Executive Director of Advancement Operations

Job Summary

The Executive Director of Advancement Operations serves as the university's senior operations strategist for University Advancement, providing visionary leadership and operational oversight for the systems, data, policies and infrastructure that enable effective fundraising and engagement across the institution. Reporting to the Associate Vice President of University Advancement Strategy and Campaigns, the Executive Director leads a portfolio of business functions that includes gift processing and advancement information technology. The incumbent must ensure the integrity, accuracy and strategic use of advancement data and oversee policies and governance structures required for philanthropic success.

The Executive Director establishes the operational core for comprehensive fundraising and engagement efforts, including the university's multi-year comprehensive campaign. As a strategic and hands-on leader, this position builds, strengthens and modernizes advancement operations, including CRM optimization, robust data governance frameworks, cross-system integrations and efficient and compliant gift processing practices. The Executive Director collaborates extensively across the division and campus to ensure compliance with CSU, State of California, IRS, CASE, FASB, PCI, institutional requirements and evolving industry best practices. This position supervises managers and individual contributors and builds high-performing teams, ensuring a service-oriented culture that empowers fundraisers and elevates alumni and donor experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic vision, planning and leadership for all advancement operations departments, ensuring alignment with university goals, fundraising priorities and campaign strategy
• Oversee the gift processing and advancement information technology teams, supervising both managers and individual contributors
• Develop a multi-year roadmap for advancement operations, including CRM optimization, data quality improvements, business intelligence expansion and process innovation
• Serve as a key advisor to the Associate Vice President for Strategy and Campaigns, the Chief Operating Officer for the Tower Foundation of San Jose State University and the Vice President of University Advancement/CEO of the Tower Foundation on operational strategy, prospect pipeline, gift administration, compliance and data governance
• Cultivate a service-oriented, partnership-driven culture across functional teams
• Closely oversee the Gift Processing team to ensure systems, processes and workflows reflect best-practice operational standards
• Oversee accurate, timely and compliant processing and receipting of all charitable contributions to the Tower Foundation
• Ensure policies and procedures follow IRS regulations, FASB/GAAP, CASE standards, CSU and auxiliary regulations, PCI compliance and audit requirements
• Develop and maintain the university's gift acceptance, counting and agreement governance standards and policies in partnership with the Tower Foundation and campus leadership
• Ensure comprehensive audit readiness and collaborate on internal and external audits
• Oversee biographical and demographic data integrity for alumni, donors and prospects
• Direct the Advancement IT team responsible for CRM administration, systems integrations, user support, platform optimization and reporting
• Lead advancement-wide data governance standards, including stewardship of constituent data, system permissions, data lifecycle management and data quality frameworks
• Oversee CRM projects, enhancements, maintenance, and user adoption strategies
• Ensure integration and interoperability across digital engagement platforms, online giving, websites, event systems, email platforms and campus IT infrastructure
• Implement reporting and analytics solutions to support fundraisers, leadership, colleges/units and campaign operations
• Partner with campus IT and external vendors to manage system security, compliance and upgrades

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent years of experience
• Five to seven years of progressively responsible leadership experience in advancement services, development operations, higher education administration or a related field
• Experience supervising professional staff and building teams
• Experience with CRM systems administration, data governance or gift administration in a complex organizational environment