture where accountability, collaboration, and professional growth reinforce one another.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree.
At least 10 years of progressively responsible advancement experience in higher education or a comparably complex, decentralized, mission-driven organization.
Significant leadership experience managing through other leaders and guiding a complex or geographically distributed fundraising organization.
Demonstrated leadership in a comprehensive campaign or another fundraising effort of comparable scale and complexity.
A record of personally securing seven-figure gifts and leading teams that secure seven- and eight-figure commitments.
Demonstrated success recruiting, retaining, coaching, evaluating, and developing fundraising professionals and managers.
Experience building productive relationships with presidents, provosts, deans, trustees or Foundation directors, volunteers, and other senior leaders.
Strong understanding of major gifts, principal gifts, gift planning, foundation relations, academic fundraising, donor strategy, and stewardship.
Fluency with advancement CRM systems, prospect and pipeline reporting, data analytics, and digital tools used to support fundraising strategy and management.
Ability and willingness to travel regularly and participate in occasional evening and weekend activities.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree.
Experience helping an institution complete a campaign and transition into a post-campaign environment.
Experience assessing organizational structure, leading change, and reallocating talent and resources to support strategic priorities.
Experience partnering with a university-affiliated foundation and presenting to a governing board or board committee.
Experience developing philanthropic priorities and cases for support in partnership with academic leaders.
Experience strengthening major- and principal-gift collaboration in a decentralized fundraising organization.

Responsibilities

Create and lead a multi-year Development strategy aligned with Miami's institutional priorities, campaign commitments, and post-campaign ambitions.
Establish annual and multi-year fundraising goals for Development teams and allocate staff and resources to the strongest opportunities.
Use pipeline, portfolio, activity, and revenue data to improve forecasting, guide coaching, identify risk, and support timely decisions.
Set clear and consistent expectations for prospect qualification, portfolio management, donor strategy, collaboration, and fundraiser performance.
Advise the vice president on Development priorities, organizational design, staffing, budget needs, and emerging philanthropic opportunities.
Lead Development’s work to complete For love. For honor. For those who will. by June 30, 2027, partnering with the vice president and campaign director to monitor progress, address gaps, coordinate campaign leadership, and maintain momentum across units.
Partner with Stewardship and Donor Relations, Alumni Relations, and Advancement Marketing and Communications to ensure campaign donors understand the impact of their support and remain engaged in Miami's future.
Develop a clear post-campaign strategy that sustains pipeline, donor engagement, academic partnership, and fundraising performance beyond the campaign. Works closely with Stewardship and Donor relations to develop an elevated stewardship plan for major gift donors.
Recruit, retain, coach, evaluate, and develop a strong and diverse team, creating meaningful professional development, mentoring, and career-growth opportunities across Development.
Lead through managers by setting expectations, strengthening management practice, developing successors, and holding leaders accountable for both results and team health.
Address performance concerns promptly, fairly, and directly while maintaining a culture of respect and shared purpose.
Assess reporting relationships and workload distribution and recommend changes that improve effectiveness and reduce unnecessary friction.
Serve as a primary Development partner to the provost, deans, and other academic and unit leaders.
Help institutional leaders identify and refine priorities, assess philanthropic readiness, develop compelling cases for support, and prepare for donor engagement.
Working with divisional leadership, coordinate presidential, vice presidential, dean, and volunteer involvement in principal-gift strategy.
Represent Miami with alumni, donors, prospective donors, corporate and foundation partners, and volunteer leaders.
Maintain a selective personal portfolio, as appropriate, and personally advance significant gift opportunities.
Serve as Chief Development Officer and an officer of the Miami University Foundation.
Present Development strategy, performance, opportunities, and risks regularly to the Foundation Board of Directors.
Serve as staff liaison to the Foundation Board’s Development Committee and support members in meaningful fundraising and ambassador roles.
Ensure fundraising practices uphold donor intent, gift acceptance policies, confidentiality, and the highest ethical standards.
Set clear expectations for Development’s effective use of Slate and other data and reporting tools.
Communicate Development priorities and results clearly to advancement colleagues, university leaders, Foundation directors, and other stakeholders.