Executive Director, Development, Academic Medical Centers

Overview

The Executive Director, Development, Academic Medical Centers, will provide strategic leadership for all philanthropic initiatives in support of the hospital's integrated missions of clinical excellence, biomedical research, and graduate medical education. Reporting to the Vice President, the Executive Director will develop and implement a comprehensive major and principal gift program, inclusive of grateful patient philanthropy, personally managing a portfolio of the Foundation's most significant donor relationships. The Executive Director will partner with medical center leadership, including department chairs, physician-scientists, and hospital administration, to identify transformative funding priorities and to articulate compelling cases for philanthropic support to individuals, families, foundations, and corporations. The Executive Director will oversee a team of development professionals and will contribute to the development of annual budgets, long-range campaign plans, and strategies that advance the medical center's position as a national leader in medicine and medical education.

Responsibilities

A day in the life of a Executive Director, Development, Academic Medical Centers at Hackensack Meridian Health includes:

• Understands the complex, mission-driven nature of an academic medical center, including the integration of clinical care, research, and medical education and leverages this understanding to articulate compelling, donor-centered philanthropic opportunities.
• Builds and sustains deep relationships with medical center leadership, department chairs, researchers, and clinical faculty to identify transformative funding priorities aligned with institutional research and education missions.
• Designs and executes a comprehensive major and principal gift program targeting prospects capable of six-, seven-, and eight-figure commitments; personally manages a portfolio of top-tier prospects through all phases of the donor cycle.
• Works collaboratively to actively engage physicians and other clinicians in the identification of grateful patients and families.
• Leads and mentors a team of development professionals responsible for raising major- and principal-level gifts and who are dedicated to medical center priorities, establishing clear performance benchmarks, accountability structures, and a culture of excellence in donor engagement.
• Champions endowment fundraising, including named professorships, research endowments, and fellowship funds, educating donors on the long-term legacy value of endowed giving.
• Drives planned and deferred giving conversations within the medical center donor base, partnering with gift planning colleagues to cultivate estate commitments and blended gift strategies.
• Engages, staffs, and grows the volunteer leadership, inspiring trustees to serve as philanthropic ambassadors and to participate actively in peer-to-peer solicitation.
• Collaborates with institutional giving and grants teams to align foundation proposals with medical center research priorities, ensuring a coordinated approach to institutional funders.
• Develops and manages the annual fundraising budget for the medical center portfolio, tracking performance against goals and providing regular reports to senior leadership.
• Creates and implements multi-year fundraising campaigns tied to medical center capital and programmatic priorities, including new clinical facilities and research and educational initiatives.
• Maintains current and compelling case-for-support materials, proposals, and stewardship reports that reflect the medical center's academic distinction and research impact.
• Other duties and/or projects as assigned.
• Adheres to HMH Organizational competencies and standards of behavior.

Qualifications

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Bachelor's degree required
• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in major gift fundraising, with at least five (5) years in an academic medical center, research university, or comparable complex institution.
• Demonstrated record of personally closing gifts of $1 million or more from individuals, families, and institutional sources.
• Deep familiarity with the academic medicine environment, including the faculty governance, research enterprise, and clinical program dynamics unique to academic medical center settings.
• Ability to translate complex scientific and clinical concepts into compelling donor narratives and case statements.
• Experience with endowment fundraising, planned giving vehicles, and the structuring of complex, multi-year gift commitments.
• Proven ability to lead, inspire, and develop a team of fundraising professionals in a matrixed, mission-driven organization.
• Experience working closely with board-level volunteers and institutional leadership.
• Experience with donor management/CRM systems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficient computer skills that include but are not limited to Google Suite and/or Microsoft Office platforms.

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Preferred:

• Masters degree
• Passionate commitment to the mission of academic medicine: advancing research, training the next generation of physicians and scientists, and delivering exceptional patient care.
• Strategic thinker who can simultaneously manage long-term campaign planning and day-to-day donor engagement with equal rigor.
• Politically astute and highly collaborative; adept at navigating the complex stakeholder dynamics of a large academic health system.
• Intellectually curious with the capacity to engage deeply with faculty researchers and clinicians as a credible partner in mission advancement.
• Creative, entrepreneurial, and results-driven, with an unwavering focus on donor impact and philanthropic stewardship.
• High emotional intelligence and executive presence; equally effective one-on-one with gift prospects as well as presenting to a group.
• Experience with comprehensive or capital campaign fundraising at an academic medical center or research university is a significant plus.

If you feel that the above description speaks directly to your strengths and capabilities, then please apply today! 

Starting Minimum RateMinimum rate of $174,491.20 Annually Job Posting DisclosureHMH is committed to pay equity and transparency for our team members. The posted rate of pay in this job posting is a reasonable good faith estimate of the minimum base pay for this role at the time of posting in accordance with the New Jersey Pay Transparency Act and does not reflect the full value of our market-competitive total rewards package. The starting rate of pay is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guarantee of a specific offer. Posted hourly rates may be stated as an annual salary in the offer and posted annual salaries may be stated as an hourly rate in the offer, depending on the level and nature of the job duties and credentials of the candidate. The base compensation determined at the time of the offer may be different than the posted rate of pay based on a number of non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to: Labor Market Data: Compensation is benchmarked against market data to ensure competitiveness. Experience: Years of relevant work experience. Education and Certifications: Level of education attained, including specialized certifications, credentials, completed apprenticeship programs or advanced training. Skills: Demonstrated proficiency in relevant skills and competencies. Geographic Location: Cost of living and market rates for the specific location. Internal Equity: Compensation is determined in a manner consistent with compensation ranges for similar roles within the organization. Budget and Grant Funding: Departmental budgets and any grant funding associated with the job position may impact the pay that can be offered. Some jobs may also be eligible for performance-based incentives, bonuses, or commissions not reflected in the starting rate. Certain positions may also be eligible for shift differentials for work performed on evening, night, or weekend shifts. In addition to our compensation for full-time and part-time (20+ hours/week) job positions, HMH offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and retirement benefits.