Example Company
Software engineer
- Location
- San Francisco
- Type
- Full time
- Compensation
- $150k-$200k
- Posted
- 2 days ago
Join a team building useful software. Work closely with engineering and design to turn new ideas into products.
Loading job details
Director, Pipeline Strategy & Prospect Development
- Type
- Full time
- Posted
- Just now
About the role
General Position Summary:
In partnership, work to develop strategies and programs to build an effective pipeline of potential foundation donors to the University. Leverage a broad and deep understanding of foundation funding for higher education to provide information that supports the identification, research, and management of foundation prospects through the development cycle. Oversee processes for ensuring that the best prospects are actively managed by the appropriate Development Officer or teams and support their use of prospect research findings for informing development strategies.
Work with the division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement (PAE) colleagues to develop policies and processes for foundation prospect development, including: standardizing foundation-focused research processes, templates, and services; responding to foundation-focused research requests; conducting portfolio analysis, pipeline analysis, and assessing fundraising performance for the foundation relations program; utilizing data mining and other techniques to create targeted cultivation and fundraising strategies to support fundraising activity.
The Director of Pipeline Strategy and Prospect Development provides strategic leadership for the PAE's prospect management and research functions and serves as a key partner in developing and sustaining a robust donor pipeline. This position leads prospect identification, wealth assessment, fundraising analytics, and strategic intelligence efforts that support annual giving, major gifts, principal gifts, planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, and campaign fundraising.
The Director is responsible for translating complex data into actionable fundraising strategies, enabling fundraisers and university leaders to identify opportunities, prioritize prospects, optimize portfolios, and strengthen pipeline performance. Working collaboratively with all advancement teams, the Director advances a culture of open-door collaboration, data-informed decision making, operational accountability, and continuous improvement. The position plays a leadership role in prospect management strategy, fundraising performance analysis, business process design, change management initiatives, and the implementation of best practices that enhance fundraising effectiveness and organizational outcomes.
A successful candidate will demonstrate a high degree of integrity, the ability to lead change, and an ability to manage rapid changes in technology and fundraising strategy.
Supervisory Responsibility:
This position is supervisory in nature. This position will be accountable for performance planning and evaluation, staff training and development, recruitment, employee relations, and management, planning, and execution of work and deliverables.
Essential Functions/Major Responsibilities:
Prospect Management and Pipeline Strategy
- Partner with fundraising leadership to develop and implement prospect pipeline strategies that align with institutional fundraising priorities.
- Ability to build trust and credibility while partnering with fundraising leadership, and other teams across the PAE
- Help design and support best practices and processes to assist Development Officers monitor prospect movement through the donor lifecycle and identify opportunities to strengthen qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship outcomes.
- Provide strategic recommendations regarding portfolio composition and prospect assignment to improve donor engagement and fundraising results.
- Collaborate with development leaders and pipeline benchmarks for fundraising portfolios.
Fundraising Analytics and Performance Measurement
- Develop and manage fundraising analytics frameworks that support donor pipeline development, portfolio health, and campaign planning.
- Analyze fundraising performance data, prospect engagement activity, and donor behavior trends to identify opportunities and risks.
- Work with the team to design and implement segmentation strategies that identify high-potential donor populations and enhance fundraising effectiveness.
- Create dashboards, reports, and executive-level analyses that support strategic decision making across Advancement.
Portfolio Optimization
- Lead portfolio review processes and help team recommend assignment, reassignment, and rebalancing strategies to maximize fundraiser productivity and donor engagement.
- Evaluate portfolio performance using key performance indicators related to prospect activity, movement, qualification, and gift outcomes.
- Identify capacity gaps, portfolio inefficiencies, and emerging opportunities using data-driven methodologies.
- Provide strategic guidance to advancement leadership regarding portfolio standards and management expectations.
Governance, Process Design, and Operational Excellence
- Develop and maintain governance structures that align with the larger Data Governance team, operational policies, business processes, and service standards related to prospect research and prospect development activities.
- Establish accountability measures, departmental performance indicators, and quality control processes to ensure operational effectiveness.
- Lead continuous process improvement efforts that increase efficiency, consistency, and data quality across prospect development functions.
- Ensure compliance with institutional policies, data governance standards, and industry ethical practices.
Change Management and Organizational Leadership
- Lead and support organizational change initiatives related to prospect development strategy, fundraising operations, technology adoption, and business process improvement.
- Build consensus among stakeholders with varying priorities and perspectives to advance institutional goals.
- Partner with advancement leaders and frontline fundraisers in adopting data-informed practices and prospect development best practices.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to Advancement leadership on emerging trends, opportunities, and challenges affecting prospect development and fundraising performance.
- Lead the Prospect Development team in helping train Development Officers on system tools and best practices as defined by leadership.
- Ability to manage or influence across teams.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Commitment to working in a collaborative team environment with shared goals.
- Ability to work efficiently with a wide variety of individuals, including donors, PAE colleagues, deans, faculty and staff.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to effectively communicate both verbally and written.
- Demonstrated commitment to exceptional customer service with the ability to translate the PAE guiding principles of donor-centricity and collaboration into work practices.
- Ability to recognize and handle highly confidential, sensitive or private health information in a discrete, professional manner in compliance with all state and federal regulations.
- Work with excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Be able to work independently with the ability to prioritize multiple projects and meet strict deadlines for deliverables.
- Ability to anticipate and discern work priorities and meet deadlines with little supervision.
- Adept at problem-solving and using judgment in situations requiring initiative, tact, and confidentiality.
- An exceptional work ethic and track record of personal initiative required.
- Openness to new ideas and personal flexibility with the ability to adapt and succeed in a multi-task, fast-paced environment with changing processes and occasional ambiguity.
- Ability to inspire cooperation and participation.
- Proficiency in the use of personal computers and Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
- Proficiency or ability to learn additional software is required to perform the essential duties of the position.
- Knowledge and proven experience implementing management principles, including planning, leading, directing, mentoring, evaluating, and motivating staff. May contribute to recommending pay decisions for their direct reports.
- Minimum Qualifications:
- A minimum of eight (8) years of professional work experience, and strong supervisory skills.
- Experience in corporate and foundation prospect research and prospect management, as well as knowledge of corporate and foundation strategic analysis.
- Proficiency in doing research using a variety of online research databases and other resources.
- Proficiency in developing policies and processes to support fundraising activity.
- Strong understanding of financial principles and business practices.
- Any equivalent combination of experience, training and/or education approved by Human Resources.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with CRM systems and data tools, such as Blackbaud CRM.
- Experience in higher education/non-profit advancement or familiarity with fundraising operations including alumni and donor engagement strongly preferred.
Work Environment:
- High exposure to a computer screen.
- This position may require sitting for long periods of time.
- May be required to work evenings and/or weekends as necessary for time sensitive requests.
The University of Arizona Foundation reserves the right to revise this job description at any time.
