• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $120,000 - $130,000

Position Summary

Columbia University is a global leader in higher education ??? committed to attracting and engaging the best minds in pursuit of greater human understanding, pioneering new discoveries, and serving society. In the Columbia University Office of Alumni and Development, we connect with alumni, donors, and friends around the world to support these goals.

Maintaining confidentiality and utilizing discretion at all times, the Director of Gift Strategy manages several key development service functions for the Office of Alumni and Development, including gift acceptance policy, gift agreement workflow, Donor Advised Funds and reporting, and major pledge review. The Director will manage projects and cases as assigned by the Deputy Vice President for Alumni and Development Programs and the Assistant Vice President of Gift Strategy while serving as a trusted resource for development across the University, OAD leadership, and University partners.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Development Services

• Manages the workflow for all gift agreements ensuring timely review and signing of all gift agreements manually or through DocuSign. Personally reviews assigned gift agreements.
• Maintains the gift acceptance policies, including the development, maintenance, and dissemination of gift policy.
• Serves as a liaison to the Office of General Counsel for matters assigned.
• Facilitates the gift acceptance process of illiquid assets for matters assigned.
• Manages the Donor Advised Funds (DAF) for the University including working with Donor Relations to ensure accurate preparation of quarterly and annual performance DAF reports; communicates with fundraisers regarding upcoming DAF distributions; coordinates DAF distributions to Columbia and other charities with external parties, the Controller???s Office, and Gift Systems.
• In partnership with Talent Management???s Professional Development team and leaders of OAD Programs, provides leadership for the planning of OAD Programs training(s) for new hires and existing staff.
• Manages a consistent major pledge review, partners with central finance to prepare for the annual audit, facilitates the pledge write-off approval process, and supports the pledge reminder process.
• Contributes to and supports the work of the Data Governance Committee.
• Serves as project manager for assigned projects.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

A bachelor's degree and/or its equivalent is required. A minimum of five (5) to seven (7) years of progressively related experience, preferably in fundraising, project management, and/or accounting. Must demonstrate excellent attention to detail and organizational skills as well as verbal and written communication skills. Must have the ability to exercise excellent judgment, tact, and diplomacy in all interactions. Must be able to identify and improve common day-to-day tasks and operations. Must be able to accurately handle diverse projects and a large volume of detailed work simultaneously and use good judgment in prioritizing work. Ability to work with minimal supervision and maintain a high level of confidentiality required. Proficiency with Microsoft and Google Suites is required. 

Preferred Qualifications

Demonstrated experience in a professional services-oriented environment preferred. Experience with formalized databases such as Salesforce and Advance preferred.

Other Requirements

Subject to business needs, the Office of Alumni and Development supports a hybrid work arrangement for this position. Options will be discussed during the interview process.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

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

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

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