University of Waterloo

Associate Director, Development

University of Waterloo$104K — $130K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree required, advanced degree preferred.
  • CFRE certification is a strong asset.
  • Recent and extensive fundraising experience with a successful track record in major gifts solicitation.
  • Experience in capital campaign administration is essential.
  • Proven leadership and team management experience in a professional environment.

Responsibilities

  • Oversee strategic development of cultivation and solicitation plans for projects.
  • Track proposal progress to ensure timely closure on fundraising initiatives.
  • Develop stewardship plans for recognizing gifts and building long-term relationships.
  • Plan and execute events and publicity as part of stewardship strategies.
  • Manage and evaluate fundraising strategies for a significant pool of major gift prospects.

Benefits

  • Professional development opportunities and training for growth.
  • Flexible work arrangements to support work-life balance.
  • Engagement with a dynamic and innovative team environment.
  • Access to university resources and networks for collaboration.
Full Job Description
Job Requisition ID:


Time Type:
Full time

Employee Group:
Staff

Job Category:
Advancement and Alumni Engagement

Employment Type:
Permanent

Department:
Faculty of Mathematics - Dean of Mathematics Office - Advancement

Hiring Range:
$104,002.41 - $130,003.01

Posting Information:This posting is for an existing vacancy.

The internal posting deadline for this position is June 25, 2026 at 11:59PM

Job Description:

Primary Purpose

The Associate Director, Development is responsible for the implementation of fundraising and donor relations plans and strategies in several key program areas. Using professional expertise in fundraising, the Associate Director, Development will set priorities, mentor, and provide leadership to direct reports within the Math Advancement team while working closely with other Central Office Associate Director(s) to assist with strategic internal management functions.

Key Accountabilities

Fundraising Responsibilities and Management
• Oversees and directs the strategic development of cultivation and solicitation plans and gift proposals for specific projects, including written proposals, oral presentations, and volunteer management.
• Tracks the progress of proposals and intermediate strategies for moves between submission and decision to ensure timely closure.
• Oversees development of stewardship plans, including the appropriate publicity and recognition of gifts, the reporting of monies spent and progress, and the building of long-term relationships.
• Responsible for direct publicity and recognition of gifts.
• Plans events, announcements, or publicity as part of principal stewardship strategies.
• Accepts all gift types, with expert assistance, and develops terms of reference.

Prospect Management
• Manages, plans, develops, implements, and evaluates fundraising strategies for a significant pool of assigned major gift prospects which consist of individuals, alumni, corporations, foundations; May be responsible for prospects in a geographic area.
• Participates in prospect identification, review, research, management, clearance, and coordination.
• Ensures that proposals are developed to meet the interests of the prospect and represent all relevant faculties across campus including interdisciplinary and complex projects.
• Ensures that the most appropriate volunteers and faculty-staff are well briefed and involved in the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of the donors.
• Proficiency in use of technology, specifically fundraising software to ensure detailed notes are recorded for prospect tracking and clearance systems.

Team Leadership & Management
• Provides proactive training, mentorship and management of direct reports, and Math Advancement staff and development of tools and resources for these team members.
• Motivates by providing leadership, priority setting and management direction to direct reports in the Math Advancement office empowering them to strive and achieve agreed upon goals while ensuring that they have the necessary knowledge and tools for success.

Strategic Planning
• Develops and maintains a good working knowledge of the University's activities and the Faculty of Mathematics priority projects.
• Develops annual goals and strategic plans for assigned portfolio with some assistance from the Director of Advancement, Faculty of Mathematics.
• Responsible for developing an annual development business plan and reporting on its progress to the Director at regular intervals.

Relationship building and maintenance including, but not limited to, the following activities:
• Participates in the identification, recruitment, training, management, and stewardship of volunteer teams.
• Develops effective relationships with senior academic administrators, faculty, and senior national and international volunteers (identifies, motivates, and advises volunteers) as well as representatives of the philanthropic community.
• Through cultivation and solicitation efforts, establishes and maintains relationships with appropriate senior officers, board members, and donations officers in corporate, foundation, association, and individual sectors.
• Works closely with professional associations to further build and strengthen our alumni contacts.

Required Qualifications

Education
• Bachelor's Degree required. Advanced degree is preferred.
• CFRE is a strong asset.

Experience
• Recent fundraising experience with extensive experience and a successful track record of soliciting and securing major gifts; or extensive equivalent education and experience may be considered.
• Experience leading and managing a team, including demonstrated experience providing strategic leadership, management, and motivation of high performing professional staff.
• Recent experience in capital campaign administration.
• Business-sector and/or high-tech or finance sector experience is preferred.
• Experience fundraising in a university environment is a strong asset.
• A proven track record of success in an outreach capacity including developing and executing strategies, project management, and producing a variety of material.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities
• Intermediate experience with MS Word, basic experience with Excel and PowerPoint as well as Constituent Management Software such as Raiser's Edge.
• Demonstrated ability to provide strategic leadership to help develop new initiatives while also enhancing existing programs, and the ability to effectively articulate these initiatives.
• A keen awareness and knowledge of relevant individuals in the corporate sector (i.e., high-tech, banking, insurance, finance, investment etc..) related associations, community and government is necessary; an established network is an asset.
• Excellent time management skills and demonstrated ability to meet competing deadlines in an organized manner.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively in a high functioning team within a dynamic environment.
• Strong understanding of the university environment including the integration of research; an in-depth understanding of the Faculty of Mathematics is an asset.
• Results-oriented and creative individual with demonstrated relationship building skills.
• Ability to travel and work extended hours (including some weekends and evenings), as required.

About University of Waterloo

The University of Waterloo is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on 404 hectares of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates three satellite campuses and four affiliated university colleges. The university offers academic programs administered by six faculties and thirteen faculty-based schools. Waterloo operates the largest post-secondary co-operative education program in the world, with over 20,000 undergraduate students enrolled in the university's co-op program. Waterloo is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada. The institution originates from the Waterloo College Associate Faculties, established on 4 April 1956; a semi-autonomous entity of Waterloo College, which was an affiliate of the University of Western Ontario. This entity formally separated from Waterloo College and was incorporated as a university with the passage of the University of Waterloo Act by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1959. It was established to fill the need to train engineers and technicians for Canada's growing postwar economy. It grew substantially over the next decade, adding a faculty of arts in 1960, and the College of Optometry of Ontario, which moved from Toronto in 1967. The university is a co-educational institution, with approximately 36,000 undergraduate and 6,200 postgraduate students enrolled there in 2020. Alumni and former students of the university can be found across Canada and in over 150 countries; with a number of award winners, government officials, and business leaders having been associated with Waterloo. Waterloo's varsity teams, known as the Waterloo Warriors, compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of the U Sports.
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