Career Center
Tokyo, Japan
Indianapolis, Indiana
San Simeon, California
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Posted: 31-Mar-23
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Employment Type:
Organization Type:
Required Education:
STATUS: Full Time, 35 hours per week
DIVISION: Department of Institutional Advancement
REPORTS TO: Director of Campaigns and Major Gifts
FLSA STATUS: Exempt
SUPERVISES: N/A
POSITION DESCRIPTION:
The Director of Alumni Relations is responsible for developing and implementing strategies that engage alumni in meaningful ways– to increase the depth and breadth of alumni engagement and support the College’s vision. The Director manages the engagement of the Alumni Council, collaboratively develops and implements strategies to engage alumni through social media and communications, plans and executes alumni engagement events and activities and cultivates relationships with alumni on behalf of the College.
The Director is an enthusiastic leader who can:
- Serve as the “chief engagement officer” for our incredibly talented alumni
- Collaboratively work with key stakeholders to develop and implement strategic engagement plans
- Be a leader and a doer who can effectively manage and move forward multiple projects
- Develop genuine relationships on behalf of the institution
- Effectively create connections through social media and communications
- Meaningfully engage and effectively manage volunteers
Position Accountabilities and Essential Functions
Engage College for Creative Studies Alumni in meaningful ways through:
Alumni Council
- Serve as the primary liaison to the CCS Alumni Council, engaging them as thought leaders and advocates
- Plan effective meetings that engage and inform
- Manage relationships/engagement to build pride and strong connections
- Engage President, Vice President for Advancement and other Campus leaders with the Alumni Council as appropriate
Events and Activities
- Strategically plan alumni engagement events and activities, coordinate efforts internally and across campus – maintain planning, events, and communication calendars
- Collaboratively lead alumni activities within CCS Signature Events – g. Noel Night (Alumni Reception), Student Exhibition (Alumni Exhibition and Opening)
- Leverage existing CCS and community activities to engage alumni
- Work with the Director of Campaigns and Major Gifts to develop and implement regional alumni engagement strategies
- Support program/department events as appropriate
Social Media/Communication Engagement
- Develop and implement social media strategies that support engagement and philanthropic priorities, and are coordinated with College-wide efforts.
- Work with the Director of Campaigns and Major Gifts to develop and implement alumni and donor communications strategies
- Maintain Alumni-related web content in collaboration with Marketing and Communications
Alumni Relationships
- Provide outstanding and genuine customer service for CCS alumni
- Leverage alumni activities to identify alumni interested/capable of philanthropically supporting the College and recommend appropriate next steps
Alumni Data
- Work in partnership with Advancement Operations to ensure accurate and robust alumni records
- Manage the tracking of alumni engagement; leading efforts to report alumni engagement internally and through CASE Alumni Engagement benchmarking reporting
- Record meaningful interactions and engagement in the database to support reporting and historical record-keeping
Other Important Duties:
- Work closely with the Director of Campaigns and Major Gifts and Advancement colleagues to assure coordination and development of the entire alumni relations program; recommend long and short-range goals and overall direction of alumni programs
- Evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of all activities, identify opportunities to improve, recommend enhancements and coordinate/implement changes
- Develop, manage and monitor alumni relations and event-related budgets
- Other duties as assigned
Qualifications and Experience:
Required
- Bachelor’s Degree and 3-5 years of relevant experience (communications, relationship management, volunteer management, alumni relations, non-profit and/or event planning).
- Outstanding verbal and written communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to motivate others
- Strong computer skills in Microsoft Word and Excel and social network capabilities on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and complex projects while maintaining attention to detail
- Enthusiasm for working with a diverse alumni student and faculty population
- Ability to work evenings and weekends and willingness to travel
Preferred
- An art and design background
- Familiarity with CRM databases–preferably Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge software
- Experience working with Adobe Creative Suite
WORK ENVIRONMENT: This job operates in a professional office and college campus environment. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to maintain a stationary position, use a computer and other office equipment, and communicate effectively in person, by phone, and virtually. Frequent interaction with others, including staff, faculty, students and third parties is required. The employee may occasionally be required to move files or other objects weighing up to 25 pounds, including from low and high places. The ability to move around within the office and between buildings on campus, attend off-site meetings and events, and travel between the Ford Campus site and to the Taubman Center site is required. CCS will make reasonable accommodations that will allow individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
About CCS: The College for Creative Studies is a nonprofit institution; it is one of the leading art and design colleges in the world. CCS is ranked by LinkedIn as one of the top three design schools in the US and the best in the Midwest, based on alumni success. CCS has state-of-the-art facilities to support the complete range of creative production, from traditional art forms such as painting, glassblowing, foundry, and printmaking, to the most contemporary systems, including the latest digital imaging technology and extensive rapid prototyping output tools. The College currently enrolls more than 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 13 majors: Advertising Design, Art Education, Art Practice, Communication Design, Craft and Material Studies, Entertainment Arts, Fashion Design, Illustration, Interdisciplinary Art + Design, Interior Design, Photography, Product Design, and Transportation Design. It also offers Master's degrees in Art Education, Color and Materials Design, Design for Climate Action, Motion Design Transportation Design and User Experience Design
