Senior Director of Development

Position Title Senior Director of Development 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

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. 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 Senior Director of Development manages a team of fundraisers at the Director and Associate Director level with a goal of raising money for all colleges and programs across the university. They are responsible for mentoring their team members and ensuring the team achieves its annual fundraising goal. The Senior Director is the main liaison between Deans and Academic Partners and report to the Associate Vice President for Development for University Advancement. The Senior Director is a strategic partner to all academic and development professionals in securing philanthropic gifts, they represent University Advancement as leaders and partner with colleagues in University Advancement such as those in Prospect Research, Advancement Services, Planned Giving and Alumni Engagement.

As a senior development officer, this position is charged with creating and implementing a comprehensive development program for their team, to engage and solicit alumni, parents, friends, community members, business, and civic leaders to achieve the fundraising goals for Western. The Senior Director of Development is personally responsible for soliciting and closing major gifts of $25,000 or more, with a specific focus on principal gift prospects starting at the $250,00