Senior Director, Gift Services

Jul 3

Anticipated Start Date: TBD

Description

Reporting to the Assistant Vice Chancellor (AVC) for Advancement Services, the Senior Director is responsible for providing leadership, strategic direction, and significant expertise in the financial operational oversight of the Office of Gift Services. Includes oversight for the Gift Services Division, which reviews, processes, and receipts over 40,000 gift transactions annually, including gifts to the UC San Diego Foundation and to the campus directly.

Includes reporting on UC San Diego private support totals in compliance with UC and CASE standards internally, as well as to UCOP and externally to national surveys of significant importance and stature to UC San Diego. Includes oversight of planned gifts and their review and acceptance, many of which have significant complexity. Also responsible for strategically planning and managing all the related service delivery systems associated with these areas.

Responsibilities

The Senior Director is a significant senior leader and partner in Advancement. The Senior Director must be fully conversant with all components of the fundraising cycle, from cultivation through stewardship to properly handling and processing gifts and fund creation and management of the endowment, expendable funds, gifts in kind, and planned gifts. The Senior Director will work collaboratively with leadership in Advancement and across the campus to provide advice, support and counsel regarding charitable gifts and services related to their acceptance.

The successful candidate will possess a thorough and well-rounded knowledge of Advancement in a major research university environment, the role of the campus Foundation, the role of the Office of Contracts and Grants as a critical partner, the private support and capital campaign counting standards of reporting deployed by institutions of higher education and within UC, and the importance of donor stewardship. The Senior Director will be responsible for providing expert strategic direction and oversees a complete analysis of the complex structure of Gift Services.

The incumbent will identify, evaluate, and implement opportunities to streamline workflow, processes, policies, and practices, implement new tools and software, and direct the daily operations. The incumbent will evaluate and make recommendations to senior leadership to enhance the unit infrastructure to align the organization with the strategic goals. The incumbent will often collaborate with and provide advice, counsel, and unit services both internally with other management in Advancement Services, as well as to other Senior management in UCSD, including the Directors of the Office of Gift Planning, the Directors of Development, and Business Officers and Financial leaders across the campus as it pertains to charitable gifts.

Delivery of excellent customer service to donors and internal customers is of the utmost importance. The Senior Director is also responsible for mission-critical special projects.

Special projects include but are not limited to closing out complex trusts and estates and managing other types of planned gifts, such as real estate gifts- working directly with the Office of Gift Planning, UC San Diego Real Estate Management and Risk Management, outside legal counsel, trustees and administrators.

Receives assignments in the form of objectives and determines how to use resources to meet schedules and goals. Manages, prepares, administers, and directs control of budget / organization resources.
Manages the activities of the financial / resource analyst staff. Reviews and approves recommendations for financial planning and control.
Monitors unit's adherence to the approved budget. Provides guidance to subordinates to achieve goals in accordance with established policies.
Work is reviewed and measured based on meeting objectives and schedules.
Follows processes and operational policies in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions.
Erroneous decisions or failure to achieve goals results in additional costs and personnel, and serious delays in overall schedules.

Requirements

Demonstrated strategic management and leadership experience in a university Advancement Services and/or University Foundation operation, including developing objectives and policies, forecasting, budgeting, organizational and change management, and supervising within mission-critical units. Ability to plan, implement and evaluate change to support the fundraising business objectives of Advancement.
Ability to evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of administrative and financial processes and controls and to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of operations and compliance with applicable policies and regulations. Ability to determine and implement process improvements continuously using Lean Six Sigma and other techniques. Working knowledge of theories and systems of internal controls (financial, management, and IS).
At least 10 years of extensive, in-depth, hands-on experience in higher education Advancement Services or as a CFO, VP of Finance, or other financial or data management leadership position in a public or private entity, for-profit or not-for-profit. Requires expert and demonstrated advanced knowledge and experience in IRS charitable giving laws, and the application of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), fund accounting principles, GASB and/or FASB standards. Also requires extensive knowledge, an application of internal control standards and analysis, and an auditing background.
Demonstrated experience and ability to develop short and long-term strategic plans, policies, and procedures for a large operational unit. Ensure effective implementation and oversight. Ability to plan, implement and evaluate change.
Proven advanced knowledge and understanding of the highly complex nature of gifts, planned gifts, financial data, investing and managing endowments, and gift purposes and function in higher education. Clear understanding of the components of investment returns, and endowment spending.
Strong information technology abilities and knowledge. Ability to use database querying and manipulation, excel, understanding the integration of data and financial systems, and financial accounting reporting systems and tools. Experience in developing key financial performance indicators.
Broad and thorough knowledge of theories and principles of the accounting profession, good business practices, and/or general administration through knowledge of and experience in taxation, tax law, and tax planning.
Comprehensive knowledge of finance and budget policies, practices and systems; budgeting and reporting techniques; fund accounting; human resource planning; accounting and bookkeeping.
Advanced experience in financial analysis, analysis of complex financial data to determine financial feasibility and organizational risk, problem-solving, modeling, and the formulation and implementation of creative solutions.

Salary Range and Employee Benefits

Hiring Pay Scale: $135K-$165K

How to Apply for this Job

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About the Organization

The University California, San Diego is one of the world's leading public research universities, located in beautiful La Jolla, California.

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