Director of Pipeline and Relationship Management

Position Title Director of Pipeline and Relationship Management About the University

Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

About the Department

he Division of University Advancement supports Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. University Advancement works internally and with numerous colleagues across campus, and is actively engaged in moving forward the University’s mission through supporting core themes, specifically advancing inclusive success. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity. 

The Division of University Advancement is comprised of 60+ staff members who support the engagement, philanthropy, communications and marketing work of the University. The five leadership units are: communications and marketing; major giving, planned giving and corporate/foundation relations; advancement data services, research and annual giving; engagement including donor relations, alumni and constituent relations, and career services; finance, accounting and administration. Current fundraising efforts are focused on the university’s top priority, scholarships to support student recruitment and retention. University Advancement's main offices are on Western's campus in Bellingham.

The Foundation for WWU and Alumni oversees assets of nearly $150 million and is responsible for the outreach and engagement to over 150,000 alumni and friends of the institution. The Foundation is governed by a board of over 30 volunteers who help set strategic direction and policy, raise friends and funds, and steward the community of donors and potential donors.

About the Position

The Director of Pipeline and Relationship Management (PRM) at Western Washington University reports directly to the Assistant Vice President of Advancement Services and holds a pivotal position in supporting the university's fundraising efforts. In this role, the Director takes charge of overseeing the institutional portfolio pipeline, leveraging cutting-edge relationship management best practices, and implementing innovative technologies to offer data-informed observations and recommendations to achieve revenue goals. Collaborating closely with the Associate Vice President of Development, the Director also assumes responsibility for managing protocols, data, and reporting, ensuring seamless coordination within the advancement team.

Major Duties:

50% Pipeline Optimization and Prospect Qualification

• Identify opportunities to optimize gift officer portfolios and make data-informed recommendations to maximize performance and focus on high priority donors aligned with fundraising priorities.
• Stay up to date on activities, initiatives, and programs to proactively target identification efforts and ensure the ins