Department: University Advancement
Appointment Type and Duration: Regular, Ongoing
Salary: $150,000 - $160,000 per year
Compensation Band: OS-OA11-Fiscal Year 2024-2025
FTE: 1.0

Application Review Begins

November 12, 2024 (updated); position open until filled

Special Instructions to Applicants

Please submit the following with your online application:
A cover letter in which you clearly describe how your knowledge, skills, and abilities prepare you for the job responsibilities and requirements outlined in the job announcement.
A resume of your educational and professional work experience.

Please Note: We may contact applicants who meet the minimum requirements in the job posting to request additional information for the next stage of review.

Department Summary

University Advancement (UA) supports the University of Oregon’s (UO) mission of providing exceptional teaching, discovery, and service by strategically positioning the university to create awareness, build long-term relationships, and secure resources that increase understanding and further its aims. We are committed to fostering equity and inclusion in a welcoming, safe, and respectful environment that recognizes the value of all members of our community.

The Office of Development as part of University Advancement has a mission to maximize philanthropic impact at the University of Oregon. We do this by identifying, connecting, and engaging alumni and friends around the globe with their passions to advance the vision and priorities of the university.

Position Summary

The Executive Director of Regional Philanthropy, Oregon (Executive Director) reports to the Assistant Vice President, Regional Philanthropy and is responsible for providing leadership to the University of Oregon’s (UO) fundraising efforts and regional engagement strategy in Oregon, in partnership with fundraising leaders across University Advancement (UA).

The Executive Director will oversee a team of up to five major gift fundraising professionals that are responsible for supporting key priorities, which could include, but are not limited to, student success, financial aid and scholarships, academic programs, and capital projects by raising gifts from alumni, friends, and parent prospects rated $100K - $4.9M.

This position will successfully lead and motivate a team of fundraising professionals through virtual and in-person platforms and will help coach the Leadership Annual and Mid-Level giving development officers covering the Oregon region and include them in regional strategy meetings.

The Executive Director will manage a portfolio of 50 – 75 major gift prospects and be responsible for individual visits and asks, securing at least $3M annually in philanthropic revenue and will demonstrate a commitment to supporting a diverse and inclusive work culture and work with diverse external stakeholders. Productivity will be measured through the growth of individual performance and regional team commitments.

The Executive Director will be responsible for the oversight and provision of individual solicitation strategies including the utilization and deployment of university leadership and key regional volunteers, including the University of Oregon Foundation (UOF) Board Trustees, when appropriate; ensuring that prospects are moving through the donor philanthropic process at pace; holding fundraisers accountable to performance metrics; successfully managing a portfolio of prospects and meeting their own fundraising objectives, and proactively support the professional development of team members.

The Executive Director will serve as the expert on the cultural and philanthropic values of the Oregon region with a deep understanding of the region’s demographic profile. The Executive Director will manage a thoughtful and strategic discovery process for unmanaged rated prospects across the leadership and major giving prospect managers in the Oregon region and develop a strategic plan for regional fundraising growth and engagement that aligns with the priorities and goals of the future comprehensive campaign for the UO expected to launch in 2026.

This position is expected to build a pipeline for future philanthropic leaders in the region with a concerted focus on prospects from diverse backgrounds, provide intelligence on existing prospects, seek feedback on programming, and the hosting of events.

Critical to the success of the Executive Director will be the ability to effectively collaborate with fellow regional directors of development, the AVP for Central Development Programs, as well as other fundraising leaders in academic schools, Intercollegiate Athletics, the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact (Knight Campus), The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health (Ballmer Institute), and Principal Gifts.

Travel within Oregon up to 40% of the time is an essential expectation of this position.

This position will be located in Eugene or Portland It is eligible to work a hybrid schedule, and will need to work on campus approximately 3 days per week.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of skills and experience.
• Ten years of progressively responsible major gift experience, including the successful close of at least one seven-figure gift or equivalent gift of significance to an organization.
• Five years of progressively responsible management experience.
• Three years of experience in higher education leadership, including working directly with academic leaders (president, faculty, deans, vice provost or chair level).

Professional Competencies

• Institutional navigation and industry knowledge: High level of programmatic and institutional knowledge, with the ability to take a leadership role in using past successes and failures to inform new strategies. Ability to maintain strong partnerships with on- and off-campus partners to create and sell the narrative of new programs and initiatives. Ability to articulate strategic plan in the context of positioning the institution in comparison to aspirant peers.
• Working with donors and prospects: Sophistication in prospect identification, cultivation, and solicitation with a demonstrated ability to serve as a core anchor relationship between donors and the campus. Strong ability to build comprehensive 3–5-year donor strategies, cultivate families as well as individuals, maximize gift potential, and solicit principal gifts. Established ability navigating seven-figure asks and complex asset management discussions.
• Professionalism and citizenship: Strong leadership skills and executive presence, including the ability to regularly mentor and steward a broader team towards success. Ability to lead task forces and organizational maturation initiatives. Inclination to regularly provide learning opportunities and resources for growing and high-potential team members.
• Portfolio management and systems: Extensive experience in portfolio management, with the ability to act as a resource for others in prospect handoffs and donor strategies. Ability to identify and manage healthy turnover of portfolio assignments and handups/handoffs. Drives discussions related to alignment between systems, research, planning, and donor strategy effectiveness.
• Professionalism and citizenship: Strong leadership skills and executive presence, including the ability to regularly mentor and steward a broader team towards success. Ability to lead task forces and organizational maturation initiatives. Inclination to regularly provide learning opportunities and resources for growing and high-potential team members.
• Management and supervision of employees: Demonstrated ability managing a successful team that allows individual team members opportunities for professional growth, including setting integrated metrics for all employees, inspiring performance, and engagement for the team, and empowering them to proactively partner with senior staff and campus affiliates. Ability to manage other managers and train upcoming leadership.
• Academic leadership: Ability to act as a core advisor and partner to the dean/director/vice president, including collaborating with academic leadership and faculty to set overall academic initiatives, philanthropic priorities, and correlating fundraising strategy. Ability to inspire increased faculty participation and partnership with development.
• Strategic planning: Ability to provide leadership in advancement-wide discussions of new initiatives, capital project planning, strategic staffing, and 3–5-year trends in the industry. Ability to communicate and articulate how individual initiatives, programmatic direction, and overall advancement strategy will shape the university. Leadership in aligning alumni engagement, annual philanthropy, central development, and units regarding goals, donor strategy, and communication.
• Ability to interact, communicate, and work effectively with individuals, recognizing and respecting the many and varied identities of each person.
• Commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Ability to travel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree.
• Ten years of leadership ($1m+) gift experience.
• Significant experience in higher education development.
• Experience working effectively with volunteer boards.
• Ten years of progressive management experience.

FLSA Exempt: Yes

All offers of employment are contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

The University of Oregon is proud to offer a robust benefits package to eligible employees, including health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off. For more information about benefits, visit https://hr.uoregon.edu/about-benefits.

The University of Oregon is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the ADA. The University encourages all qualified individuals to apply and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected status, including veteran and disability status. The University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. To request an accommodation in connection with the application process, please contact us at uocareers@uoregon.edu or 541-346-5112.

UO prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy (including pregnancy-related conditions), age, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including family medical history), ancestry, familial status, citizenship, service in the uniformed services (as defined in federal and state law), veteran status, expunged juvenile record, and/or the use of leave protected by state or federal law in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by UO policy. Questions may be referred to the Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance. Contact information, related policies, and complaint procedures are listed here.

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