Director, Corporate and Foundation Relations

Job Posting Title

Job Description Summary

Job Description

The Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations leads Wellesley College’s fundraising from foundations and corporations and serves as Development’s principal partner to the Provost, the academic deans, and faculty, working with them to build compelling cases for external support of departmental and interdisciplinary priorities. The Director manages a portfolio of foundation and corporate relationships, prepares the President and senior leadership for engagement with funders at the highest levels, and develops the College’s institutional grant proposals from early concept through submission, remaining engaged with each award through its final report. As a member of the Deans and Development group, the Director stays informed about academic planning, recognizes where faculty and departmental efforts align with funder interests, and helps bring colleagues together around larger collaborative projects when their work intersects. The Director also coordinates with the Office of Sponsored Research, Finance and its Post Award Services team, and other offices so that each new award starts with a common understanding among its faculty leads and the administrative partners supporting them. This is a role for an experienced grants professional who is as comfortable discussing an emerging initiative with a dean as writing the proposal that funds it.

Primary Position Responsibilities:

Foundation and Corporate Fundraising:

• Portfolio Strategy: Develop and carry out cultivation and solicitation strategies for a portfolio of foundation and corporate prospects, with particular focus on the national and regional foundations whose priorities align most closely with Wellesley’s.
• Proposals and Budgets: Write and submit letters of inquiry, concept papers, and full applications for institutional priorities, developing project budgets with faculty, academic administrators, and Finance.
• Presidential and Leadership Engagement: Prepare and staff the President and senior leadership for meetings with foundation leaders, on campus and at funders’ offices, ensuring that each engagement is well planned and carefully followed up.
• Funder Relationships: Build and sustain relationships with foundation and corporate partners, including foundations that have established endowed funds at the College, and plan site visits that bring program officers together with faculty and students.
• Pipeline Development: Identify new prospects with the Director of Research and Prospect Management, drawing on funder announcements and peer networks, and collaborate with gift officers to surface alumnae connections to foundations, including family foundations.

Strategic Partnerships with Academic Leadership:

• Academic Leadership: Serve as Development’s partner to the Provost and the academic deans, participating in the Deans and Development group with the Vice President for Development and staying informed about academic priorities and emerging initiatives with potential for outside support.
• Collaborative Projects: Help faculty and departments with shared interests develop collaborative, institution-wide proposals with clear goals, budgets, and outcomes.
• Competitive Opportunities: Contribute, as College leadership requests, to institutional nominations and other competitive opportunities that align with academic priorities.

Grant Administration and Stewardship:

• Proposal Review: Coordinate internal review of foundation and corporate proposals before submission, working with Finance and academic offices on budgets, matching requirements, and staffing implications.
• Grant Launch: Help new institutional awards begin well by bringing together principal investigators and faculty leads with Post Award Services and the other administrative offices that will support them, so that requirements and processes are clear from the outset.
• Funder Reporting: Collaborate with donor stewardship colleagues on reports to foundation and corporate partners, contributing program context and knowledge of each funder’s expectations.
• Records and Program Teams: Work with Gifts and Records and Post Award Services so that grants are accurately recorded in Affinaquest and Workday, and serve on program teams for major grant-funded initiatives as appropriate.

Development Partnership, Planning, and Professional Practice:

• Goals and Progress: Set, with the Assistant Vice President and Vice President, annual goals for foundation and corporate support, drawing on the College’s fundraising analytics to track and report progress.
• Campus Resource: Serve as a resource for colleagues across the College with questions about foundation and corporate fundraising, and maintain the internal tracking that supports this work.
• Support for Gift Officers: Share program language and information about academic priorities with Development colleagues, and assist with proposal development and editing for individual and family foundation asks.
• Campaign Alignment: Ensure that foundation and corporate fundraising advances the priorities of the College’s comprehensive campaign, in coordination with campaign leadership in Development.
• Professional Practice: Remain informed about trends in institutional philanthropy and represent the College at professional meetings and conferences.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• None. The Director works closely with the donor stewardship staff who prepare reports to foundation and corporate funders, and with offices across Development and the College that support grant-funded projects.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• At least ten years of progressively responsible experience in foundation and corporate relations, grant writing, or a closely related area of advancement, preferably in higher education.
• Demonstrated success securing six- and seven-figure grants, including collaborative proposals involving multiple departments or partners.
• Experience working directly with faculty and academic leadership to develop externally funded projects.
• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without employer’s sponsorship now or in the future

Skills and Abilities:

• Exceptional writing and editing skills, with the ability to present academic work clearly and persuasively to funders.
• Intellectual curiosity and an interest in work across disciplines, with the ability to engage faculty and deans as a thoughtful colleague.
• Strategic judgment in matching institutional priorities with funder interests, and the candor to advise when an opportunity is not a good fit.
• Skill in convening and facilitating groups that span academic and administrative offices, and in supporting the processes that make such collaboration work.
• Ability to work independently and carry a full portfolio of applications, deadlines, and reporting requirements at once.
• Working knowledge of grant budgets, cost sharing, and grant administration.
• Experience preparing senior leaders for meetings with funders.
• Proficiency with CRM and grants management systems (Salesforce/Affinaquest and Workday or comparable).
• Sound judgment and discretion in handling confidential institutional and funder 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. *Please note: This hybrid schedule is subject to business needs. As this role involves essential in-person commitments, a degree of flexibility is required. Some travel, including occasional evening and weekend commitments, is required for meetings and site visits with foundation and corporate partners.

Salary:

The pay range for this role is $155,000.00 -$160,000.00

Worker Sub-Type

Time Type