The Associate Director reports to the Director of Regional and Volunteer Strategy and is responsible for project managing several aspects of Lehigh’s alumni volunteer boards managed by Alumni Relations staff including the Young Alumni Council, Lehigh University Alumni Association and the Awards Committee. They work closely with the individual staff managers for each group and work collectively with those staff managers to establish standard procedures across all alumni volunteer programs. The Lehigh community takes seriously our commitment to antiracism and The Principles of our Equitable Community. 

1. Drive annual nominations and awards processes
*Investigating and possibly deploying a technical solution to streamline the processes for collecting, evaluating, and ranking applications
*Organizing the applications and marrying them with DAR database information so nominations committees can easily read and evaluate candidates
*Ensuring applications and evaluations carry over from year-to-year
*Developing a standardized vetting and interviewing process that could use Zoom or other communication technologies
*Managing the notifications process to appointees, nominees, nominators and campus partners

2. Produce and support awards events
*Attendance at awards events ranges from 50-200 attendees, with most logistical details handled by the Events Team; the Associate Director (AD) serves as the point-person for Alumni Relations to ensure all recipients are properly honored, treated like A-list celebrities and stewarded
*Partner closely with the Events and Communications teams, the AVP of Alumni Relations and the Awards Committee to manage all details of the following activities: Brown and White Awards night during Reunion and Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner during Founder’s Weekend

3. Provide high-level engagement opportunities for alumni, parents and friends who are not currently part of a volunteer group and who have the potential to make a significant contribution to our engagement and financial goals
*The AD’s role is to identify volunteers, then match them with high-reward/high-impact activities based on their professional expertise, their alumni connections and their personal preferences
*Identifying potential Volunteers by manipulating and interpreting complex engagement and giving data
*Designing and maintaining a robust relationship management system
*Coding all Volunteers into the CRM and working with DAR Services to build push-button reports
*Collaborating with Individual Gift Officers to design and support bespoke engagement plans for their prospects
*Developing trusting relationships with high-level professionals and philanthropists to help advance their relationship with Lehigh University
*Ideating and facilitating unique opportunities for each Volunteer and for groups of like-minded Volunteers

4. Build a center of excellence for volunteer engagement and leadership
*Support the Associate Vice President, Alumni Relations with establishing a cohesive community of volunteerism among DAR and campus partners. A “center of excellence” houses how colleges and departments employ volunteers, what they do well, where they need guidance, and opportunities for Alumni Relations to add value
*Maintain rapport with university partners who engage alumni in volunteer activities
*Establish standard volunteer procedures across all campus programs, including recruitment, orientation, recognition and offboarding
*Create resources for volunteer managers to use to maximize their volunteers time and talents
*Research and report on industry alumni volunteer initiatives. This should include but is not limited to attending industry conferences and annually benchmarking Lehigh’s volunteer approach with similar universities in the US

5. Design and implement a data analytics program to build a robust volunteer pipeline - About 3% of Lehigh alumni volunteer, and their talent and financial contributions reverberate throughout Lehigh and the alumni body. In order to recruit and retain the most effective volunteers, it’s critical to build a pipeline for volunteer service based on qualitative and quantitative data
*Create an industry changing, scalable model for managing the volunteer pipeline
*Pull data and preparing volunteer engagement reports, including for the Young Alumni Council and Lehigh University Alumni Association (LUAA) Board
*Manage the relationship with the Lehigh Fund to develop standard processes for soliciting volunteers throughout the year
*Supervise a coordinator to ensure the coding for all volunteers across Lehigh is done by August 1 of the new fiscal year
*Represent Alumni Relations in discussions around volunteer management as it relates to new DAR database technology
*Ensure that web and intranet content for volunteer boards is up to date with current officers, programs, meeting schedules and notes, etc

6. Support other members of the Alumni Relations team and Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) colleagues and complete general office duties as expected
*Support programs housed within the Alumni Relations team, and others within DAR, to ensure successful outcomes. Programs include Reunion Weekend, Distribution Days, Grad Fair Days, Sendoffs, Regional events, volunteer trainings, LUAA Board meetings, Giving Day, Crowdfunding, etc
*Complete general office duties proactively in a timely manner including budget maintenance, timesheets, expense report reconciliation, calendar maintenance, etc
*Provide customer service to internal and external constituents as requested and needed
*Proactively assist alumni and staff (both internal and external to Alumni Relations) and problem-solve. Suggest or initiate changes and improvements to departmental processes or procedures

Position Number:  S88980

Grade: 9-40; $53,580-$65,210

This is an approximate range and is subject to change based on experience, skills and qualifications.

Special Considerations

Persons with disabilities who anticipate needing an accommodation for any part of the interview or hiring process may contact Lehigh's Accommodations Specialist at [email protected]

The duties of this position may allow the employee to work partially remote as deemed appropriate by their supervisor 

Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Data Analytics, Sociology, Anthropology, Non-Profit Management, a related field or the equivalent combination of education and experience

Three to five years of related work experience

Excellent communication, interpersonal skills and a high level of customer service required

Strong project management skills and accountability in meeting deadlines and juggling multiple projects

Ability to build, foster and maintain positive professional relationships

Service orientation and a positive and professional image are essential 

Proactive problem solver with a commitment to the university's alumni affairs and fundraising missions

Experience collecting and using data to prepare reports

Excellent computer skills with experience using word processing, spreadsheet and database software

Successful completion of standard background checks including but not limited to: social security verification, education verification, national criminal background checks, motor vehicle checks, PATCH, FBI fingerprinting, Child Abuse Clearance and credit history based upon the requirements of the position

Only complete applications will be considered therefore please complete the application in its entirety.  Once the posting is removed from the website applications may no longer be allowed to be completed.

About Lehigh University

Lehigh is a premier residential research university, ranked in the top tier of national research universities each year. We are a coeducational, nondenominational, private university that offers a distinct academic environment of undergraduate and graduate students from across the globe.

Connections working at Lehigh University