Senior Associate Director of Development

Department

Library Administration - Development

About the Department

The UChicago Library is not simply a building filled with books and scholarly materials. We are thinking differently about what a library is and could be. We are forging new paths and aiming to make a significant impact at the University of Chicago, as well as in a leadership position in the global knowledge environment. We are committed to providing learning opportunities and community enrichment for all who walk through our doors or participate in our programs across Chicago.

During the 2025-26 academic year, the Library is leading the campus-wide Year of Games. Our flagship program will be a symposium for lively conversations on gaming scholarship, as well as networking for students with industry representatives. At the Joseph Regenstein Library, we will not only be providing our patrons with games to play and enjoy, we will also be presenting the exhibition Charting Imaginary Worlds: Why Fantasy and Games are Inseparable to explore the relationship between fantasy and games as one of reciprocal influence, converging over time.

On the longer horizon, we have aspirations to position the UChicago Library as an international leader in information services and technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and other related areas. With rapidly changing technology, it is essential to be able to identify the authority and authenticity of information resources. As one example, the development of our Digital Literacy and AI Competency Program will establish the Library as a key partner in helping the University community to develop the digital literacy skills needed to navigate today’s complicated world, focusing on issues related to AI, news and media literacy, visual literacy, data literacy, and copyright.

Job Summary

Reporting to and working in collaboration with the Associate Dean of Development & Strategic Initiatives, the Senior Associate Director of Development is primarily responsible for managing the Library’s growing and evolving Development team, as well as securing gifts and grants to help realize our ambitions plans. Embedded at the Library, the Senior Associate Director of Development will work in partnership with the University of Chicago’s central Alumni Relations and Development Office to ensure a coordinated strategy for Library fundraising within the University context.

The ideal candidate will bring experience in development, preferably in an educational setting, with a proven track record of delivering on financial and engagement targets; experience managing staff using mentorship and coaching; and motivated by an enthusiasm for the Library’s mission, vision, principles, and strategic plan.

Responsibilities

• Identify, cultivate, solicit and steward University alumni and friends who have the capacity to make financial commitments of $50,000+.

• Plan and execute a target of 100 prospect visits per year, 24 major gift solicitations, and an agreed upon fundraising dollar target.

• Manage a portfolio of 100-150 prospects by qualifying prospects through email, phone and in person communication.

• Determine timely cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for prospects in portfolio.

• Arrange for prospects to meet with appropriate Library leadership, librarians and staff when needed as part of a cultivation strategy.

• Deliver timely and effective follow-up to prospects and donors, which would include generating customized fundraising proposals.

• Write timely contact reports for prospect database following prospect and donor visits.

• Oversee and develop events and programs to expand prospect and donor engagement, serving as key partner for stewardship of the Library’s major gift donors and planned giving donors.

• Establish fundraising goals and priorities based on department objectives, design strategies to meet those goals, and monitor progress against goals.

• Analyze the Library’s donor and prospect pools, tracking and maintaining the status of strategic initiatives, updating case statements/vision documents, and preparing overview items that capture priorities at a high level.

• Manage the department on a day-to-day basis and mentor Library Development staff, including a frontline gift officer who manages an annual giving prospect portfolio.

• Seek opportunities for professional development that will enhance job performance including attending webinars, seminars, building networks within the University and with colleagues at peer institutions.

• Assists in leading the planning and implementation of programs to identify, visit, and solicit alumni, parents, and other constituencies within an assigned geographi