Senior Associate Director, Prospect Development

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $85,000 - $98,000

Position Summary

Reporting to the Director of Strategic Planning, the Senior Associate Director, Prospect Development is responsible for partnering with fundraisers to provide strategic information throughout the fundraising cycle. This position will provide vision and lead the prospect identification, research, and prospect management efforts of the Development and Alumni Relations office within Columbia Business School in support of the School's fundraising priorities. They will operate proactively to build a strong prospect pipeline, providing research support to ensure fundraisers have the prospect intelligence needed to advance prospect strategy; work with fundraisers and school leadership to review and maximize portfolio effectiveness, and identify and evaluate new research tools and technologies. This individual must be a strong and motivated team member invested in raising the bar for Development and Alumni Relations at Columbia Business School. Our team's overarching culture is rooted in the core values of Respect, Inclusion, Service, Empathy, and Excellence. We strive to foster an environment where mutual respect, inclusivity, dedicated service, empathy towards colleagues and constituents, and a commitment to excellence are not just principles but integral aspects of our daily interactions and work ethic.

About Columbia Business School:

For over a century, Columbia Business School (CBS) has helped develop leaders and builders of enterprises who drive value for their stakeholders and society at large through our MBA, MS, PhD, and Executive Education programs. We are equally committed to cultivating new scholars and teachers and to creating and disseminating pathbreaking knowledge, concepts, and tools that advance the understanding and practice of management through our faculty research and PhD programs. Our vision is simple: to develop ideas and leaders that transform the world, from the very center of business.

Our ever-evolving curriculum, featuring pioneering courses, STEM certification, and immersive experiential learning, prepares students to excel in key areas such as digital transformation, entrepreneurship, innovation, twenty-first-century finance, the intersection of business and society, and climate and sustainability. The CBS administration enables CBS's educational and scholarly mission through strategic and operational guidance and support, optimizing School resources through well-designed, transparent processes with a culture of respect for all.

Responsibilities

Prospect Identification, Research & Prospect Management

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  Develop and carry out strategies for the expansion of the prospect pool. Conduct proactive research to identify and rate major and principal gift prospects, utilizing online resources, screenings, alerts, reports, relationship mapping, and other resources.

  
  
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  Create impactful research deliverables for fundraisers and leadership, including critical briefing materials for Dean's and the president's meetings.

  
  
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  Maintain an overall knowledge of CBS top prospects and, in tandem with fundraisers, drive strategies to engage them through ongoing research and analysis.

  
  
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  Lead prospect management efforts for the department, including conducting portfolio reviews, overseeing a strategic portfolio assignment process, setting portfolio standards and guidelines, tracking portfolio performance, and helping fundraisers with strategic recommendations as they move prospects through the fundraising cycle.

  
  

Leadership & Developing Talent

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  Provide vision and leadership to Prospect Development functions by designing, implementing, and overseeing strategies for gathering, analyzing, and presenting prospect intelligence to drive data-informed fundraising.

  
  
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  Address challenges, seize opportunities, and lead the continuous improvement of prospect development processes, products, services, and resources.

  
  
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  Direct and supervise the work of the Assistant Director, Prospect Development, to ensure consistent service standards and staff coverage. Cross-train development support staff in basic research functions.

  
  
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  Manage prospect development hiring process, as needed. Oversee hiring, training, and work of student research staff members, as warranted.

  
  

Collaboration

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  Collaborate with others within the office, such as the major gift and leadership gift teams, and across the School and University, as well as with industry peers, to develop and provide the most efficient and effective research output.

  
  
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  Serve as the Business School prospect development liaison, interacting with University Development, other Columbia University departments, and peer institutions to exchange information, improve in-house practices, and maintain current industry standards and approaches.

  
  

Technology, Data Management & Reporting

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  Ensure accurate record-keeping in the CRM database. Develop guidelines and provide regular training guidance on prospect tracking to the School staff.

  
  
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  Ensure the timely, thorough, continuous, and transparent tracking and reporting of existing and new research activities/data, including ensuring research information is accurately entered into the fundraising database and shared tracking systems.

  
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Minimum 4-6 years of experience in prospect development or related field.
• Understanding of best practices in fundraising, research, prospect identification, and prospect management.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills with the ability to translate complex information to different audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in higher education or other complex institutions; competency in data analysis, analytics, and modeling; experience with Principal Gift prospecting and strategy development; Salesforce experience a plus.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.