Assistant Dean, Development and Alumni Relations

The University Of Maryland School Of Dentistry has an exciting opportunity available for an Assistant Dean, Development and Alumni Relations. This position will lead the planning and implementation of all school development and alumni engagement activities and guide school leadership in the successful fundraising. He or she will design and execute innovative strategies to identify, engage, solicit, and steward volunteers, grateful patients, alumni, corporations, foundations, and friends capable of supporting the school. The Assistant Dean will personally maintain a select portfolio of high-level prospects and donors capable of giving at the major and principal gift levels. 

The Assistant Dean must be an integral member of the UMB community. He or she will reflect and embody the values of UMB and its leadership, leading the school advancement efforts and serving the university community with integrity, warmth, humility, grace, and humor. 

Established as the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1840, the University of Maryland School of Dentistry is the world's first dental college. The school's mission is to improve the quality of life in Maryland through education, research, and service related to health, with special emphasis on improving dental, oral, and craniofacial health through comprehensive education, research, and service programs. The School of Dentistry is Maryland’s predominant provider of comprehensive and emergency oral health services for individuals of all ages, including the underserved and disadvantaged. 

Benefits: Exempt Regular 

UMB offers a comprehensive benefits package that prioritizes wellness, work/life balance, and professional development. This position participates in a retirement program that must be selected and is effective on your date of hire. Exempt regular staff receive a generous PAID leave package that includes over 4 weeks of vacation accrued each year, 15 paid holidays, 3 personal leave, unlimited accrual of sick time, and comprehensive health insurance; professional learning and development programs; tuition remission for employees and their dependents at any University System of Maryland school; and flexible work schedules and teleworking options (if applicable per job). 

Major Functions and Responsibilities

Engagement of Leadership

• Guide and support the dean in his role as chief spokesperson and fundraiser for the school, serving as coach, advisor, and co-strategist in cultivating and soliciting transformative gifts; ensure that the dean is professionally and effectively staffed regarding fundraising activities and that his time is optimally utilized.
  
• Work closely with the dean to systematically engage chairs and faculty in the fundraising process; provide them with the resources, training, and tools necessary to leverage their most successful alumni, grateful patients, and existing donors in supporting program priorities.
  
• Partner with the dean to identify and recruit philanthropically-oriented alumni, existing donors, and community members to the dean’s board of visitors.

Program Leadership 

• Assess the effectiveness and potential of fundraising at the school; serve as architect and builder of a strategic advancement operation that will broaden and strengthen the school’s outreach efforts to alumni, corporations, foundations, grateful patients, and the community; garner philanthropic support that is sustainable, impactful, and supports the school’s fundraising priorities, resulting in the successful attainment of the school’s goal.
  
• Establish a grateful patient fundraising program and formulate strategies for sustainable growth; educate faculty in the grateful patient fundraising process.
  
• Maintain regular communication with and cultivate strong, collaborative relationships across the university, including with the University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation, to coordinate and leverage fundraising activities as appropriate. Ensure that the school development and alumni relations team serve as a valued, collaborative, and responsive partner that professionally addresses both opportunities and challenges.
  
• In conjunction with the director of annual giving and alumni engagement, evaluate, strengthen, and enhance annual fund and alumni programming, ensuring that school’s alumni are actively and meaningfully engaged; develop and implement innovative programs to identify and engage prospective donors (including alumni, corporations and foundations, parents/families, and friends), increase donor retention, and renew and bring existing donors to higher levels of giving.

Fundraising 

• Personally manage a select portfolio of School prospects, cultivating and successfully soliciting new and existing prospects capable of making substantial gifts to the school.
  
• Formulate a keen understanding of the research being conducted in the school; be able to articulate funding priorities, the school’s mission, and research milestones in clear and compelling terms to a broad array of constituencies.
  
• Travel as necessary to engage donors, prospects, grateful patients, alumni, and friends.

Staff Management 

• Lead and mentor a small team of professionals; serve as an advocate for staff, representing their needs and concerns.
  
• Set clear direction and priorities for the team. Promote excellence through well-defined, measurable goals and adherence to best practices; lead by example; inspire, motivate, and empower staff through active communication and delegation, placing staff members’ work within the context of the school’s strategic priorities and mission.
  
• Maintain a leadership style that is open and fluid; foster an environment that rewards new ideas, builds confidence, encourages teamwork, and promotes diversity. Celebrate current achievements and set clear expectations for future success.
  
• Serve as a resource for gift officers in helping them develop effective prospect strategies, moves management, gift closures, and stewardship; ensure that gift officers prioritize each donor’s intentions and act in the donor’s best interests.
  
• Actively mentor and train a team that is prepared to meet the ongoing challenges and aspirations of the school. Provide frequent opportunities for professional learning and growth; emphasize retention as a means of increasing the capacity, stability, and expertise of the team. Assess current organization and structure, recruiting/reassigning staff as necessary to optimize the operation.
  

Perform other duties as assigned.

Education: Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree desirable. 

Experience: Ten (10) or more years of progressively responsible experience with at least three (3) years of supervisory or managerial experience in complex, successful development programs, preferably in a health sciences setting; meaningful experience with or knowledge of all key areas of advancement, including development, alumni engagement, and communications.  Experience in higher education or other complex organization(s) preferred.

Other: Financial disclosure reporting required by State of Maryland Ethics Committee.

This position will be exempt from notice, as per policy VII-1.22 – Policy on Separation for Regular Exempt Employees.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Demonstrated ability to take initiative for projects and programs.
  
• Knowledge of best practices in the development field in general and in the areas of individual giving (annual fund, major fits and planned giving).
  
• Demonstrated experience with Corporate and Foundation fund raising.
  
• Demonstrated strong oral/written communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
  
• Strong managerial, organizational, analytical thinking skills with an ability to solve problems and make decisions.
  
• Demonstrated track record of meeting deadlines.
  
• Demonstrated ability to work as an effective team player with a senior administrative team and with the development and alumni relations staff.
  
• Ability to think creatively and collaboratively with the chief development offices on the campus, and the Office of External
• Affairs, in an effort to identify, launch and fund interdisciplinary programs.
  
• Ability to network and interact, as well as support effective partnerships with key groups and individuals at the school level.
  
• Ability to prioritize ongoing and new projects, as well as conduct research and gather information.
  
• Leadership, coaching and teambuilding skills to strengthen and cultivate relationships.
  
• Skill in dealing with people: diplomacy, tact, discretion, and the ability to maintain confidentiality.
  
• Ability and willingness to travel.

Hiring Range: $175,000 - $200,000 (Commensurate with education and experience) 

UMB is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law or policy. For assistance related to employment, please contact the Staffing department at [email protected] .  

If you anticipate needing a reasonable accommodation for a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), during any part of the employment process, please submit a UMB Job Applicant Accommodation Request . You may also contact [email protected] . Please note that only inquiries concerning an ADA request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.