Senior Director of Campaign Planning and Management

Reporting to the Vice President for Development, the Senior Director leads the Development Office's planning, coordination, and management of the campaign, building and maintaining the plans, timelines, benchmarks, and reporting that hold a multi-year effort together and keep its many moving parts coordinated, tracked, and on schedule. The Senior Director staffs the campaign's volunteer committees, coordinates the engagement of trustees and campaign volunteers, and produces the progress reporting used by College leadership and the Board of Trustees. In partnership with the Assistant Vice President for Information Strategy and Operations, the Senior Director applies the College's fundraising analytics and reporting to campaign planning and decision-making. The position does not carry a frontline fundraising portfolio.

Primary Position Responsibilities

Campaign Planning and Management

• Campaign Plan and Timelines: Develop and maintain the high-level campaign timeline and the detailed project plans beneath it, including benchmarks, milestones, deliverables, and the individuals responsible for each.
• Day-to-Day Campaign Management: In close collaboration with the Vice President, plan, implement, and manage the day-to-day Development work of Wellesley's multi-year comprehensive campaign.
• Accountability and Follow-Through: Keep campaign projects, initiatives, and deadlines on time and on target, coordinating the contributions of colleagues across Development whose work advances the campaign.

Volunteer Leadership and Trustee Engagement

• Committee Staffing: Staff the campaign's volunteer committees, including the preparation of annotated agendas, support of committee assignments, and follow-through on commitments made.
• Trustee and Volunteer Coordination: Coordinate the strategic engagement of trustees, campaign volunteers, and committee members, ensuring that their time and involvement are well directed and carefully tracked, in partnership with the Vice President for Development and the Office of the President.
• Campaign Events: Partner with colleagues across Development and the College to coordinate campaign events and gatherings, ensuring that they align with campaign timelines, priorities, and volunteer engagement.

Campaign Progress and Board Reporting

• Tracking Against Goals: Draw on the College's fundraising analytics and reporting, in partnership with the Assistant Vice President for Information Strategy and Operations, to monitor progress relative to campaign goals and to inform campaign planning and strategy.
• Reporting to Leadership and the Board: Produce regular reports and campaign materials for the President and College leadership, the Board of Trustees, campaign volunteers, and staff, addressing results, forecasting, lessons learned, and opportunities for refinement.

Institutional Partnership and Professional Practice

• Campaign Materials: Work with Development Marketing and with Communications and Public Affairs to align on the fundraising materials the campaign needs to advance its priorities.
• Campus and Consultant Relationships: Develop strong, positive working relationships across the College community, including academic and campus leadership, and with the College's campaign consultants.
• Best Practices: Remain well-informed of current best practices in campaign management and advancement, and evaluate new and emerging approaches for implementation.

Supervisory Responsibilities

None. In coordinating campaign activities and supporting the campaign's volunteer committees, the Senior Director works closely with colleagues across Development, including the development associates who assist with committee logistics and related campaign needs.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• At least ten years of progressively responsible experience in advancement or a related field, including significant experience in campaign management.
• Demonstrated experience planning and executing a comprehensive campaign, including the coordination of senior leadership and campaign committees.
• Some weekend and evening travel in support of campaign programs and initiatives is required for this position.
• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without employer's sponsorship now or in the future.

Skills and Abilities

• Exceptional project management skills, with the ability to build and maintain complex plans and systems and to carry multiple concurrent workstreams across a multi-year effort.
• Deep knowledge of the principles and best practices of advancement, and the judgment to apply them in service of institutional goals.
• Ability to synthesize fundraising data into clear reporting for leadership, trustees, and volunteers, and to partner effectively with analytics and operations colleagues in applying their work to campaign planning.
• Strong writing and editing skills, with the ability to produce agendas, reports, and campaign materials for senior and volunteer audiences.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences, including trustees, senior leadership, volunteers, and staff, across multiple formats and settings.
• An orientation toward detail, process, and follow-through, with pride in building and maintaining the systems and plans that hold a campaign together and satisfaction in the disciplined, behind-the-scenes work that keeps it on schedule.
• Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple and varied initiatives in service to a range of audiences.
• Proficiency with CRM and donor database systems (Salesforce/Affinaquest or comparable) and with campaign reporting tools.
• Sound judgment and discretion in handling confidential donor and institutional information.

Flexibility & Schedule

We value a collaborative hybrid environment. Our standard schedule includes three days on campus to connect with the team, with two days of remote work. This hybrid schedule is subject to business needs. As this role involves essential in-person commitments, a degree of flexibility is required. This is a fixed term position intended to end upon the successful completion and celebration of Wellesley's campaign.